Apple May Remove the Home Button On the Next IPad

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday January 13, 2011 @01:53AM from the death-to-the-button dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Steve Jobs is notoriously frugal when it comes to buttons so the latest rumor emanating out of Cupertino might not come as a huge surprise. Apple is reportedly planning to do away with the home button on the next-gen iPad and iPhone and replace its functionality with multitouch gestures. And as luck would have it, the newly seeded iOS 4.3 includes support for new multitouch gestures, one of which is the ability to use a four or five finger pinch to go back to the homescreen" The attached video demonstrates the new gestures for switching applications and demonstrates how you could function without the home button.

3 of 329 comments (clear)

Min score:

Reason:

Sort:

Screen Space by kellyb9 · 2011-01-13 02:09 · Score: 3, Interesting

I like the idea for one reason - Maximized Screen Space. The entire front of the device will be a multitouch surface.
Re:Home button will stay by Deag · 2011-01-13 02:10 · Score: 4, Interesting

I always thought the home button was a good design to make the iphone easy to use for everyone.
It also would affect the usability of the device to remove it. No matter what you do on your iphone, you have one button that brings you back to the start. This makes it very easy to use.
Some multitouch gesture would be the complete opposite.
Re:Being serious, by dloose · 2011-01-13 03:28 · Score: 2, Interesting

I thought Apple was widely noted for its accessibility features. I've read a few articles about how great the iPad is for blind people. Did I miss a joke here?