When Apple introduced the iPhone 15 Professional and iPhone 15 Professional Max final 12 months, I raised an eyebrow on the so-called Motion button. Whereas I like that Cupertino’s intelligent people baked in additional… errrr motion right into a considerably redundant mute slider, I used to be much less offered on the restrictions of the button; in any case, you could possibly already use the amount buttons on earlier iPhones to activate the digicam app’s shutter.
However as I used the iPhone 15 Professional Max extra, extolling the virtues of titanium and the general near-perfect iPhone expertise, I began to actually love the motion button.
I’ve it set to set off the ‘torch’ possibility in iOS — aka the digicam flash — and it’s surprisingly useful, particularly on a Max telephone. Earlier than I’d must swipe on the high of the telephone to get the drop-down menu after which faucet on the torch icon; if I occur to have moist palms (no not like that, stay in wet London) that wasn’t all the time simple.
So, the motion button turned an actual boon in my life; that might be a tragic reflection on my existence, however by no means thoughts.
Nonetheless, as a tech journalist — or any journalist on the whole — I usually discover myself musing at quiet moments or throughout a commute. And right this moment’s musing combined with machinations over the Motion button, triggered an surprising thought.
I miss the squeezable sides of previous Google Pixel telephones.
First launched with the Pixel 2 telephones, Google geared up its telephones with sides that triggered the Google Assistant through a brief, sharp squeeze. I’m not precisely positive the way it labored — there was one thing about pressure gauges — nevertheless it was an efficient method of waking up Google’s smarter tackle Siri with out barking the sometimes clunky “ok Google” activation phrase.
What might need felt like a superfluous function turned oddly helpful and second nature. It additionally launched a degree of freshness and minor innovation into the Pixel telephones, one thing I felt many telephones have been missing on the time.
Sadly, the squeezable sides of the Pixel telephones solely lasted a number of generations, going the way in which of the dodo when the Google Pixel 5 arrived with the search big taking a unique method to telephone design — much less is extra — earlier than deciding on the Pixel aesthetics and AI focus debuted with the Pixel 6.
Craving contact
Do I would like squeezable sides to make a comeback within the smartphone area? Probably not.
However whereas the greatest telephones lean in the direction of AI integration and sensible options that vary between a gimmick and correct smartness, that is all occurring on the software program facet, apart from AI-centric chipsets. But, I really feel there’s nonetheless some scope to be modern and artistic with telephone {hardware} past simply making the display flex, as we see within the greatest foldable telephones.
I’m anticipating the rumored iPhone 16 line to be very a lot an evolution of the present Apple telephones. However I’d adore it if Apple took some inspiration from a number of the quirkier telephones of the previous and launched some new bodily options or made the Motion button much more purposeful, on the very least.
With all of the AI tech, I’d love telephones to make higher use of haptics, accelerometers and different touchpoints to let me do extra with a smartphone with out essentially taking a look at and tapping on a particular app or operate.
Going by previous telephones, I really feel Google is the kind of firm to introduce new {hardware} quirks after which Apple is the one which refines them to a positive level.
The early tease of the Google Pixel 9 Professional doesn’t recommend an enormous design change is coming, however I hope the search big has put one thing particular beneath its {hardware} to excite and delight me and inject some creativity within the greatest Android telephones; we’ll hopefully see reasonably quickly.
