Next iPhone feature I see that no one is talking about: Touch-sensitive back panel.

[CZroe]

I haven't been reading the news too closely but, unless people suddenly started talking about this in the last week or so, I seem to have been the only one talking about this since the first leaked housing pictures:

Remember Apple's patent about having a touch-sensitive bezel? It was revealed years ago and still has yet to be used in an actual product. It seems very clear to me that this is the function of the large colored area on the back of the housing. The channeled grooves on the inside are probably a sensor grid of sorts, though I've seen many analysts assume that it is antenna wiring.

Even Anandtech's "rumors" article only mentioned the "style" of the two-tone back instead of the likely function. Think about it for a second: It is the exact same aspect ratio as the display, which will come in useful if using it for precision pointing functions or cursor/insertion point placement. Scrolling in pages without accidentally interacting with them of obscuring the details you want is a common problem with touch screens which is solved with a touch-sensitive bezel. I actually expected the sides of the device to have this function instead of the borders (as demonstrated in the original patent) or the back as it now appears to be. The Playstation Vita has a touch-sensitive back side in much the same way as I believe this will. I can see it drastically improving other commonly frustrating tasks, like moving your cursor/insertion point precisely between letters in a text field or scrolling within a text field instead of moving the page. No more magnifier bubble to show you what your finger covers and no more cursor moving after you lift your finger.

FWIW, I moved on from Apple and won't be coming back, so this is just pure honest speculation that is not from a fan perspective. Discuss.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Honestly, with all seriousness, I think the function of the large colored area on the back of the housing is to keep the guts from falling out. The PS Vita is a gaming system, and needs to differentiate itself from other products - that's its "killer app" (and not a very appealing one at that).

What purpose, aside from increased cost, would a touch sensitive back add to the iPhone, that a touch sensitive front doesn't already accomplish?

If there's traces on the back of the casing, I'd say that it's much more likely that those traces would be for Wifi/LTE antennas or NFC (if they're long enough), if anything at all.

 

[Mopetar]

They might have something like that, but I'm not so sure. The PSP Vita has a touch-sensitive back panel, and it's not something that's widely used, or all that useful. The biggest problem is that there's no visuals to see and no feedback, so it makes it ever more difficult to use for anything that requires precision or fine control. If Apple limited it to some basic gestures that are fairly broad, I suppose it might have some use, but it's necessary to limit it to uses where it won't cause accidental or misinterpreted inputs.

If this is their biggest selling feature for the new iPhone, I think that most will be disappointed.

 

[WelshBloke]

It sounds like a great idea until you think about how you'd have to hold your phone.

 

[CZroe]

It's clear from the responses that not many think too hard about good UI and input design. It's probably why no one complained that the mini-player on iOS1/2 showed more of the track name than the lock screen or even the full-blown iPod app. It's probably why no one complained about it not even scrolling song names despite the first MP3 players in existence with displays for track names being able to to that. In general, people don't recognize a potential advancement until they experience it. Am I the only one who gets frustrated when he bumps into these issues?

Honestly, with all seriousness, I think the function of the large colored area on the back of the housing is to keep the guts from falling out.

Yuk. Yuk.

In all seriousness, it doesn't need to be an offset color the exact AR of the screen to keep the guts from falling out, as every other iPhone design before it shows. What is the purpose/function of it being an offset color the exact AR of the screen?

The PS Vita is a gaming system, and needs to differentiate itself from other products - that's its "killer app" (and not a very appealing one at that).

What purpose, aside from increased cost, would a touch sensitive back add to the iPhone, that a touch sensitive front doesn't already accomplish?

Umm, didn't I list several? In addition to the obvious (games): Scrolling without accidental interaction. Precision pointing (visible dot that moves around tracking your finger position). Moving a cursor without covering it with your finger and with no need for exact positioning (start from ANYWHERE on the back). Move an insertion point the same way (position it exactly between characters in a text field with no need to delicately lift away as your finger covers the characters you are working with. There are many more possibilities.

If there's traces on the back of the casing, I'd say that it's much more likely that those traces would be for Wifi/LTE antennas or NFC (if they're long enough), if anything at all.

Those have already been identified elsewhere and NFC is out according to all sources.

They might have something like that, but I'm not so sure. The PSP Vita has a touch-sensitive back panel, and it's not something that's widely used, or all that useful. The biggest problem is that there's no visuals to see and no feedback, so it makes it ever more difficult to use for anything that requires precision or fine control.

"No visuals?" Why assume that? I specifically mentioned a small dot-like pointer for some uses and the majority of uses don't need even that. For example, your laptop's touchpad has a mouse pointer for certain tasks but has nothing for the multi-touch and scrolling gestures (well, the GUI may show a scroll bar ). I think it's kind of a funny assumption to make, considering how long you have likely been using a computer mouse and/or touch pad. As we all know, touch screens have serious disadvantages compared to those input devices specifically in the areas of precision and fine control, so it only makes it a bit more humorous.

If Apple limited it to some basic gestures that are fairly broad, I suppose it might have some use, but it's necessary to limit it to uses where it won't cause accidental or misinterpreted inputs.

There are many MP3 players that have them for the very same "basic gestures" I pointed out, like scrolling. I don't just mean the iPod classic's touch-sensitive click wheel. Remember the iRivier H10 , Creative Zen Touch, and others? NOW do you get it? No more scrolling as you read while covering up what you are reading and accidentally clicking objects that take you completely away from what you are reading.

If this is their biggest selling feature for the new iPhone, I think that most will be disappointed.

I don't remember a big disappointment when the iPhone 3G ended up being the exact same hardware but with a 3G radio and GPS. The addition of LTE and a bigger screen already means this is a bigger bump and we already know that it has some big feature with notification lights and Siri, new home button (I expect touch-sensitive area at the bottom at least), new dock connector, etc.

It sounds like a great idea until you think about how you'd have to hold your phone.

It wouldn't take much to filter/ignore uneeded palm contact from deliberate fingertip input. It's kinda the whole point of multi-touch. Even if it needs another sensor, like the Samsung Galaxy Continuum's grip sensor (works well; spooky even).

 

[bearxor]

I heard this theory somewhere else but I'm just not buying it.

 

[CZroe]

I heard this theory somewhere else but I'm just not buying it.

Probably from me yelling it in every comments section on every news article. Doesn't seem like anyone picked up on it. It makes a lot of sense. What's not to "buy?"

 

[MrX8503]

I guess it's possible, but I don't think that's happening. It sounds difficult to use and Apple is always against that.

Right now the only believable function is for the antenna. However, if that's the case I wish it would have stayed all glass.

 

[Raduque]

Didn't Motorola do this once in the past?

 

[notposting]

This is a company that went with one mouse button. One primary button on their phone. There is absolutely no effin way they want to deal with housewives, actors, jocks, and grandmothers wondering why the hell shit keeps happening...and have to tell them yet again:

"you're holding it wrong".

Seriously. No way. I'll send you $20 via Paypal if they use the back for that this time around.

 

[Jinny]

so...you can't put a case over it?

 

[WelshBloke]

...
It wouldn't take much to filter/ignore uneeded palm contact from deliberate fingertip input. It's kinda the whole point of multi-touch. Even if it needs another sensor, like the Samsung Galaxy Continuum's grip sensor (works well; spooky even).

I wasnt just talking about the unintended contacts. How would you have to hold it to make any meaningful gestures on it that would be better than doing them on the front screen?

 

[PingviN]

I can see it working for scrolling, it just doesn't seem useful for anything else.

 

[CZroe]

so...you can't put a case over it?

Sure you can. It just has to be a touch-through case like the ones that cover the front screen.

I wasnt just talking about the unintended contacts. How would you have to hold it to make any meaningful gestures on it that would be better than doing them on the front screen?

There are many types of input that are HARDER to do with the front screen by the very nature of your finger obscuring the details you need (insertion point placement in a text field). Directional cursor controls could work as easily as scrolling as long as unintended input is filtered out. I imagine that you could grip it normally in one hand and "finger" it with the other on any small portion of the exposed surface. There is no need to expose the entire back portion. Most of the other things you might need to use it for would be done primarily in landscape mode (text entry, web browsing, etc) where you could hold it exactly like the PSP. Don't forget: The screen is bigger so the back is bigger too.

I can see it working for scrolling, it just doesn't seem useful for anything else.

Even if that's all the iOS UI uses it for, I'm sure apps will find a ton of uses. More than the PS Vita for sure.

 

[Ichinisan]

Even if it may be useful only for scrolling, that's useful enough for me.

I suspect also that you'll be able to multitask by swiping back and forth across the home button. I think the home button will be mechanical, but it will have a touch-sensitive area on either side. I've been expecting this since iPhone 5 prototype cases were leaked before the 4S was even released.

 

[bearxor]

Even if it may be useful only for scrolling, that's useful enough for me.

I suspect also that you'll be able to multitask by swiping back and forth across the home button. I think the home button will be mechanical, but it will have a touch-sensitive area on either side. I've been expecting this since iPhone 5 prototype cases were leaked before the 4S was even released.

I think this gets too close to webOS functionality.

 

[Red Storm]

I hated the touch sensitive back panel on the Vita. All it did was interrupt my gaming and make me accidentally do things I didn't want to do. I won't be buying any phone that uses this "feature".

 

[Mopetar]

"No visuals?" Why assume that? I specifically mentioned a small dot-like pointer for some uses and the majority of uses don't need even that. For example, your laptop's touchpad has a mouse pointer for certain tasks but has nothing for the multi-touch and scrolling gestures (well, the GUI may show a scroll bar ). I think it's kind of a funny assumption to make, considering how long you have likely been using a computer mouse and/or touch pad. As we all know, touch screens have serious disadvantages compared to those input devices specifically in the areas of precision and fine control, so it only makes it a bit more humorous.

Computers have a pointer that's present on the screen, regardless of whether you're touching the mouse/trackpad or not. Touch screen devices have no such pointer. So you're left with two possibilities:

1) You add an always present pointer, and it moves relative to movements on the rear touch panel, regardless of where those touch events occur on the panel.

2) You don't add an always present pointer, but its location corresponds to the location of the touch event on the rear touch panel.

Both of these have some serious drawbacks. The first requires that you have a pointer on your screen, even if you don't need it. You could make some changes (such as it only pops up in certain contexts) but then using the rear touch panel isn't much better than just using the front touch panel. The drawback in the second case is that you need to be able to precisely position your fingers in the back of the device without being able to see them, so the first attempt at placing the cursor will almost always miss.

Scrolling is one gesture that's pretty simple and could be accomplished by using a rear touch panel, but it's not something that's so bad on current touch devices that it's just begging to be fixed. Also, having a rear touch panel means that it's necessary to determine when to ignore touch events on it. If it's constantly registering touch events that users don't want, it's going to be more annoying than beneficial. Also, as others have pointed out, you'd need special cases in order for it to work properly.

As I said, the use cases for this are fairly limited, and they don't solve a major problem. I think that there are a lot of things that Apple (or other companies for that matter) should focus on instead.

It's clear from the responses that not many think too hard about good UI and input design.

I don't think that you've put much thought into all of the problems and other potential issues that need to be solved for this to be a worthwhile addition. It's more than likely that Apple has built prototypes using such rear touch panel and have come to the same conclusion that I and others have, it's not very useful and the amount of work to produce a polished solution that doesn't result in errors is probably a lot more than what they'd get out of it, especially if there are other, more important areas that can be addressed to produce more value for less work.

 

[Jodell88]

Didn't Motorola do this once in the past?

Yup, it was an Android phone.

 

[CZroe]

Computers have a pointer that's present on the screen, regardless of whether you're touching the mouse/trackpad or not. Touch screen devices have no such pointer. So you're left with two possibilities:

1) You add an always present pointer, and it moves relative to movements on the rear touch panel, regardless of where those touch events occur on the panel.

2) You don't add an always present pointer, but its location corresponds to the location of the touch event on the rear touch panel.

Both of these have some serious drawbacks. The first requires that you have a pointer on your screen, even if you don't need it. You could make some changes (such as it only pops up in certain contexts) but then using the rear touch panel isn't much better than just using the front touch panel. The drawback in the second case is that you need to be able to precisely position your fingers in the back of the device without being able to see them, so the first attempt at placing the cursor will almost always miss.

You forgot option 3:

3) You don't use the pointer function at all unless an app specifically calls for it (games and such). No one said the pointer option was an ever-present iOS function forced on traditional usage.

As for #2, it assumes that there would be some reason for you to need it to already be pointing at the thing you intend to point it at. That would only be the case if you were making a selection or interacting with an object, which is the purpose of the touch screen. The rear touch panel would be used specifically to avoid accidental interaction with an object. Let's just say that there is an ever-present iOS pointer function that hides the pointer after inactivity or when typing, which is an option many desktop OSes have with mouse pointers. Now: Just like a desktop OS, it will reappear when touching or moving. It doesn't "do" anything when becoming visible so the position is irrelevant and the only remaining frustration is spotting it (just like a desktop OS). I don't know why you think anyone was suggesting that touching the back would ever be used for making selections or activating things (once again: that's what the touch screen is for). Imagine typing and suddenly wanting to move your insertion point up/back to add a few words and/or punctuation. You simply touch the back and a magnification bubble appears over the insertion point cursor's current position. You move up, it moves up. You put it where you want and resume typing. The moment you resume, the bubble disappears and the insertion point advances with each character just like normal. There was no need for an ever-present pointer and no need for a precise starting position (moves proportionally from the point you began your input from, just like a mouse/touch pad).

Scrolling is one gesture that's pretty simple and could be accomplished by using a rear touch panel, but it's not something that's so bad on current touch devices that it's just begging to be fixed. Also, having a rear touch panel means that it's necessary to determine when to ignore touch events on it. If it's constantly registering touch events that users don't want, it's going to be more annoying than beneficial. Also, as others have pointed out, you'd need special cases in order for it to work properly.

The case argument means nothing. The ONLY case Apple cares to sell seems almost MADE for this kind of thing (bumper case with completely exposed front and back). That's all they care about and you can always throw a skin over the exposed areas. Touch registers just fine through every skin and screen protector on the market.

Even if you wanted more, my very first hard-shell case for my iPhone 3G in 2008 was a Rocketfish (Best Buy brand) case with a touch-through plastic screen protector that did not adhere to the screen (collected dust between it though).

There are many more protective things that DO adhere that you can touch right through. My Xperia PLAY has carbon fiber skins available that completely cover the analog touch gamepads (scroll down) and yet they work fine. They even make some screen protectors out of glass, so there can be rigid touch-through cases. It's a complete non-issue. Also, the touch-sensitive bezel would not be required for the regular use of the phone (iOS6 will run on other devices, ya know), so it's still a non-issue that isn't even worth bringing up.

As I said, the use cases for this are fairly limited, and they don't solve a major problem. I think that there are a lot of things that Apple (or other companies for that matter) should focus on instead.

I don't think that you've put much thought into all of the problems and other potential issues that need to be solved for this to be a worthwhile addition. It's more than likely that Apple has built prototypes using such rear touch panel and have come to the same conclusion that I and others have, it's not very useful and the amount of work to produce a polished solution that doesn't result in errors is probably a lot more than what they'd get out of it, especially if there are other, more important areas that can be addressed to produce more value for less work.

Apple put a ton of work into filtering input on the touch screen and I am also sure that they have tried out touch sensitive back panels to see what they can do. Your assumptions about the results of such testing clearly can't be inevitable or it would not have been worth prototyping, which even you seem to think that they likely did. Are you saying that they are stupid enough to prototype something with issues they could have known they wouldn't overcome but "likely" did so anyway? Apple isn't stupid. If they felt that they could and DID, then this is exactly the design I would expect to see. Theories allow you to predict results, and, well, I think I see the expected result and I wanted to share it. Regardless, we'll all know very soon.

 

[Mopetar]

You forgot option 3:

3) You don't use the pointer function at all unless an app specifically calls for it (games and such).

That's a fairly niche use case, and once again it still requires that it's implemented extremely well or it's just going to be an unusable mess.

I'm not saying that Apple couldn't add something like this and make it work (And really if I had to bet money on anyone being able to do it well it would be Apple), but it's one of those things that seems like a lot of work for little reward. For that reason, I think it's unlikely that Apple will have such technology present in their next iPhone.

 

[Thegonagle]

Remember Apple's patent about having a touch-sensitive bezel? It was revealed years ago and still has yet to be used in an actual product.

I thought they already used it in the iPhone 4...

Touch the sides to end your call and terminate your data session.

Worked like a charm, however, it was universally panned by professional and user-reviewers.

:biggrin:

 

[Mopetar]

I thought they already used it in the iPhone 4...

Touch the sides to end your call and terminate your data session.

Worked like a charm, however, it was universally panned by professional and user-reviewers.

:biggrin:

:awe:

Now that's just funny.

 

[CZroe]

That's a fairly niche use case, and once again it still requires that it's implemented extremely well or it's just going to be an unusable mess.

I'm not saying that Apple couldn't add something like this and make it work (And really if I had to bet money on anyone being able to do it well it would be Apple), but it's one of those things that seems like a lot of work for little reward. For that reason, I think it's unlikely that Apple will have such technology present in their next iPhone.

"Niche" for the pointer function, yes, but one of many obvious use cases for the touch-sensitive back. Scrolling is hardly "niche" and doesn't require a pointer. That's like calling the touch screen "niche" because not nearly all apps use pinch to zoom out.

 

[AkumaX]

I thought they already used it in the iPhone 4...

Touch the sides to end your call and terminate your data session.

Worked like a charm, however, it was universally panned by professional and user-reviewers.

:biggrin:

:awe::awe::awe::awe::awe::awe: