Woz calls out apple for being arrogant with screen size!

[kaerflog]

I've been seeing more and more IP5s out there and the black ones are simply gorgeous.
It looks so sleek but the size is just too odd for my liking.
I keep thinking when Apple decide to widen the phone out and make it 4.3" and porportional, it will be a perfect size for me.

 

[eelw]

I wonder if Apple would have the capacity to meet demand for multiple phone lineup? Are 3.5" products still being produced? Or have those lines been retooled for current generation only?

 

[TheStu]

I wonder if Apple would have the capacity to meet demand for multiple phone lineup? Are 3.5" products still being produced? Or have those lines been retooled for current generation only?

They still sell the 4s and the 4, so I would imagine that they are still making those devices as new. The product lines are probably mature enough that they are getting great bang for their buck.

 

[MrX8503]

I've been seeing more and more IP5s out there and the black ones are simply gorgeous.
It looks so sleek but the size is just too odd for my liking.
I keep thinking when Apple decide to widen the phone out and make it 4.3" and porportional, it will be a perfect size for me.

I think it looks odd initially, but you get used to it. Now I think the iPhone 4 looks odd because of its squat look.

If you think about it, phones are used mostly in portrait mode, so vertical space is more important. I like that I'm able to see more vertically.

 

[kaerflog]

I think it looks odd initially, but you get used to it. Now I think the iPhone 4 looks odd because of its squat look.

If you think about it, phones are used mostly in portrait mode, so vertical space is more important. I like that I'm able to see more vertically.

You use your phone mostly in portrait mode is more of a reason to have your phone wider.
When I'm browsing the web, if the phone was wider, I wouldn't have to move the page left and right as much.
When you're viewing a web page, you are slowing scrolling the page up, seeing more vertically really doesn't do anything.
Having a wide phone also mean the keyboard will also be wider with bigger keys.

 

[bearxor]

You use your phone mostly in portrait mode is more of a reason to have your phone wider.
When I'm browsing the web, if the phone was wider, I wouldn't have to move the page left and right as much.
When you're viewing a web page, you are slowing scrolling the page up, seeing more vertically really doesn't do anything.
Having a wide phone also mean the keyboard will also be wider with bigger keys.

Do you have a site that you need to constantly scroll left/right on?

I'm just curious. I always just double-tap the text or use the reader function. If I double-tap, it fills the space where the text is just fine and it's perfectly readable to me. If you use reader, it strips all the text of a story or post out of the page and puts it in a very readable format.

 

[bearxor]

😕 How often do you need to reach the top left corner?

Like, ALL THE TIME!

And this what happens if I really STRETCH to try to hit that address bar.

Compared to a RAZR M.

And an iPhone 5.

Edit: Wow, that RAZR M camera is crap. (the RAZR M snapped the picture of the iPhone.
Also, I have never been as self-concious about my thumb as I am right now.

 

[WelshBloke]

You can open a new tab by hitting the menu button in the bottom left.
That will open up all your bookmarks.

You'll need to hit the address bar if you want to type in an address though, but it's easier to type in a web address with two hands anyway.

Still not seeing this as anything more than a fuss about nothing.

 

[bearxor]

You can open a new tab by hitting the menu button in the bottom left.
That will open up all your bookmarks.

I don't keep bookmarks. Like, at all.

You'll need to hit the address bar if you want to type in an address though, but it's easier to type in a web address with two hands anyway.

On a GS3, I would agree with you. On an iPhone, its easy for me to type something like 'reddit' and then hit the .com button and then Go. I'm most likely to clear the address bar and then type the first couple of letters of the site and then select it from the history.

Still not seeing this as anything more than a fuss about nothing.

Sure, for you. But this just goes back to your usage case is not the definitive usage case. Different strokes for different folks, right?

 

[WelshBloke]

... On a GS3, I would agree with you. On an iPhone, its easy for me to type something like 'reddit' and then hit the .com button and then Go. I'm most likely to clear the address bar and then type the first couple of letters of the site and then select it from the history...

If you want to search like that you can long press the menu button from the 'desktop' that brings up Google now. You can then just start typing. No hitting the address bar needed. You don't even need to open the browser.

Edit: also bookmarks work really well if you're using Chrome on the desktop and the phone. Give it a go, it's useful.

 

[aylafan]

And this what happens if I really STRETCH to try to hit that address bar.

I do agree with you that it's tougher to reach the notification bar and the address bar in the browser. I usually have to switch my hand position and grip both sides of the S3 to have my thumb reach the top of the screen instead of gripping the bottom of the S3 for normal usage. It was tough for about a week, but then I got used to it and it's not that difficult doing it with one hand now. However, I wouldn't recommend doing this while you are walking or while you are on a moving object because your grip will not be secure while you are switching your hand position to do this.

 

[MrX8503]

You use your phone mostly in portrait mode is more of a reason to have your phone wider.
When I'm browsing the web, if the phone was wider, I wouldn't have to move the page left and right as much.
When you're viewing a web page, you are slowing scrolling the page up, seeing more vertically really doesn't do anything.
Having a wide phone also mean the keyboard will also be wider with bigger keys.

Why do you need a wider phone? Sites are built on the 960 grid system and web content have a padding of 10px on both sides. So websites are 940px wide.

Isn't the iPhone 5 960px wide? Vertical space doesn't do anything? Vertical space is very important in web browsing.

 

[runawayprisoner]

Isn't the iPhone 5 960px wide? Vertical space doesn't do anything? Vertical space is very important in web browsing.

iPhone 5 is either 640 wide or 1152 wide... depending on the orientation.

The 1152 width actually helps because websites are sized to fit on the screen. It's not an absolute size.

You can see more when you hold the iPhone 5 in landscape, and texts are bigger, which means they are easier to read.

That was one of my pet peeves about the iPhone 4... landscape didn't have enough width to display a whole paragraph width on many websites. The iPhone 5 is just... perfect.

iPhone 5 in landscape is also obviously wider than any Android display. I'm not sure why people don't rotate their phones more often.

 

[Accord99]

On a GS3, I would agree with you. On an iPhone, its easy for me to type something like 'reddit' and then hit the .com button and then Go. I'm most likely to clear the address bar and then type the first couple of letters of the site and then select it from the history.

On Android, you can enable the quick controls on the default ICS browser (or the even better ICS+ Browser app) which popup navigation controls and allow typing directly into the address bar.

With quick controls, I don't even need to display the address bar anymore.

 

[MrX8503]

iPhone 5 is either 640 wide or 1152 wide... depending on the orientation.

The 1152 width actually helps because websites are sized to fit on the screen. It's not an absolute size.

You can see more when you hold the iPhone 5 in landscape, and texts are bigger, which means they are easier to read.

That was one of my pet peeves about the iPhone 4... landscape didn't have enough width to display a whole paragraph width on many websites. The iPhone 5 is just... perfect.

iPhone 5 in landscape is also obviously wider than any Android display. I'm not sure why people don't rotate their phones more often.

Ah I see. It sizes to fit. There's very little vertical space on an iPhone in landscape mode.

 

[WelshBloke]

On Android, you can enable the quick controls on the default ICS browser (or the even better ICS+ Browser app) which popup navigation controls and allow typing directly into the address bar.

With quick controls, I don't even need to display the address bar anymore.

I forgot about those, they are great.

I wish they would put them in chrome and give chrome a full screen mode.

 

[Accord99]

I forgot about those, they are great.

I wish they would put them in chrome and give chrome a full screen mode.

Agreed, it's the main thing keeping me from using Chrome.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

😕 How often do you need to reach the top left corner?

Notification bar? Given my I have notification bar toggles, more often than many people? Having to readjust constantly isn't the most comfortable on an S3 sized phone.

I think there's a lot of "it's fine" "I don't mind" mentality on this board. Then there's the fact that a larger screen is more lucrative, and people sacrifice ergonomics. If you looked into what's ergonomically best for people I doubt its 4.8" You can certainly also improve ergonomics given how and where you must interact with a phone in terms of location on the screen.

 

[kaerflog]

I think I browse webpages different from you guys.
I hate mobile sites. I always go to the full sites.
For example on Engadget full site(with a GS3), I can zoom in just enough to view the entire content without having to move left and right. All I have to do is scroll down slowly while browsing the contents.
Now with the ip5, the width is still too narrow and still at 640 so I too zoom in more to see the texts clearly and therefore I have to move left and right.
Below is a screenshot of the SG3 where I zoom in just enough to see all the texts clearly without having to move the page left and right.

 

[Accord99]

I think there's a lot of "it's fine" "I don't mind" mentality on this board. Then there's the fact that a larger screen is more lucrative, and people sacrifice ergonomics. If you looked into what's ergonomically best for people I doubt its 4.8" You can certainly also improve ergonomics given how and where you must interact with a phone in terms of location on the screen.

You can say that about both sides; I mean multi-touch was lauded as a killer feature and yet it doesn't work with one handed operation. And if one handed operation was so important to Apple, they wouldn't have built phones using slippery materials like glass on the front AND back.

A smaller screen probably works better with one hand and you're moving, but in pretty much any other situation a 4.7-4.8" screen's is superior by showing more information and working better with two handed operation.

 

[WelshBloke]

Notification bar? ...

I use apex launcher and set it to open the notification shade on a swipe down anywhere on the home screen.

 

[runawayprisoner]

I think I browse webpages different from you guys.
I hate mobile sites. I always go to the full sites.
For example on Engadget full site(with a GS3), I can zoom in just enough to view the entire content without having to move left and right. All I have to do is scroll down slowly while browsing the contents.
Now with the ip5, the width is still too narrow and still at 640 so I too zoom in more to see the texts clearly and therefore I have to move left and right.
Below is a screenshot of the SG3 where I zoom in just enough to see all the texts clearly without having to move the page left and right.

Rotate the iPhone 5 to the side and you have full 1152 pixels for width. Since Safari can go fullscreen in landscape, there is more to see, and absolutely no need to scroll left or right on any website.

You are not locked to just portrait mode after all.

If you are lying down, then just put the top end of the phone down. It won't keep rotating back into portrait mode anymore. The phone is effectively locked into landscape then.

That's one of my problems with some Android phones. There is no way to lock the browser into landscape mode. I guess I can write a custom browser that fits my own needs, but if the phone came with a good browser built in, I shouldn't need to do that.

I have a GS3, too. But after using the iPhone 5, I realize why Apple made their screen the way they did.

Also to say, typing up responses like this is much better with iPhone 5 in landscape than Android in portrait.

 

[Red Storm]

Using the iPhone in landscape means a whole lot of vertical scrolling, more than other phones because they only increased the height and not the width of the iPhone.

Keyboards like Swiftkey and Swype are far faster and more efficient than the stock Android or iPhone keyboards (portrait or landscape).

 

[aylafan]

Also to say, typing up responses like this is much better with iPhone 5 in landscape than Android in portrait.

How are you comparing the iPhone 5 in landscape mode to an Android phone in portrait mode? That doesn't make any sense.

You also have to scroll left and right on an iPhone 5 if you pinch-to-zoom; same thing applies to the S3. They both can do fullscreen in landscape mode...

 

[runawayprisoner]

Using the iPhone in landscape means a whole lot of vertical scrolling, more than other phones because they only increased the height and not the width of the iPhone.

Keyboards like Swiftkey and Swype are far faster and more efficient than the stock Android or iPhone keyboards (portrait or landscape).

Swype and Swiftkey don't come default on every Android device.

And you don't have to exclusively read things in landscape. Just rotate back to portrait when you need to scroll that much.

How are you comparing the iPhone 5 in landscape mode to an Android phone in portrait mode? That doesn't make any sense.

You also have to scroll left and right on an iPhone 5 if you pinch-to-zoom; same thing applies to the S3. They both can do fullscreen in landscape mode...

I'm comparing the iPhone 5 to an Android phone in portrait because people keep saying the iPhone 5 lacks "width", but that's not exactly the case. If you want "width" on any phone, be it Android or iPhone, you only have to rotate the phone to landscape.

Some websites don't allow any zooming at all... whether on Android or iPhone. You can force zooming, but in such cases, both devices will benefit more from landscape than portrait.

Also just to make a point, there are actually fundamental differences between the way iOS renders websites as opposed to Android.

Even in portrait mode, some websites are more legible on iPhone than on any Android device. Here, take this example for the iPhone 5 vs Galaxy S3:

First, S3 portrait:

The texts in the first paragraph are barely legible. I have to zoom in to read them comfortably on my Galaxy S3.

Now, iPhone 5 portrait:

See how texts are much bigger in the same paragraph? It makes the paragraph slightly longer, but it's very legible even if I don't zoom in.

And in landscape? The difference really shows...
Galaxy S3:

And iPhone 5:

Texts are bigger on the iPhone 5 again. As Red Storm said, this requires more scrolling, but I can easily read texts on the iPhone 5 when I hold the phone further away. The Galaxy S3, on the other hand, would require me to zoom in a little bit before my eyes are comfortable with the text size, so the extra screen real estate is actually for nothing at all, and I end up having to scroll an equal amount on both phones due to this.

Also just to say, iPhone 5 in landscape is easier to hold and operate with one hand than Galaxy S3 in portrait since the device is physically smaller and significantly lighter.

Some people prefer the smaller texts on the Galaxy S3, I must admit, since it allows them to fit more on the screen, as you can see. But I don't. I prefer legibility of a website over everything else. And the less I have to zoom/scroll, the better. I end up having to scroll less on iPhone because of the way texts are rendered.

Now, before anyone suggests it: yes, I tried to increase font size on Android. It breaks the layout of many websites, and in general, it just doesn't feel the same way Apple does it. Some websites genuinely optimize themselves to be viewed on an iPhone, and so they always work better in Mobile Safari. Just like how many online video services serve direct MP4 containers to iPhone while leaving just the Flash container for Android. Favoritism is strong here, but eh... what can you do?

Edit: here's a screenshot to demonstrate what happens when I increase font size on Android:

See how those texts completely obscure the photos in the headline? It's more legible, but... it really breaks some websites almost completely.