iOS 4.3 Brings New Gestures to the iPad

[Wiley John Wright]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvxSSGUtTYA&feature=player_embedded]YouTube - iOS 4.3 MultiTouch Gestures[/ame]


iOS 4.3 looks like it’s shaping up to be a pretty big update. With so many new features and improvements coming, it appears that Apple is going to include a few new finger gestures with this update as well. One, two and three finger gestures are standard issue on the iPad. It now seems that Apple is ready to unleash four and five-finger gestures on the world with this update.

So far, it appears that it doesn’t matter whether you use four or five fingers to perform these new gestures. Here’s a short list of the new gestures that have been discovered so far:

• Use a 5-fingers pinch to return to the home screen
• Swipe up with 4 or 5 fingers to access the multitasking menu bar
• Swipe down with 4 or 5 fingers to close the multitasking menu bar
• Swipe left or right with 4 or 5 fingers to switch between different apps

There is some talk that Apple will be removing the Home button on future iOS devices. If this is true, then Apple will need to have some way of replacing the functions of the Home button. The gestures included in the latest beta version of iOS 4.3, does offer some proof that Home button functions will soon be replicated on the iPad’s touch screen. There is one nagging question, however, and that is, how will a hard reset be possible without a physical Home button? iOS devices do freeze up once in a while and users need to be able to reset their devices now and again.

As Apple adds more and more gestures to the iOS and Mac, a troubling trend is developing. Apple has always maintained a consistent user interface across the entire Mac operating system. This has always made the Mac easier to learn and use than the competition. Now that multi-touch technology is here to stay, Apple has not maintained a consistent user experience with these new finger gestures. A MacBook trackpad has one set of gestures, while the Magic Mouse has a slightly different set and the iOS has it’s own set of finger gestures as well. At some point I hope that Apple recognizes this issue and makes an effort to unify finger gestures across every device. Otherwise, the more gestures added to our swiping vocabulary, the more confusion there will be for some users, especially new ones.

When iOS 4.3 is released, I’m sure that I will update all of my iOS devices right away. But I look forward to a day when there is a single set of finger gestures for all iOS devices. I don’t think that should be too much of a challenge for Apple.

Source: MacRumors

[jius]

A standard set of gestures would be well received. Perhaps reset will be an 'internal' button like in sbsettings to respring. Why remove button though? another ploy to stop JBreaking????

[sephiroth726]

no home button would suck... 4.3 gestures, I'll just stay with 4.1 and use activator

[CX3NT3_713]

that was impressive ,,I think it looks better than the playbook..

[vantheman169]

well as far as jailbreaking goes and putting your iDevice in DFU mode, i guess somebody will have to continue to make programs that will enter DFU mode by the click of a button. There has to be a way to enter DFU mode.

[Doran]

I really don't believe they would get rid of the Home Button. If they did..... That would make jb a bit more difficult.

[djerrol]

will it work with 3GS?

[JazJon]

YouTube - Apple Removing Home Button From Idevices

What if you only like to use your iphone one handed? How the hell are we supposed to get back to the home screen? I'm holding my iphone right now in my left hand & I use is my left thumb to navigate around. The only time I add my right hand is when I need/want to type something long winded/faster. For the most part I operate my iphone one handed MOST of the time. Why is apple so button phobic? I tried to "like" a macbook last year, but ended up going back to a windows 7 laptop

[MikePA]

I have a finger gesture for Apple.

The obvious, well, maybe not to some, benefit of getting rid of the hardware Home button is to either be able to reduce the overall size of the device while maintaining the same screen size OR keep the overall size of the device the same and increase the screen size. The hardware Home button takes up roughly 14% of the length of the iPhone and 8% of an iPad.

[Dr Arthur]

I hope they don't obsessively push this like their crappy useless voice control. I think Apple is desperate to increase screen size without making the phone bigger. But a 5 finger home page means 2 handed use. A backward step.

[Drizahy]

Maybe it's just me but why are people complaining about a 5 finger swipe on the iPad. Dunno about you guys but I can not hold my iPad and do anything all with 1 hand...

This is a post about the iPad which people have on a desk, lap or in there 2nd hand to begin with. Now if the post started 4.3 gestures to iPhone I would say it's retarded.

On the other side of things I like the options. Apple should just give the user the ability to choose which gesture they want themselves. I see 4.3 gestures and the next major os update to unify everything. It will have a "home" screen so it should all fit together.

[zoso10]

4 fingers to switch between apps is more of what I had in mind for multitasking. I think I'd like the 5 finger pinch to get back to the home screen too.

[Simon]

I like the gestures, makes moving around very quick.

[lillstar12]

"Use a 5-fingers pinch to return to the home screen
Swipe up with 4 or 5 fingers to access the multitasking menu bar
Swipe down with 4 or 5 fingers to close the multitasking menu bar
Swipe left or right with 4 or 5 fingers to switch between different apps"

What if you have lost 2 fingers and the home buttons gone ? Your not going to want to use both hands to go back to the main menu.

Also not gonna be easy to get to DFU mode, dont they ever think of us jailbreakers ?

[grmiller]

On the iPad 4.3 beta 1 I cant find the option to turn the multitasking swipe on anywhere.

[Simon]

You need to set the iPad as a development device in Xcode for that to show up.

[Jay Marcase]

As Apple adds more and more gestures to the iOS and Mac, a troubling trend is developing. Apple has always maintained a consistent user interface across the entire Mac operating system. This has always made the Mac easier to learn and use than the competition. Now that multi-touch technology is here to stay, Apple has not maintained a consistent user experience with these new finger gestures.

Apple shouldn't limit iOS Gesture Support just to fit in line with non touchscreen devices.

[ODB25]

What if you only like to use your iphone one handed? How the hell are we supposed to get back to the home screen? I'm holding my iphone right now in my left hand & I use is my left thumb to navigate around. The only time I add my right hand is when I need/want to type something long winded/faster. For the most part I operate my iphone one handed MOST of the time. Why is apple so button phobic? I tried to "like" a macbook last year, but ended up going back to a windows 7 laptop

I couldn't agree more w this comment (except about going back to W7) -- I don't know why any1 would want to put more than 2 fingers on an iPhone at once, an iPad of course has a huge screen therefore not an issue but using 3, even 4 fingers on an iPhone screen seems a bit much

[Hal05154]

What damn dumb stupid abortion of an idea. Who the hell want to drag 5 fingers across their screen? I've been thoroughly enjoying my Griffin stylus just so I don't HAVE to touch the screen as much and smudge the crap out of it. And remove the Home button? Typical Jobs stupidity. For a genius (marketing only), he can be an idiot.

[Simon]

Please do not post your udid in this thread. This is a news thread, not one to request dev slots.