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First field report of iPhone X

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Re: First field report of iPhone X

#81
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are edge use cases, I think 99% of the time your interaction will have less friction and more security. For the edge cases generally a pass code will work (under the table / multiple users). I'm not sure what you do with your phone unlocked in your pocket... TouchID being quicker is your opinion, and as neither of us (I assume) have used it, we'll see if it is quicker. I just think there were lots of negativity…

Edge cases are the most important ones to consider when talking about usability since all other cases are irrelevant.

The least used interactions are the most important? Really?

I would say the opposite, the interactions that the most users use the most often are the most important.

Re: First field report of iPhone X

#82
post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Edge cases are the most important ones to consider when talking about usability since all other cases are irrelevant.

The least used interactions are the most important? Really? I would say the opposite, the interactions that the most users use the most often are the most important.

Edge cases are not the least used interactions, and even if they are it's not what makes them edge cases.

Edge cases are defined as what happens at the edge of operating parameters the classic example of a speaker that is played at the bottom or top 10% of it's output, edge cases do not have an intrinsic definition of occurrence rarity. It might not relevant to you, but if you like blowing up your house with all that bass or you have very thin walls and you have to listen to music very quietly then these are still edge cases but they are not rare cases for you.

In reality and in practice edge cases are pretty much anything that goes out of the (pretty narrow) definition of how a device or a service should be used (the classical remark of "you are holding the iphone wrong" comes to mind).

On your daily usability the edge cases are also much more important for the general satisfaction and subjective usability values of the device. When you are in a perfect position/condition to use your phone the environmental conditions overcome any design flaws, and you experience pretty normal usability.

When you say hold the phone on the floor by your bed to avoid the light creeping all over the room, under the table during a meeting, or as close to the floor when possible at a theater is when the flaws in usability start being apparent. That's when things like the placement of the fingerprint reader (or lack there of), weight, size, screen readability at low brightness and odd angles start to become more and more relevant.

Same goes for other things, you don't care about how much leg room there is in the back of your car until you need to fit 5 people over the weekend, despite you using it more times solo during the work week.

Re: First field report of iPhone X

#83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it can be unlocked in your pocket for SOS use cases. Because it can be unlocked under the table or at a very low angle to be used in places such as a restaurant, meeting room, theater etc. Because one can use TouchID for Apple Pay much quicker and more reliably in a crowded/rushed situation such as paying for public transport. Becuase TouchID actually allows multiple users on the same device if if that is not…

Ok, you unlock in your pocket for SOS, what then? You can't see what you are doing anyway.

I can quite reliably send a text or make a call from a pocket, but fine switch a pocket to a purse....

Re: First field report of iPhone X

#84
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IOS on the 7 has been rock solid. What is wrong on the 6s?

Random freezes, phone calls not having sound, and for me as a podcast/audiobook listener that side is awful, widget not working, having to restart the app or the whole phone, bluetooht connectivity being very unreliable. Usability gone much worse regarding audio. In situations where with ios9 I could rely that I put my headphone on and push the button on the headphones the correct thing would start playing immediatel…

It is as bad as you report (I run both a 6 and a 7 as daily drivers). I'm running the latest iOS 11.1 beta on my 6 for it to be usable, highly recommend doing so; its superior to the non-beta 11.0.*

https://beta.apple.com/sp/betaprogram/redemption (Apple ID login required)

Re: First field report of iPhone X

#86
post #13

Slightly OT: I am most impressed by Apple‘s bold move to drop the iPhone‘s decade old, iconic symmetric design while establishing a new iconic asymmetric design almost over night. As odd as the new design feels, Apple already owns this design, this buckle, this asymmetry. Edit: Why the downvotes (just wondering)?

Apple probably owns the design because most other manufactures hopefully see that you shouldn't be looking at a notch every time you are viewing a video. I've been an iPhone user since day 1 but the screen shape on this phone just makes so little sense.

It wouldn't be the worst if Apple made it that iOS scaled everything so media wasn't blocked by the notch but instead if I get the iPhone X I have to wait for app developers to fix the issue. Seems like a poor decision.

Re: First field report of iPhone X

#87
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unlocking your phone with your face has been a regular feature of many smartphones for at least 5 years.

No wonder Android people do not understand why people pay good money for very locked down iPhone, to them crappy implementation for hardware and software is good enough.

Why the troll comment? There are good and bad points to both ecosystems. For instance the Fingerprint reader on my Pixel is faster and more accurate than the TouchID on my iPhone 7. That doesn't make me go, iPhone sucks. The implementation on Facial Recognition may not be as great on the android phones that support it, but that doesn't mean you should bash a whole ecosystem and community of people.

Re: First field report of iPhone X

#88
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's innovation -- but it's also at the expense of taking away a feature I regularly use. I frequently unlock a phone that's flat on a desk that's at an arm's length. Now, to unlock, I suspect I'll need to lift and point that device towards my face in order to authenticate. Since I haven't tried the iPhone X yet, I'm not sure how liberal they are with the angle required to capture your face, but it seems unlikely thi…

Not to be blunt but why get the phone if it’s going to make your life miserable in a sense?

If you're an Apple user, you don't really get a choice over whether to adopt this new stuff. You'll either buy it now, or you'll have to buy it anyway the next time you upgrade because there won't be any other options. Or you switch to Android.

Often this is fine because the new stuff is unambiguously great. Sometimes it's miserable. That's life as an Apple customer.

Re: First field report of iPhone X

#89
post #27
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please do explain why you don't view Face ID as an innovation over existing technology.

I'm kind of surprised on this because it's been around on various Android and Windows devices for a while. I understand that it might be more reliable and faster, but that's incremental rather than revolutionary.

"Reliable and fast" is exactly why TouchID was so great when they introduced it. They aren't just nice-to-have features, they're the bare minimum requirements for this kind of thing -- a feature that you use constantly, and which gates your access to all other features.

Re: First field report of iPhone X

#90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you imagine that people who buy a new phone every year smash the old one once they've restored their backup? Or do is it more likely that they pass them on to others via sales or gifting? In which case those perfectly good phones are still perfectly good phones...

And then what happens to the phones those people had? We don't do this with laptops, desktops, or monitors. What makes phones so special?

Actually, yeah, I do do that with laptops and desktops and monitors. My entire family uses laptops that I once owned. And I'm using a laptop (as a server) that my parents once owned. My old monitor is now my nephew's monitor. etc.etc.
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