No more hard buttons on phones?

[DavidJ726]

Simple question, would you like to see the dedicated Home/Menu/Back/Search done away with on upcoming phones?

 

[Chris Kerrigan]

Absolutely not for me. It's one reason I don't like iOS -- believe it or not, it's TOO simple for me. I love having the dedicated Menu/Back/Home buttons (and usually search). I understand Honeycomb may be eliminating the need for this on Tablets, but I don't see it being as effective on phones due to the smaller screen.

 

[Xopher]

It doesn't really matter to me (wasn't a choice in the poll).

I've seen some cheesy (cheap feeling) buttons on a couple of devices, and some that were quite small (making them hard to use). When comparing devices, I ended up going with the Mesmerize without any hard buttons.

The only issue I have with the soft buttons is having to guess where each button actually is when it is dark. Once they light up, I'm fine. If there was a small bump in between each button, it would make it a lot easier to find, though.

 

[DavidJ726]

Good point, I probably should have added that as a third option... Not sure if I can change that poll, probably not. I guess I liked the Web OS solution where I could customize the soft buttons at the bottom of the screen to fit MY needs.

 

[RUSH]

That's what make the phone unique. Really.

 

[kinster02]

That's what make the phone unique. Really.

Yeah, you maybe right but it doesn't really matter to me i'll adjust. It will be sorta like going back to a Webos device and I didn't want to ever go back there.

Sfm Evo

 

[RUSH]

Good point, I probably should have added that as a third option... Not sure if I can change that poll, probably not. I guess I liked the Web OS solution where I could customize the soft buttons at the bottom of the screen to fit MY needs.

You might can. Tap on thread tool opposite post reply on top.

 

[RUSH]

Yeah, you maybe right but it doesn't really matter to me i'll adjust. It will be sorta like going back to a Webos device and I didn't want to ever go back there.

Sfm Evo

You, me, and almost all previous WebOS users.

 

[beandon]

really depends on the phone but i dont think phone manufacturers should completely do away with physical buttons. But each phone is different and some of them are better without them

so really, it doesn't matter. lol

 

[Nozzles Brewin]

I agree with Xopher, doesn't really matter to me either way but I personally like them

 

[moosc]

I'm sad the bionic doesn't have hard keys. That is what I love about my X. On my dolt and droid1 I seemed to always hit a key when I was typing.

 

[icebike]

No Way

I had an iphone. Don't want to go back.

Every time I pick it up I am amazed how un-intuitive its interface is.
Keep the buttons.

 

[deercreek]

One of the things that drew me to the Droid X was the physical buttons.

 

[evoss05]

They really don't bother me unless they are awful like the hd2 or a couple of Droid from VZW.

 

[wes008]

For me, that's one of the things I envision when you say "Android". It's also a very efficient way to navigate. Keep the buttons. Weather they're capacitive or hard, just let them stay. It really annoys me when a company leaves out the search button on a phone.

 

[Cyber Warrior]

I wasn't in favor for them when I first bought the DX but kind of got use to them. I wouldn't mind an all capacitive touchscreen phone. One of the reasons I'm looking forward to the Bionic or TB. As far as the search button, I think I used it once just to try it out. For me there's no need for it... I can easily access the web from my browsers homescreen icon. I guess its good if you don't have your browsers home screen set to google but I think most people have it set to google.

 

[DavidJ726]

I guess I'm in the minority here... I don't know why that real estate can't be used as part of the screen, and the user defines which buttons are displayed. To me, that's part of the "openness" of the Android system.

Perhaps a part of my "issue" is that my buttons hardly ever light up making them hard to see, yeah I know... we know what button is there, but I'd still light to have it lit. I don't think my ambient light sensor is working the way it's supposed to...

David

 

[Verdes8891]

I dont mind it with not hard buttons, as i have two phones that only have volume and the power button as hard buttons. But i do like them from time to time.

 

[ghess517]

I rarely use the optical key on my inc...

 

[rap1]

I have an Archos 43 Internet tablet and having the soft buttons causes problems with some applications. My understanding it depends on how the developers write it but some don't call for the available screen size and do the whole screen size. Then you get application buttons covered by the android soft buttons.