Poor design with no menu button

[samid]

They put all of the buttons as physical buttons except the menu button. so now in all of the non ICS apps, i lose part of the screen. How does this make sense? Anyone have an idea why they didnt just put the menu button as a physical button so that we could benefit from this large screen? Or why they didnt just make all the buttons software buttons and a smaller device? I guess these are design level questions, but to me it seems like poor planning.

 

[midmofan]

its not HTC, and that was Google

 

[bryanw504]

Don't blame Google or HTC the blame needs to be placed on the developers who aren't updating there apps. ICS has been out long enough for them to have updated.

Sent from my PC36100 using Android Central Forums

 

[TonyLibations]

I heard Apple patented the physical menu button and that's why they were delayed.

 

[Hurleygm]

Don't blame Google or HTC the blame needs to be placed on the developers who aren't updating there apps. ICS has been out long enough for them to have updated.

Sent from my PC36100 using Android Central Forums

+1

Sent from my HTC EVO 4G LTE using Tapatalk.

 

[ImNoPrince]

yea seems like Menu could have even been 3rd button and Double tap of Home could be Recent apps . I don't get it but am getting use to it.

 

[samid]

Making all the buttons on screen weighs have solved this for me.

Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums

 

[Paladin]

I am getting used to it and it is not bad I guess but my question is why go to this model in ICS in the first place?

Is it simply to save the cost of having one additional button? I also liked the menu button. Are they trying to get down to one button or none? I hear Apple wants to remove all of them so is Android trying to get to that point but slowly? Will we loose a button each OS rev until they are all gone?

What is the reasoning behind changing it? I do not find it more efficient.

 

[cgardnervt]

Give it a little while and you will be used to it!

 

[solo1]

I am getting used to it and it is not bad I guess but my question is why go to this model in ICS in the first place?

Is it simply to save the cost of having one additional button? I also liked the menu button. Are they trying to get down to one button or none? I hear Apple wants to remove all of them so is Android trying to get to that point but slowly? Will we loose a button each OS rev until they are all gone?

What is the reasoning behind changing it? I do not find it more efficient.

I agree ... As long as your going to utilize that bottom area for one , you might as well use the whole area ... I can't believe they felt a dedicated "recent apps" button was more useful than a dedicated menu button. I really wish at times these designers would let us in to their design process so that we can understand what the hell they were thinking.

 

[PookiePrancer]

What I didn't like is that, on top of the almost useless implementation of the multitasking button on this phone (I have to swipe through preview screens a la Windows Aero), the preview screens don't even rotate when you turn the phone to landscape! Ta-cky!

 

[anon(394005)]

Don't blame Google or HTC the blame needs to be placed on the developers who aren't updating there apps. ICS has been out long enough for them to have updated.

Sent from my PC36100 using Android Central Forums

Google IS to blame. They want to get rid of the menu button, thus made the design change with ICS that is subsequently causing everyone else down the food chain to adapt. Personally, I hate the change and find it counter intuitive and counter productive. It's one major reason I will be holding on to my current four button capacitive phone longer.

 

[jerrod6]

I have a Galaxy Nexus - no buttons and personally I like it that way.

I wish developers would think outside of the box and use the on screen button area to their advantage. With on screen buttons, apps can assign a button area ANY operation they want to. For all we know there may be room for 4 or 5 button areas on a screen depending on the button size.

We need to be forward thinking not looking back at the way it always was. Not only that, the menu button is a design borrowed from Apple. The less taken from Apple the better.

When I see new Android phones being released with physical buttons I am less likely to consider purchasing them. I think the fact that some phones have a mixture of onscreen and physical/capacitive buttons is a design problem, but it is one that the manufacturer has created buy being inconsistent with the functions offered by the new operating system.

 

[roflwaffleton]

yea seems like Menu could have even been 3rd button and Double tap of Home could be Recent apps . I don't get it but am getting use to it.

I had grown accustomed to long pressing the home button to bring up the recent apps. A dedicated recent app button seems unnecessary to me. I would have much preferred a dedicated menu button. But overall I'm loving the phone.

 

[midmofan]

I think I recall the excuse given was so that ics would work the same on phones and tablets since tablets didn't have all the hard buttons. I pretty lame honestly, just code it better to work on what device it is on.

 

[kinster02]

I think the GS3 design would have been a better way, where you still retain the menu, home and back button and then you long press the home button for recent apps...it still doesn't solve the search button issue which I rarely use. You really can't blame the dev's on not updating their apps since only less than 4% of Android devises have ICS.

 

[Jackson Galaxy]

I've had 4G and 3D, now the LTE and I don't even remember what the menu button did anymore

 

[cubspike]

This post will probably offend the hardcore fans....BUT; This is another example of how Android is continuing to fail the AVERAGE user (not the tech geeks like us).

As a user, I always knew that if a menu or settings exited in an app, all I had to do was hit the "menu" button. While not every app used it or well, it was one of the things you could count on...if it exists, the menu button will bring it up. The move towards a software menu button will only complicate things for average user.
1. Developers won't use it consistently and if they do use it, it will end up all over the device. Google has never been good about holding apps accountable to design specs.
2. The small icon and inconsistent placement mean that it is hard to locate, unlike the simple button at the bottom of the phone...which was easy.
4. The new action bar takes up screen space...even if it "disappears".
3. The "official" placement is NOT convenient for tablet users, or people that are used to working with one hand. Take the time to watch how 7-10 inch tablet users hold their devices...landscape with BOTH hands. Having the buttons (any buttons) in the center, or at the top of the screen means you have to readjust.
My question is (and I haven't gotten a good answer yet)...was this decision really based on improving the user experience (I don't think so), or based on phone costs and making things easier for themselves and developers? Ignore the user experience at your peril!!
Consumers (again, average users, not technophiles)keep saying over and over (through surveys, forums, etc) that they NEED consistency they can count on (between all apps and functions) for it to be SIMPLE, and for it to work and be functional right out of the box. #1 stated reasons people abandon Android for iPhones. "easier to use", " I don't have to manage my phone", everything works the same way, I can find what I need". Don't kid yourselves...the only reason Android is as popular as it is, and sells well is because manufacturers have flooded the market with it. But if you take a realistic look at the numbers, you see that sales are flattening and large numbers abandon the platform within a year.

Interesting to note...Hardcore Android fans are quick to dismiss Microsoft and Windows 7 or 8, but user ergonomics (how you hold a device, what is easiest and most comfortable, what is the most consistent) is precisely what they have studied and are developing W8 for.

To my mind...Google and Android are constantly handicapping themselves, working in a "piecemeal" fashion. As a friend described it..."Like a bunch of teenagers with Attention Deficit Disorder". I was a fan at one time, but after spending so much time struggling with issues ....sorry to say they are losing me.

Thanks for reading. I'm sure many disagree but that's what makes life interesting. Peace and health to all.

 

[midmofan]

Yup agree with you on this one. Same goes for the Search Button for me. Where I really miss the search button is in Dolphin HD, before, I could just hit the search from wherever I was and it would bring up the the URL/search bar where i could type in a new address. Now I have to scroll back to the top of the page, hit the URL bar and then type. Not the largest thing in the world but indicative of not being aware of how the device is used by normal people on a dat-to-day basis.

This post will probably offend the hardcore fans....BUT; This is another example of how Android is continuing to fail the AVERAGE user (not the tech geeks like us).

As a user, I always knew that if a menu or settings exited in an app, all I had to do was hit the "menu" button. While not every app used it or well, it was one of the things you could count on...if it exists, the menu button will bring it up. The move towards a software menu button will only complicate things for average user.
1. Developers won't use it consistently and if they do use it, it will end up all over the device. Google has never been good about holding apps accountable to design specs.
2. The small icon and inconsistent placement mean that it is hard to locate, unlike the simple button at the bottom of the phone...which was easy.
4. The new action bar takes up screen space...even if it "disappears".
3. The "official" placement is NOT convenient for tablet users, or people that are used to working with one hand. Take the time to watch how 7-10 inch tablet users hold their devices...landscape with BOTH hands. Having the buttons (any buttons) in the center, or at the top of the screen means you have to readjust.
My question is (and I haven't gotten a good answer yet)...was this decision really based on improving the user experience (I don't think so), or based on phone costs and making things easier for themselves and developers? Ignore the user experience at your peril!!
Consumers (again, average users, not technophiles)keep saying over and over (through surveys, forums, etc) that they NEED consistency they can count on (between all apps and functions) for it to be SIMPLE, and for it to work and be functional right out of the box. #1 stated reasons people abandon Android for iPhones. "easier to use", " I don't have to manage my phone", everything works the same way, I can find what I need". Don't kid yourselves...the only reason Android is as popular as it is, and sells well is because manufacturers have flooded the market with it. But if you take a realistic look at the numbers, you see that sales are flattening and large numbers abandon the platform within a year.

Interesting to note...Hardcore Android fans are quick to dismiss Microsoft and Windows 7 or 8, but user ergonomics (how you hold a device, what is easiest and most comfortable, what is the most consistent) is precisely what they have studied and are developing W8 for.

To my mind...Google and Android are constantly handicapping themselves, working in a "piecemeal" fashion. As a friend described it..."Like a bunch of teenagers with Attention Deficit Disorder". I was a fan at one time, but after spending so much time struggling with issues ....sorry to say they are losing me.

Thanks for reading. I'm sure many disagree but that's what makes life interesting. Peace and health to all.

 

[RyDawgBoston]

HTC really took a step back when removing the menu button and search button. Even the gs3 has the menu button.

They should have kept a lot of the options from the og evo and improved on that.