one-handed, blind use by way of gestures - for the phone

asked 2015-09-28 12:18:57 +0300

AkiBerlin gravatar image

This is not a question, rather an observation. It is about convergence (between phone and tablet) and divergence.

For me, one-handed, blind use of a phone by way of gestures was the core concept of Nokia N9 and Jolla/Sailfish - at least originally. Now it is somehow compromised probably because one-handed blind use does not make sense on a tablet.

Gestures made a one-handed blind use of a pure touch-screen device possible. The nice thing about gestures is that the direction (and speed) of the the gesture is a further information in addition to the location. In fact, as we all know, many things can be done be way of gestures without even looking at the phone - as opposed to tapping which in most cases requires that you hit a button (field). Off course, double tap for unlock is an exemption.

Therefore I bevlieve that the concept of a gesture orientated OS suites (small) phones very well, whereas it is a bit less usefull on a tablet. This is not only due to the size, but also due to the usecase. A phone still is used as a phone (in most cases) and often times you have to use the phone in situations where you only have one free hand or where you do not even want to look at the phone - e.g. for muting it, rejecting a call or flipping to the next song.

I would therefore be happy, If SFOS could be kind of bifurcated - into into a phone version that is optimized for one-handed blind use and into a tablet version. Off course, having different gestures or heuristics for differnt devices has the drawback of some inconsistency. But maybe it is possible to make the use-paradigm user-selectable so that those who like a tablet-like behaviour on their phone can have this while others can set up their phone for optimized one-handed blind operation.

edit retag flag offensive close delete

Comments

Better still, allow choice between two sets of gestures, maybe predifined but user-configurable.

Giacomo Di Giacomo ( 2015-09-28 12:28:06 +0300 )edit
6

Can't fault much here, I get the general sentiment that it appears that the phone and tablet gestures are going to be in tandem and I for one wouldn't expect to use a phone and tablet in exactly the same manner. For me it's some of the ridiculous things that have been implemented in this pre 2.0 update like the ridiculous sprawling selection laid out by the ambience changer at the top of the phone that I have not used once since it installed itself there, absolutely pointless, I'm still waiting to see ONE single good explanation as to WHY it needs to be there and WHO changes ambiances non stop all day, cos' I don't : | and that's just one item on the list I don't like, so for me, YES, have a separate phone version by all means, without these pointless additions.

davekelly ( 2015-09-28 12:35:08 +0300 )edit
4

@davekelly, not sure if I clarify as a constant ambience changer, but yes, I do use them now a lot more than I used to. I change the ambience when I'm just at home during the day, when I come to the office, when I drive my car (longer distances), when I'm just generally out, in the evening when I want my phone to be discreet... So yep, they are useful - and I also have a feeling I'm not the only one.

raketti ( 2015-09-28 12:42:21 +0300 )edit
4

I change ambiences almost exclusively in two occasions: by mistake when I try to lock the phone, and intentionally to restore the one I changed by mistake.

Giacomo Di Giacomo ( 2015-09-28 12:57:13 +0300 )edit
2

@Giacomo Di Giacomo then why do you have more than one ambience in the menu if you don't use them?

raketti ( 2015-09-28 13:48:42 +0300 )edit