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Touch Screens Are Over. Even Apple Is Bringing Back Buttons. (www.wsj.com)

submitted 2 days ago by alyaza@beehaw.org to c/technology@beehaw.org

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The tyranny of touch screens may be coming to an end.

Companies have spent nearly two decades cramming ever more functions onto tappable, swipeable displays. Now buttons, knobs, sliders and other physical controls are making a comeback in vehicles, appliances and personal electronics.

In cars, the widely emulated ultra-minimalism of Tesla’s touch-screen-centric control panels is giving way to actual buttons, knobs and toggles in new models from Kia, BMW’s Mini, and Volkswagen, among others. This trend is delighting reviewers and making the display-focused interiors of Tesla and its imitators feel passé.

Similar re-buttonization is occurring in everything from e-readers to induction stoves.

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[–] TheAlbatross@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 points 2 days ago (3 children)

I got 3 (Volume rocker and power) and it feels like plenty.

It's been so long since I had more than 3 and I'm curious. I had an iPhone for work, that had a 4th, the home button on the bottom center of the touch screen and I hated that. What do you want from physical buttons on the phone?

[–] sawdustprophet@midwest.social 2 points 9 hours ago

What do you want from physical buttons on the phone?

I would like dedicated back/home/recent keys, like on early Android phones. The back button also functioned as a "disconnect" button for phone calls, which was nice. I still miss it.

[–] TehPers@beehaw.org 2 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

I want the power button on my phone to protrude like an actual button so I can actually press it. The thing's like 4mm wide and I'm supposed to somehow push this thing through the gap in the side of my case with my thumb that's ~~5x~~ ~10x (just checked) the width of the button.

As for other buttons, I wouldn't mind physical buttons for the Android controls at the bottom, but not really a huge deal to me tbh.

[–] Pyr_Pressure@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 day ago

Mine has the 2 for volume and 1 for power, as well as a toggle switch to change from silent, vibrate, and sound for the ringer which I quite like.