Skin contact absolutely mandatory on the new button

Sep 19, 2016 10:01 GMT  ·  By

One of the controversial changes that Apple has made on the iPhone 7 is the introduction of a new touch-sensitive Home button that uses a haptic engine to simulate a real press of a button, just like it happens on the MacBook.

And while many don’t seem to be bothered by the new button, an important part of those who have already received their iPhone 7 complained that it doesn’t work correctly and the vibration doesn’t correctly provide the illusion of pressing a real button.

But it turns out that there might be a bigger issue with this new Home button when trying to use the iPhone 7 in cold weather. Myke Hurley has discovered that you can’t actually unlock the iPhone 7 when wearing gloves, simply because there is no button to press.

No way to reach the passcode entry screen

Here’s how it goes: the Touch ID sensor that’s integrated into the Home button is the one responsible for triggering the vibration and simulating a real button press, but because it can’t actually detect your finger, it’s all like touching any other part of the phone because it won’t react.

The button requires direct skin contact, so nose touching might really become a thing this winter for those wearing gloves.

On the other hand, if you’re using a passcode, it’s even more complicated. Because you need to enter the PIN, you first have to touch the Home button with your nose and then type the passcode as there’s no direct way to access the passcode entry screen, other than simulating a Home button press.

Certainly, there still are things that can be improved here, but expect iGlove sales to increase in the coming months given the fact that iPhone 7 sales are also going pretty well these days. Apple hasn’t provided any instructions on how to deal with this issue, but an iOS update could change the way you can reach the passcode entry option and let you simply use the lock control instead of the Home button.