14 DAY TRIAL // Apple’s upcoming iPhone 8 appears to be more of a mix of features inspired from the other mobile platforms on the market, according to the most recent leaks, and now it turns out that Cupertino has also used some Windows phones to improve the feature lineup of its new flagship device.
In addition to typical Android features like fast charging and wireless charging, there’s a chance the iPhone 8 could also boast a double tap to wake option that was implemented by Microsoft several years ago on its Lumia devices and then broadly adopted by several other Android models. Lumia 1520, for instance, was one of the first Windows phones to support double tap to wake and it launched 4 years ago in 2013.
Developer Steven-Troughton Smith published on his Twitter account new findings hinting at upcoming iPhone 8 features after analyzing HomePod firmware, and one of them appears to be tap to wake that would allow users to unlock the device, or at least to wake it, by simply tapping or double tapping the display.
No Touch ID embedded into the screen
While seeing Apple borrowing features from the competition isn’t necessarily something that you didn’t expect, here’s another discovery that could have a bigger impact on iPhone 8 adoption. It turns out there’s no code for the fingerprint sensor embedded into the display, so the new iPhone could come either with Touch ID on the back or no Touch ID at all.
The addition of facial recognition cameras seem to point that Apple is going for the latter scenario, so fingerprint recognition might no longer have a place on the device.
On the other hand, Apple wants to innovate in the sensor bar at the top of the display, with signs that this feature could be interactive, though it’s not yet clear how the whole thing is going to work. ARKit and Photos would also get some major updates, while the function area that was supposed to be placed at the bottom of the screen is more likely to be standard screen space with no features whatsoever.
Without a doubt, there’s more to find out about the iPhone 8, but leaks like these provide us with a close look at the device a lot earlier than Apple planned. It remains to be seen how much of this is true, so a certain amount of skepticism is recommended when reading unconfirmed information.