The home button. As with all things Samsung, you either love it or hate it. Some see capacitive buttons as the sexiest button layout on a device, while others see capacitive buttons as battery-hogging and would rather have physical hardware buttons instead. It comes down to preference, really (you like what you like), but Samsung also likes what it likes. The Korean giant really likes the physical home button, and diehard Samsung fans have grown accustomed to it – though some vanilla Android users continue to question Samsung’s implementation of what they view as “bad taste” in hardware design.
There are those who won’t go five feet near a Samsung device because of the home button, but the company’s home button is justifiable. There are reasons as to why Samsung won’t get rid of that home button. We’ll cover four of them below.
Reason #1: Long Press to Access Google
I’m the type of person who simply types in “Google.com,” as I remember doing back in the days before links and websites were saved in the search engine box, but some individuals just tap on the Google Search and Chrome apps to launch the search engine. On the other hand, some believe that takes too much work and would rather have a third way: long press Samsung’s home button for access. Whereas Google’s search engine once appeared, now you get the search engine with a twist: Android Marshmallow has brought Samsung users Google Now On Tap, a way to “touch” search the words, phrases, people, places, and things you want to know more about (you must enable Google Now On Tap, of course).
It hasn’t always been this way, though: nearly three years ago, on the Galaxy Note 3, long pressing the home button would lead to the task manager. Still, Samsung has made a change that seems to fit what many would expect of an Android device running Google’s software. At least this may make Nexus fanboys happy.
Reason #2: Double Tap to Launch the Camera
Need to “carpe diem,” seize the day (or, the moment)? Have no fear: the home button is here! Samsung has brought a double tap to launch the camera feature that lets you tap the home button twice in quick succession – at which point, the camera app appears on-screen. This is far more useful than searching through your apps to find the camera, isn’t it?
Reason #3: Fingerprint Authentication
The home button is where you place your finger or thumb when you want to pull your device out of its “slumber,” right? The home button is also the place you go when you need to get out of an app or a website, since “getting home” on a mobile device is now easier than ever.
Fingerprint authentication isn’t just important to unlock your device, but also for using Samsung Pay, the Korean giant’s new mobile payment system that lets you pay with your phone whether at an NFC-compatible pay terminal or at a traditional movie rental or grocery store. Paying is as easy as putting your finger on the home button.
Since your thumb or finger is always on the home button performing tasks, why not add in fingerprint authentication? Samsung’s motivation behind adding fingerprint authentication to its Galaxy smartphone lineup had much to do with the idea that the home button would be an intuitive place for users to go for everything mobile – and that fingerprint authentication would be too easy to implement if users didn’t have to think about where to place their finger. Well done, Samsung.
Reason #4: Triple Tap for One-Handed Operation
The above three reasons seem excellent enough to demonstrate why Samsung has yet to get rid of that home button, but the fourth takes the home button to an entirely new level. Samsung has decided to transform the home button even further, now allowing users to triple tap the home button for one-handed operation. That’s right: you no longer need to swipe the sides of the display (that are now quite bezel-less) and hope that you swiped in the right direction or performed the right swipe. You can now quickly tap the home button 3 times (don’t get it confused with the double tap camera launch, though) to minimize the display and bring it to a more comfortable level.
For those who want to know, yes, you can perform the triple-tap function with the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge, as well as all of Samsung’s high-end 2015 devices.
Conclusion
When you add all this up, what seems to be “poor taste” according to some and “traditional implementation” to others turns out to be nothing short of genius design by the Korean giant who brands its smartphones. While some believe the home button lacks style in modern devices, Samsung’s home button is where surprises begin.
Apparently, those who want it eliminated want to spoil all the fun.
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