Along with the restoration of the hardware screen-orientation lock, the new iOS 4.3 beta for iPad adds new multitouch gestures to quickly switch between apps. Using four or five fingers, you can now swipe up to show the multitasking bar, and swipe left or right to switch between apps.
But it is a third gesture which is fueling speculation. If you pinch with your whole hand, you return to the home screen, no home-button press required. This, along with rumors supplied to the Boy Genius Report, has people wondering if the home button will be removed from iPad 2 and iPhone 5:
[We] are told that Apple, at some point in time, will remove the home button from the iPad's design. Instead of button taps, you will use new multitouch gestures to navigate to the home screen and also to launch the app switcher.
Think about that for a second. With the current iPad (or iPhone), you can hand it to Aunt Flora and she'll work out how to use the thing in a few moments. The single button does one thing* – returns you to the home screen, providing a notional reset for the user. At the very worst, if Aunt Flora gets stuck you can call across the room "Press the button. The only button."
Compare this to a buttonless design. How will Aunt Flora work out how to get back to the home screen? Who would ever think to try a five-fingered pinch? And how would you even do that one-handed on an iPhone? I'll bet that even you, tech-savvy reader that you are, has never tried a five-finger pinch on your iPad.
My guess is that the button will stay, despite Apple's obvious hatred for buttons in general. I can't wait to try those gestures, though.
*Sure, the home button also pulls up the multitasking bar, and helps with screenshots, but Aunt Flora will probably never use those, either.
Video of New Multi-Touch Gestures on iPad iOS 4.3 [MacRumors]
Apple will remove home button on next iPad and iPhone [Boy Genius Report]
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