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Iphone Apple

Apple is Killing the iPhone's Silent Switch (techcrunch.com) 66

Posted by msmash from the end-of-road dept.
The ring/silent switch has been on the iPhone since the very first one was announced in 2007 by Steve Jobs, but now the writing is on the wall for the device's last significant moving part. From a report: With its replacement by a haptic "action button," it's just a matter of time before the rest of the lineup is as smooth as a pebble from the river. At today's iPhone event, the no doubt long-contemplated change was announced with little fanfare, selling the new button as a customizable shortcut to anything the user wants. Launch the camera, or an assistance feature, or a particular app, etc. Seems useful in some ways, especially for accessibility. But I mourn the loss of this switch the way I do every time they compromise the hardware design of Apple devices. Removing TouchID is one such choice I still hold out hope they will reverse. The haptic touchpads in MacBooks is not something I enjoy compared to the actual depression of the originals, though it's probably a net benefit repair-wise. The attempt to unify under a single port was unsuccessful in everything but driving dongle sales. They have tried and failed to kill the magnetic power connector.
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Apple is Killing the iPhone's Silent Switch More

Apple is Killing the iPhone's Silent Switch

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  • Had my phone on silent since day one (Score:5, Insightful)

    by HnT ( 306652 ) on Wednesday September 13, 2023 @08:40AM (#63844500)

    I am not sure how common this is but I have pretty much had all my phones on silent from my very first iPhone onward. Vibrating and screen are enough, I prefer it to the ringtone. Only downside, you get extremely overly sensitive to that smartphone vibrating sound. The additional quick physical functionality of the action button sounds helpful.

    • Yup, me too. My iPhone is on silent 99% of the time. Audible alarms still work (they ignore that switch), navigation audio still works, and vibration is good enough for most everything else.

    • I'd love to but quickly walking down the street so the phone in my pocket often isn't directly in contact with my leg, or being on a loud rumbly subway/bus where everything is vibrating anyway, etc. usually precludes my doing that.

  • That's seldom the issue anymore (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Voyager529 ( 1363959 ) <.voyager529. .at. .yahoo.com.> on Wednesday September 13, 2023 @08:48AM (#63844522)

    We've come a long way from 2007, when people were paying $1.99 for ringtones; the overwhelming majority of people I interact with leave their phone on vibrate, or send the ringing to Airpods or something similar. The silent mode switch was a great way to change modes quickly...but its other shortcoming is that many phone cases make the switch inconvenient to access.

    The bigger problem that I'd have loved a solution for is "speakerphone abuse". Speakerphone is great when you're by yourself, or showing something to a friend, or something to that effect...but there are way too many inconsiderate people who use speakerphone while shopping, in waiting rooms at doctor's offices, on public transit...places where headphones should be used, or the phone should be held to one's ear. Half the time, it's not even a phone call, it's playing games or listening to music or some other optional activity, and it's invariably on "extra loud"...and of course, if you say something to that person, they act like *you're* being a jerk for calling them out.

    No, I don't lament the absence of the silence switch. I lament the absence of a function where you can use a combination of Siri/Shazam and the Airtag scanning function to tell someone "you're being an asshole, you've lost the privilege of using speakerphone for an hour"...I'd be the FIRST person buying an iPhone 15 Pro Max Ultra if they added that function.

    • Re:That's seldom the issue anymore (Score:5, Funny)

      by clickety6 ( 141178 ) on Wednesday September 13, 2023 @09:56AM (#63844726)
      A young guy was using his phone in such a manner, talking loudly and setting the volume so everybody could hear the responses. An old lady sitting near by took out her phone, held it in front of her and in voice loud enough to drown out the young man, began reciting "Blah! Blah! Blah!" continuously. It turned out the young man did have a Bluetooth headset after all.
      • that is awesome! Props to the old lady for managing the situation!
      • I was in the emergency room and some dude was watching tik tok super loud. I started repeating everything the people in the videos said in normal conversation-level voice. It was fantastically awkward but the guy turned it down like 90% immediately. I'm also a very imposing looking guy so there's that.

      • My wife and I saw a deal on flights to Las Vegas a few years back on a low-cost carrier and pulled the trigger on it. There was a flight delay due to some ridiculous thing such as an emergency exit light bulb being burned out and not having any spares at that airport, so we had to wait like 2 hours until we could take off because another similar plane flew in and they stole a bulb from it or something, probably delaying them until a 3rd plane carrying a spare landed.

        Anyway, until they deplaned everyone due

    • 100% Agree. Noise pollution from people watching videos on their phones is incredibly annoying. I often find myself imagining some kind of social service that provides cheap headphones to people who say they don't have any. (Not seriously proposing this, just saying it crosses my mind.)

      • You can be the change you want! I have offered noisy people headphones several times now - cheap airplanes ones or even an older pair of wired iPhone ones with the lightning dongle. They actually really appreciate it, act grateful, and appear to understand that the headphones are just a loan so that they can do what they were doing. Amusingly they will also vilify other people in the room that have been giving them dirty looks. So yeah, speakerphone people do know that they are being annoying, but the huma

      • My wife has a bad habit of getting distracted by YouTiktogram ReelTok Shorts where she loses track of time while scrolling through an endless feed of inane millenial snowflakes grousing about how they feel beshitted by some completely average and mundane transaction with reality, or someone with an entirely disproportionate sense of self worth posting videos and commentary about what they ate that day, mixed with whatever shitty royalty-free-to-them trendy music they could find in 15 seconds to slap over it

      • I just ask "What are we watching today?" Then stand right over their shoulder intently watching with them. They usually put it away pretty quickly.

    • Yes!! What is with this phenomenon where people hold the phone flat in front of their mouth with the speaker on instead of up to their ear??

      • Yes!! What is with this phenomenon where people hold the phone flat in front of their mouth with the speaker on instead of up to their ear??

        I would guess they are afraid of radiation reaching their brains by holding it up to their air.

        Or that they get sweaty ears by pressing a glass surface against the air.
        Which is strangely enough also why their ear feels warm. The phone is warm, of course the ear will feel warm if you press a warm glass plate against it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by antdude ( 79039 )

      Some of these phone calls are private too. Why so loud in public? Ugh!

  • Sure itâ(TM)s on the side instead of at the bottom, but itâ(TM)s back baby!

  • I can’t count the number of times I have missed a call because the switch got knocked into the off position. The switch is a real nuisance and will be glad to see the back of it.

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I can’t count the number of times I have received a call because the switch got knocked into the on position. The switch is a real nuisance and will be glad to see the back of it.

    • I just want the default to be silent.

      It's a rare event that I actually want to ever hear my phone ring. The vibration is annoying enough.

      I like the switch. It means I can feel the condition, I don't have to look at the screen to see that my phone isn't going to disturb me and everybody around me with annoying sounds.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by mspohr ( 589790 )

      This drives my wife crazy. It's very easy for it to get accidentally moved to "silent" and then she misses calls.
      Glad to see this stupid idea gone.

  • Would be nice if the silent switch actually worked (Score:5, Insightful)

    by ac22 ( 7754550 ) on Wednesday September 13, 2023 @09:01AM (#63844566)

    It stops you hearing incoming calls, but for everything else it's pot luck. You can't play most mobile games on silent without adverts frequently appearing and blasting out their message at 100% volume.

    Apple should allow you to choose what the silent switch does. If people like how it currently works, fine, but I'd like an option in "settings" to make it silence the phone completely under any circumstances.

    • This, 100%. The volume buttons adject the ringer volume, or the app volume, but not in any consistent manner.

      I have yet to find even a user interface option that shows which of the 2 is being changed, and to recognize that there are 2 independent volume levels.

      • This, 100%. The volume buttons adject the ringer volume, or the app volume, but not in any consistent manner.

        I have yet to find even a user interface option that shows which of the 2 is being changed, and to recognize that there are 2 independent volume levels.

        I'd gladly welcome that feature! In Windows I'd open up the sound mixer to control the volume of each running app.

      • There is a pattern to this as to what it does when, but it does bother me that it changes. By default, if you're doing something that qualifies as media playback / game sounds etc., the volume buttons will adjust the media / playback / sound volume. If you're just at the home screen / lock screen with no media playing it will adjust the ringer/notification volume.

        This sucks, in my opinion, so a better solution overall for me was to go into settings -> sounds and haptics and turn off "Change with butt

    • "for everything else it's pot luck"

      The silent switch controls involuntary noise. E.g. an incoming call is involuntary, so the switch silences the ringer. An alarm is voluntary, so the switch does not silence it.

      Playing a game is a voluntary activity, so the silent switch does not affect it.

      To make every activity silent, set the volume to zero, i.e. hold down the down volume button.

      The silent switch does not do what you want it to do, and what you want it to do is not unreasonable. but no matter how reasonab

  • I welcome this (Score:3)

    by Pascal Sartoretti ( 454385 ) on Wednesday September 13, 2023 @09:07AM (#63844576)
    Because my phone is always in silent mode. Why ? Because I have an Apple Watch to silently notify me, without disturbing others. We may be a few millions to do this.

    Hence, I look forward to be able to customize this button for more useful purposes.

    And if you need the silent button, it is still there, slightly changed.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 )

      Hence, I look forward to be able to customize this button for more useful purposes.

      Maybe you didn't notice, but this is an Apple device. You will only be able to switch it to one or two other worthless purposes, and if you don't like the options then you are the problem.

      /scheduled to pick up my work iPhone today, whoopee

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by dbialac ( 320955 )

        Samsung has become just as bad. I liked the original Z Flip, a lot. The original got me through a long hospital stay of over a month. Nurses knocked it from the table to the floor countless times. While the exterior took some hits, the internal screen didn't crack and I left the hospital with a working phone. Samsung had built a robust smart phone for the first time in years, if not their first ever. Now the Z Flip 5 has a big screen on the outside because idiot reviewers couldn't look past the idea of tech

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by sconeu ( 64226 )

          I didn't try it, because it failed for me due to the word "Sony".

        • Does it at least work? I just got my work issued iPhone and setting up face id isn't working. It keeps telling me to hold the device lower. My fucking phone is haunted by the ghost of Steve Jobs... I can't hold it any lower you turtleneck wearing fuck

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by sirket ( 60694 )

        You can set it to 9 different functions to start with:

        Silent mode, Focus, Camera, Flashlight, Voice Memo, Translate, Magnifier, Shortcut, and Accessibility

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Shakrai ( 717556 )

      Kinda surprised by how many comments, yours included, say their phone is in silent mode 24/7. I guess y'all have the luxury of not being on call and/or never taking showers, lol. I have an Apple Watch too but it comes off to get charged, or occasionally when I just want to be without it for a few hours. The phone is on silent probably 75% of the time, but I do need and value the ringer from time to time. I have an old school "Ma Bell" ringtone; when I want the ringer, I want it to be very loud and obvio

  • Sad, I like the switch on mine. I was a hold out until the 15 and my desire to phone record high quality video with an audio interface synced.

    Love it actually. I'm a die hard linux guy, gentoo on most everything I own. But the Iphone I just got was like a new world. Way better for sending videos and photos to friends with "Err too big resize!" errors on everything.

    Maybe I am getting old.

  • I like the physical switch... but only with a case that allows the switch to be recessed a bit. My mother kept missing calls because her case was too slim and she kept mistakenly engaging silent mode. Took me a bit to figure it out but a case change solved the problem.

    • I changed my opinion on this matter based on your comment. I like the ability to 'feel' that my phone is in silent mode. The switch lets me activate or check this while it's still in my pocket which I might check multiple times just to be sure it won't start ringing during church. But. its still not work it as designed because. 1.I have accidentally switched it to silent mode on multiple occurrences where I needed it to ring. 2.I have pressed buttons on my phone to use my bible app, only to have my aud

  • Apple & GNOME are working together (Score:3)

    by TractorBarry ( 788340 ) on Wednesday September 13, 2023 @10:01AM (#63844734) Homepage

    I think Apple and GNOME are woking to the same goal. To reduce the user interface to a single *really* nice looking button that simply switches the device off (complete with *really* good visualisaton effects).

  • The silence switch is one of my favorite features on iPhones. I can keep my phone in my pocket and check that it's silenced or silence it. I wish there were more tactile UI elements: like a volume slider so I don't accidentally blast embarrassing Instagram posts at work because of Meta's aggressive un-mute behavior.

  • I think I got the Apple design flowchart down (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Wednesday September 13, 2023 @11:10AM (#63844954)

    Is it useful?
    Yes -> remove it
    No -> market it as the new best thing

  • The switch was very hard to accidentally switch it on. It did happen once though for me. With the new scheme where all it takes is a long press to put it in silent mode, That seem way more likely to be accidentally triggered. Phones are in pockets and purses, etc quite often. It will be way more likely for a button to get held in in on accident compared to an inset switch.

  • The iphone interface has become pretty hodgepodge and unintuitive. Once they start burying the mute functionality in menus and swipes, you can pretty much guarantee there will be more inadvertent embarrassing situations. It may even get to the point where people just give up and let it do whatever it's going to do. I can see this happening with older users in particular. "Whatever. I'd rather just let it ring that fiddle with it for 30 seconds."

  • In soviet america, iphone silences you.

  • Every time when changing cases and sometimes placing in a mount, the switch flips. I want it on silent always except for repeated calls and certain contacts.

  • Many years ago, my friends and I had electronic football games.
    There was one from Mattel and another from Coleco. The Coleco was better because the QB could make moves on it they couldn't on the Mattel.
    The sound came from a piezo disc. I added a sound switch to my and my friends games so we could play them in class without the faculty hearing it.

    Apparently you can still buy them, but they cost a hundred bucks (WTF??). And they now have a sound button from the factory.

  • Every reason somebody has given for getting rid of the silent switch could be made for the hard volume buttons. They're redundant: I have a slider on the screen, I have adjuster on my watch, the volume knob in my car, the buttons on my earpods... The point is, it was a feature that was required to do one thing only. Silence the phone unequivocally. And could be verified without looking at the device, or turning it even on. Everything else is just a poor substitute.

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