Fred Truman
Design & Code Creative
Android 2.0.1 Slide to Answer
February 11, 2010
Above is an illustration of the previous vector
Starting with the release of ANDROID 2.0.1, Google changed the call-answer button from a somewhat ergonomic arc to a straight slide from left to right. It feels a bit like iPhone envy. At the very least before this change occurred, I was able to pick my phone up with my right hand and answer the call with a single swipe of my thumb. Although a bit of a lefty/righty compromise by placing the anchor point dead center and at the bottom of the phone, the arc my thumb would make felt semi-natural.
With the current update ANDROID users are forced to slide a button across the screen in a straight line – something not very easy to do considering my thumb isn’t attached to my hand by a track (unless you’re doing one of those creepy-uncle-detached-thumb-tip-magic-tricks), rather it rotates on a single point in an arc. Basically, I’m now forced to either leave my phone on some flat surface or pick my phone up with my left hand and use my right index finger to slide this button across the screen, wasting precious time I could otherwise be spending goofing off.
Above is an illustration of the current vector
Above are the vectors I am suggesting. Create two – one for righties and one for lefties (some of my best friends are lefties and they should not repress their natural inclinations) and then make a global setting for both.
Just put the phone in your hand. Try out a bunch of different vectors. Find the one(s) that works best for both left- and right-handed people and implement it with the next Android release. Or better yet, why don’t the makers of ANDROID (i.e. Google) release this source for developers to take a crack at it? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t believe they have and isn’t this the whole point of ANDROID?