iPad home button

Written by

Dave Caolo goes over a few of the functions the iPad home button does besides take you to the home screen.



  • lucascott

    many folks keep saying that there is no way that apple would get rid of that button and I say they are wrong. Many of the functions now have gestures so the home button isn’t needed for those. Or they could move the button to the side. Either as another small button or ‘inside’ another one. Iike pressing the center of the volume toggle or pressing the down volume and the sleep wake for resets and up and the sleep wake for screen shots. On the phone, which has solid buttons perhaps the whole Voice Over thing would be pressing both volume buttons at the same time. Or just a 4 finger triple tap on the screen. Etc

    • joeYYY1

      Yes, these gestures are great, but there is a reason that they are turned off by default on the iPad. They are really meant for an iPad power user. The default iOS UI at its core still need to be designed for the mainstream user. For this audience a set of multitouch gestures is more complex that one easy to understand tactile button.

      Therefore, I don’t think it will go anywhere, certainly not as part of a 5.1 iOS update.

  • RudyGr

    Don’t forget that the Home button also helps to provide feedback where the front-facing camera is located (opposite end).