Here’s What We Want to See From the Next iPhone X

With only a few months to go before WWDC and only a few more after that when Apple will unveil their 2018 phone line up, it seems like a good time to let Apple know what we are looking for. Maybe it’s presumptuous to think that Apple will take these things into consideration, but I still think we should let them know how they could improve their next generation of phones.  Because it’s next to impossible to keep a secret in the world of technology, we already know a thing or two.  To start, we know that Apple is planning to release not one, not two, but three new iPhone models in September.

We also know that one model will be a proper sequel to the 5.8″ OLED iPhone X.  But the second is reported to be a larger “Plus” version with a 6.5″ OLED screen.  In addition to those two, there will also be a 6.1″ LCD display that will have a lower resolution.  That one will likely cost less than Apple’s OLED iPhones.  So what do we want to see with the next generation of iPhone’s?

Face ID

The current problem with Face ID is that it either works really well, or it doesn’t work at all.  And people don’t like the fact that there isn’t an option for Touch ID on the iPhone X.  Which likely means that Touch ID technology is going away completely as Apple develops more and more of these phones.  From a technical perspective, there seems to be a discrepancy about how well Face ID works.  Some people think that it unlocks the iPhone really quickly while others have had some big issues with it.  Including the fact that it fails constantly.  This is a huge issue considering how much some people unlock their phones every single day.  Not to mention Touch ID is incredible.  While I don’t have a recommendation for Apple, I think that they should rethink the ability to unlock the iPhone and allow people options.

Control Center and Notifications

Apple does a ton of market research before launching any UI changes.  The way that Control Center and notifications currently work, though, suggest that Apple didn’t ask the right questions.  For the most part, the gesture-based interface is actually really good.  Most gestures are seamless and logical some are the exact opposite.  For example – requiring users to swipe down from the top corners to access two core features is kind of annoying.  There is actually no way to do it comfortably with one hand.  Again, I don’t have a recommendation here, but they should think of some way to make this a bit more user-friendly.

App Switcher

Apple says that you shouldn’t force close apps.  Is that a good suggestion?  This recommendation assumes that all developers build their apps in a way that they can be open all the time. What’s interesting to me about the idea of the app switcher, is that it is to ensure that we are switching between apps.  But what it doesn’t take into consideration is how many apps you’re using.  I know some people who have a ton of apps on their phone.  I am an app minimalist, but that’s another discussion.  So there needs to be an efficient way to access the most used apps.  Not all the apps – but just the most used ones.  I would hazard a guess that many iPhone X users don’t even know how to use the App Switcher, so they should definitely make it easier to use.

Lock Screen Shortcuts

Right now, there are two shortcuts on the lock screen.  One is the flashlight, and it’s locked at the bottom left corner of the screen.  The second is the camera, which is pinned to the bottom-right corner.  While I’m not going to get into why or how this is ridiculous, I will say that there should be a way to configure which lock shortcuts people want to use.

Apple likely won’t be taking our suggestions for improving the iPhone X, but hopefully, other people will make enough noise and these features will be addressed for the next update.