Discussion/ slight rant: shouldn't most buttons be at the bottom of the screen?

[IamPurple]

I assume we are all humans and use our phones with, mostly, thumbs. Thumbs are kinda short and, due to the position the phone is held, can only reach about half of the screen on a modern phone. Wanna know which part of the screen? The bottom. Its the bottom of the screen.
So, knowing this, please, can someone explain why are most buttons in apps and even the android system itself (like the pull down menu) at the TOP of the screen? For example, wouldnt it be a million times better for Chrome to have its "new tab" button, address bar and menu button to be at the bottom of the screen? Wouldnt it be better to have a pull-UP menu instead of pull-down?

 

[psionandy]

When thd phone is in the palm of my hand.. my thumb naturally points upwards... So pulling down from the top is a better natural fit.

Humans also tend to read from top to bottom..

 

[IamPurple]

When thd phone is in the palm of my hand.. my thumb naturally points upwards... So pulling down from the top is a better natural fit.

Humans also tend to read from top to bottom..

But can you even REACH the top of the screen with your thumb? Unless you are holding the phone in an awkward position, that is.
And what does reading from top to bottom have to do with anything? You can still read from top to bottom if the buttons are down..

 

[psionandy]

Yes i can... and because of the way you hold the phone in your palm there's no way that a human's thumb can be closer to the bottom of the screen while holding the phone than the top.

The way the muscles and tendons are physically arranged to make her thumbs work auto means that's wiping down is a easier process that swiping up



Reading is relavent as when you read any .menu you tend to start at the top...reading down until you find the option you want...

Menus popping up from the bottom... Would track you eyes to the bottom... Having the menuitems at the bottom there for being mildly disconcerting as the eyes and thumb would track in different directions. So considering the hundreds of thousands of times that the menu is used would bug the heck out of me.

 

[Hadron]

Use Edge instead of Chrome if you prefer buttons at the bottom.

 

[IamPurple]

Yes i can... and because of the way you hold the phone in your palm there's no way that a human's thumb can be closer to the bottom of the screen while holding the phone than the top.

How do you hold your phone where this could possibly be true? Do you have a phone bigger than 4 inches?

 

[IamPurple]

Use Edge instead of Chrome if you prefer buttons at the bottom.

Ill give it a try! Thanks.

Edit. Tried it. The address bar is still up and the buttons in total take up more screen space. Not because they are at the bottom, but.. idk, its just that kind of design.

 

[Deleted User]

I think we've found the only person on the planet for which the Palm Palm is truly intended

Seriously though, I doubt whether the mobile phone was ever designed to be used solely with the thumb. My Nexus 5 is small in comparison with most modern smartphones, but I can't reach the top menu with my thumb. It's meant to be swiped down with the index finger of your opposite hand. Besides, the thumb is the least dexterous digit, and there are operations on the phone which need two fingers - the pinch zoom for example.

 

[IamPurple]

I think we've found the only person on the planet for which the Palm Palm is truly intended


Seriously though, I doubt whether the mobile phone was ever designed to be used solely with the thumb. My Nexus 5 is small in comparison with most modern smartphones, but I can't reach the top menu with my thumb. It's meant to be swiped down with the index finger of your opposite hand. Besides, the thumb is the least dexterous digit, and there are operations on the phone which need two fingers - the pinch zoom for example.

I agree, it was not designed to be used ONLY with the thumb and there are operations that require more, but.. why NOT have the functionality if its as simple as moving the buttons? If you need/ want to use other fingers - you can still do it! Nothing changes!

 

[Hadron]

You can tweak a little, e.g. the "Custom Navigation Bar" app lets you add extra buttons to your nav bar, including one that lowers the notification slide (though I can do that with my fingerprint scanner). I'm sure there are other customisations out there. But global changes are unlikely as that would require modifying many individual apps.

 

[Milo Willamson]

Ohhhhhhhhhh Gripppppppeeeeeeee, tell that to us gamers, who is so used to having the buttons everywhere
Also do not let one annoying thing just occur duration of what it should of been, since humans tend to swipe up even web sites and use back and forth eye directions in reading virtually everything, it is subconscious part of ourselves... ::: mic drop:::