Counterclockwise: flicking through the iPhone history pages

13 September, 2015
With the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus official, let's look back at their genealogy to see how iPhones became what they are today.

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  • j
  • joyd80000
  • ubI
  • 19 May 2016

country look help

    • D
    • AnonD-152638
    • mhB
    • 14 Sep 2015

    "At the time, touch phones tried to mimic mouse-driven desktop UIs, perhaps because that's what users were familiar with."

    No, they did not mimic mouse driven desktop UIs, or mostly not WM had that start menu.
    What was done, was trying to make the most use of the screen, making it possible to do as much as possible on at little screen estate as possible.
    Keep in mind that most touchscreen smartphones at the time had even smaller screens than the first iPhone.
    Still today, a UI adopted for styluses would be more efficient, to do as much as possible, as quickly as possible (as more can be fit on the same screen). Except for when it comes to typing.
    That does not mean that back in the days, I did not wish there was also a way to use PDAs and touchscreen smartphones, without the stylus. In actual reality you could do most things without the stylus, it would sometimes be a bit of hit and miss, but most of the time, you would be able to click on the right object, and if you used your nail, your were almost guaranteed to get it right. The scrollbar could be a bit tricky, but when it recognised that you press/held it, you could move your finger on to the rest of the screen and still scroll. I even quite sucessfully wrote on the qwerty keyboard on the tiny screen of my Motorola A925 without stylus.
    But It would have been so much nicer if the everyday tasks had more fingerfriendly UI. Even if that mean the option of using T9 input for text messages, instead of acess to a full qwerty.
    Neonode showed their fingerfriendly concept in 2002, before Apple even started the iOS project.
    But it just felt so much less productive. Although I really liked the device. (but I need a good calendar and "word").
    And actually the iPhone gave me the same feeling when it was announced (but PC support and "word" were two things that seemed to be missing by the announcement, but I was hoping they would be there in time for release, but it did not come here the first time around, and the price was too high, and the camera really loussy).
    It also lacked a lot of the features that Symbian and Windows mobile had. In many cases probably because it would have made it too complex to use, with a fingerfriendly UI.

    Before the first iPhone was announced LG showed their KE850, later relaunched as LG Prada.
    It also had a fingerfriendly UI. And a capacitive screen.
    And a couple of weeks after the iPhone was announced Samsung showed a working concept with a touchscreen and fingerfriendly UI. clearly that one was developed before the iPhone was announced.
    SPB had also started the project with Mobile Shell. And a few months later HTC released phones with a skin. Those two were partial skins for Windows mobile, so not completely fingerfriendly solutions, but meant you did not need the stylus for some of the basic stuff.
    Clearly it was not only Jobs that thought that you could have a touchscreen UI designed for fingers, and that now was the time (Neonode did it long before, though).
    I'm pretty sure they all knew that fingerfriendlyness would mean less productive devices, but they saw the relative big screen as a good feature to have for media consumption and web surfing. And you could use the phone with one hand.


    As a everyday phone, I would probably always choose one with fingerfriendly UI. But if I really needed a tool, I would appreciate how much faster things could be done with a UI made for styluses. If I could get both in one device, I would think that was really cool (when you pull the pen out, the UI changes) better still if it came with a physical qwerty keyboard as well.

      • D
      • AnonD-152638
      • mhB
      • 14 Sep 2015

      dude, 13 Sep 2015it's nothing really usefull..only eyecandy..."3D touch" could be very usefull in tablets/hybrids/touchscreens that run Windows.
      Since the tech has been around for some time, I hope the only reason MS didn't use it, was the added weight, and not that they didn't think of it.

      From what I've seen in the iPhone, well, previewing can be nice. It makes a difference, since you can have a preview with less details, if you only need to check something quickly, but if you already know you want to enter that app/folder, you can press directly.
      But when you accidently push too hard, and enter the thing you previewed/wanted to preview I get a feeling you would love to have a back button on your device.

      Is it one of the techs that will spread.
      I would say probably. With a reservation, it does make it a bit tricky in the android world, Google would have to support both devices that has it, and ones that does not.
      Will more than huawei and what was that other one implement it, in their skin over android, most likely. But when it's not system wide (works in all apps), it will feel a bit so so.

        • D
        • AnonD-152638
        • mhB
        • 14 Sep 2015

        Paulw, 14 Sep 2015What happened to the iPhone 1 and 2??They talk about the first in the beginning of the article. And the second one was called 3G, and they talk about that one too.

          • D
          • AnonD-38544
          • i5T
          • 14 Sep 2015

          "Budget version" iPhone 5S, which is still pricier than many today's flagships, especially from China.

            • P
            • Paulw
            • TSB
            • 14 Sep 2015

            What happened to the iPhone 1 and 2??

              • D
              • Dodo
              • 0cL
              • 13 Sep 2015

              I had the S6 Edge, which I didn't like much after the initial curved screen excitement. Now I have a Note 5, which I like better, even if I never use the S-Pen. The Note is my daily driver now, because of the camera.

              I also had an iPhone 6 Plus, which I think is better designed and built than either of Galaxies. I like both iOS and Android about equally, but if I had to recommend one, I'd probably recomend iOS.

                • k
                • k
                • SbX
                • 13 Sep 2015

                Offtopic users, go fish... iPhone owners won't understand this article. Go and spam your device articles.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • bJb
                  • 13 Sep 2015

                  AnonD-429188, 13 Sep 2015Crapple fan boys are either the easiest people to satisfy o... moreSo, what u do now ?

                    • d
                    • dude
                    • Smf
                    • 13 Sep 2015

                    JD, 13 Sep 2015GSMA, u should also ad something about new 3D Touch! This w... moreit's nothing really usefull..only eyecandy...

                      • D
                      • AnonD-440474
                      • JTB
                      • 13 Sep 2015

                      Yoonus, 13 Sep 2015But most ever beautiful design is iphone 5 and Iphone 5s. T... moreNokia N9/Lumia 800 sure are, in my opinion, the most beautiful smartphones. Ever.

                        • D
                        • AnonD-429188
                        • n}g
                        • 13 Sep 2015

                        Crapple fan boys are either the easiest people to satisfy or they are a bunch of people who ignore that Apple are charging them mega bucks for 3 year old technology ...i used to try and debate the issues with them but i quickly found out that they can barely dress themselves.....Apple .. the company that actually makes nothing..incredible

                          • E
                          • Excelly
                          • fmg
                          • 13 Sep 2015

                          copy23, 13 Sep 2015but one thing GSMArena forgot to say: the smallest battery ... morenot worth the money!!! Hehehehe!!! I love that,well said.

                            • Y
                            • Yoonus
                            • Hxe
                            • 13 Sep 2015

                            But most ever beautiful design is iphone 5 and Iphone 5s. This is the most beautiful phone in the world.
                            no device can beat this design

                            if iPhone 6 is designed the same it would be the world famous design .
                            only because of the iphone 6 design i didn't bought . many other customer are exist who like iphone5 design,

                            Thanks
                            Yoonus

                              • c
                              • copy23
                              • 3E4
                              • 13 Sep 2015

                              but one thing GSMArena forgot to say: the smallest battery today even more smaller! ahahah, the bending iphone 6 and 6+! LOL...and the dread thing called icloud!

                              crap against crap in every ifruit phone! not worth the money NO NO!

                                • J
                                • JD
                                • nGt
                                • 13 Sep 2015

                                GSMA, u should also ad something about new 3D Touch! This will shake upindustry again! This is something other manufacturers will implement next year! This is touchscreen taken to the next level!

                                  • D
                                  • AnonD-430787
                                  • utY
                                  • 13 Sep 2015

                                  At last an unbiased/unbashful GSMArena article on iPhone.. thought I wouldn't see it in my life time.

                                    • t
                                    • tushar
                                    • tUd
                                    • 13 Sep 2015

                                    good one ,

                                      • ?
                                      • Anonymous
                                      • tue
                                      • 13 Sep 2015

                                      If it's not an iPhone it's not an iPhone!

                                        • A
                                        • AZIB
                                        • NuF
                                        • 13 Sep 2015

                                        Ok. But i think it has lost it's major identity.