iPhone 7 Capacitive Touch Home Button Requires Direct Skin Contact to Operate [u]

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With the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, Apple updated the home bottom from a mechanical push-button to a capacitive solid-state sensor. This means, in order for the button to operate, it requires direct contact with skin or a capacitive surface, like a capacitive glove.

First noted by Myke Hurley on Twitter, the new home button is inoperable unless it makes contact with a conductive object. It seems that Apple has not implemented any form of pressure-sensing hardware as a part of the home button, and is instead relying solely on capacitive sensors.

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This could cause problems for device owners once winter rolls around. With a mechanical home button, users wearing gloves can still use the home button with ease, however this is not the case with the iPhone 7.

In order to use the new solid-state home button, users of Apple’s latest smartphone will be forced to either buy capacitive gloves or remove their gloves.

Update: A new video posted by iMore shows the iPhone 7’s capacitive home button working with some gloves:

YouTube video

[via Daring Fireball]

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