Mute switch option

[Ash Pole]

I thought the mute switch was suppose to alternatively lock screen rotation....what's up with that? Using 9.01

 

[skwood]

I thought the mute switch was suppose to alternatively lock screen rotation....what's up with that? Using 9.01

This was present in one of the betas and removed subsequently unfortunately.

 

[Ash Pole]

I was wishing they would get rid of the switch entirely....there's been more than one occasion that Ive missed calls/texts because the switch mysteriously turned its self on.

 

[C DM]

I was wishing they would get rid of the switch entirely....there's been more than one occasion that Ive missed calls/texts because the switch mysteriously turned its self on.

And instead have what?

 

[dave420]

And instead have what?

Software options for those controls. The iPad Air 2 removed the button. Personally I like the button, but I do find it changing itself on its own sometimes in my pocket.

 

[C DM]

Software options for those controls. The iPad Air 2 removed the button. Personally I like the button, but I do find it changing itself on its own sometimes in my pocket.

The problem with that for phones is that one wouldn't know what state the phone is in without turning it on and looking at settings somewhere (and even if they added some status bar indicator it would still take turning the phone on to check). Similarly it would be necessary to turn the phone on and go into some screen to enable/disable it vs simply being able to quickly do it with one action without even turning the phone on.

 

[Ash Pole]

The problem with that for phones is that one wouldn't know what state the phone is in without turning it on and looking at settings somewhere (and even if they added some status bar indicator it would still take turning the phone on to check). Similarly it would be necessary to turn the phone on and go into some screen to enable/disable it vs simply being able to quickly do it with one action without even turning the phone on.

No not necessarily, there's an app that mutes and un-mutes the phone based on physical location...no input from the user is required.
Say your employer prohibits personal calls at work. With the app, your phone will automatically go silent when you arrive to work and resume ringing when you go out to lunch and back to mute when you return.
The problem with the mute switch is that people often forget to reset it. It's also mechanical and prone to breakage which Apple happily charges $189 to replace.

 

[Salvor Hardin]

The option made more sense for the Plus and if they changed portrait lock to orientation lock like how it is on the iPad but that would mean having to support having to add landscape support across more of the built in apps and the lockscreen which is something they don't seem interested in. Speaking of which there is a interesting glitch if you launch the Podcast app while holding in landscape it will actually be in very glitched out looking landscape layout for a split second before correcting itself.

 

[C DM]

No not necessarily, there's an app that mutes and un-mutes the phone based on physical location...no input from the user is required.
Say your employer prohibits personal calls at work. With the app, your phone will automatically go silent when you arrive to work and resume ringing when you go out to lunch and back to mute when you return.
The problem with the mute switch is that people often forget to reset it. It's also mechanical and prone to breakage which Apple happily charges $189 to replace.

There can very well be apps for that, which the users could decide to use. But the base case for simplicity and ease of use still seems to be the physical switch. I get that some people might not like it, but the overall use of it for most still makes sense (under the current design at the very least).

 

[dave420]

The problem with that for phones is that one wouldn't know what state the phone is in without turning it on and looking at settings somewhere (and even if they added some status bar indicator it would still take turning the phone on to check). Similarly it would be necessary to turn the phone on and go into some screen to enable/disable it vs simply being able to quickly do it with one action without even turning the phone on.

I know it sounds like a problem, but the iPhone already supports this. Turn on "Assistive Touch" in accessibility and then you will be able to control the mute option from software and the state of the button will not necessarily indicate the status of the audio ringer. So Apple apparently doesn't think it is too big of a deal to have this option controlled in software.
I will again emphasize that I do like the switch and think it should remain. I am merely posting this to add some additional information in response to what you said. I don't like that they removed the switch on the iPad.

 

[Ash Pole]

There can very well be apps for that, which the users could decide to use. But the base case for simplicity and ease of use still seems to be the physical switch. I get that some people might not like it, but the overall use of it for most still makes sense (under the current design at the very least).

By your logic, then there should be a physical switch for Airplane mode as well.

 

[C DM]

By your logic, then there should be a physical switch for Airplane mode as well.

Those are not in the same category of use or effect.

I know it sounds like a problem, but the iPhone already supports this. Turn on "Assistive Touch" in accessibility and then you will be able to control the mute option from software and the state of the button will not necessarily indicate the status of the audio ringer. So Apple apparently doesn't think it is too big of a deal to have this option controlled in software.
I will again emphasize that I do like the switch and think it should remain. I am merely posting this to add some additional information in response to what you said. I don't like that they removed the switch on the iPad.

They do have it there for accessibility reasons, and even there it seems like there should be an indicator constantly present somewhere if it's enabled (which I'm not certain if there is). That said, agree with most of what you said. There are good reasons to have the physical switch. There are some reasons that some might not like it as much, but it seems that the good reasons generally outweigh the other ones at least for the majority (and at the very least given the current implementation of not having an indicator for any of it in a location like the status bar).