Mike Wuerthele
In the course of testing iOS 11, a new graphic for Siri has been spotted — and it renders in exactly the same spot where a home button would be on an edge-to-edge iPhone without a customary home button in the bezel.
During the examination of Apple's "Do Not Disturb When Driving" feature on an iPhone 7 Plus, we attempted to activate the feature with Siri. The effort failed, but a different Siri "please wait" graphic appeared, with an animated, pulsing and oscillating Siri graphic.
It is located on the bottom center of the device, and is by eye the same physical size of the home button, minus the Touch ID activation sensor ring.
We have since managed to pull up the pseudo Home button on other devices, including a 12.9-inch iPad Pro. A static version of the icon is also found in the Settings menu.
After further testing, the icon is visible without forcing Siri to lock up. Users running iOS 11 on the iPhone 7 Plus can tap on the bottom "thinking" icon after a successful query, be it the "cylon" back-and-forth animation or a wave-form and toggle between options. The icon can be induced only if Siri's accessibility option for typing a question is disabled.
Apple's forthcoming "iPhone 8" is said to feature an edge-to-edge OLED screen. An additional feature associated with the screen is a Touch ID sensor embedded under the screen — and the iOS 11 presentation of Siri's icon in that specific size and location in relation to the edge of the iPhone 7 Plus display could be telling.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
6 Comments
That button has always been there, it just used to look like a mic.
Not convinced this means anything. I think we all agree it'd be a bad choice if the sensor is on the back of the phone, but I won't be shocked if Touch ID is in the newly oversized volume rocker, even if I hope the under-screen option comes to fruition.
Coupling "Siri & Search" is new-- a little change from the iOS loaded on the 12.9 iPad Pro that I got yesterday. Even now, Apple seems more aggressive in search, and using data from notes, locations, etc. to improve search results. A note on Privacy and Spotlight Search under GENERAL/SIRI SUGGESTIONS/"About Spotlight Suggestions & Privacy" outlines the policy. Default is to allow surveillance of all apps, preloaded and ones you buy. But Apple spells out in note what's happening, which data is sent to Apple, to Microsoft Bing, and what stays on device. Differential privacy and other preserving techniques mentioned.
Anyway, I've kept all switches (dozens of them) on, for now. Trust Apple more than others and it looks like they are readying Siri for Prime Time.
[What a pleasure the new iPad! More than a few touches of magic here. I'm still giddy. I thought drawing might have noticeable latency on the super-sized model, but it's fast and natural. The free drawing program with NOTES is better than I expected. Perfect to make birthday cards, personal handwritten illustrated notes, etc. Procreate app for 5 or 6 bucks not as intuitive but can do more with custom palettes and brush sizes and layers, etc. Still have to master that one. (The tiny charger NBD for me since I charge it off iMac.)]
I thought it was obvious when we saw this icon at wwdc, I was surprised you guys hadn't mentioned it until now.
To add to my previous comment. I think the static button on the 7 pretty much told us it would eventually be in the screen. It was just a taste of what it'll feel like. Touch ID now, is totally different than a home button, even though I assume it'll be under the screen.