The reason given is:
Specifically, Google wanted to eliminate the button that lets you view all your open apps, making it easier to see your apps with a swipe.
But the underlying reason for wanting to do it comes from this quote from Dave Burke, Google's VP of engineering for Android
"Android have those three buttons at the bottom: Home, back and something else," Burke said. "And it's, it's a little too much, a little too complicated. I think of it as like walking into a room with three doors and it's like, 'which door do I go in?'"
My response to Burke would be: Well, Dave, when you walk into the room, and there's three doors, and one of them is labeled "bedroom", one of them is labeled "kitchen", and one of them is labeled "bathroom"; it's pretty easy to decide whether you're tired, hungry, or need to take a leak - so maybe you should look at having standards for labeling things.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Tuesday May 15 2018, @11:35AM (1 child)
So when I slide my phone into my pocket something that happens to have the right capacitance ends up controlling my phone and shutting down my apps? No thanks.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Tuesday May 15 2018, @07:02PM
That's why you have a nontrivial unlock pattern instead of slide-to-unlock--not for the security, but for the pocket-dialing.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"