Daring Fireball: Laugh It Up, Fuzzball
To deal with concerns that a bigger phone will make typing with one hand difficult (the current iPhone has a four-inch screen), some changes to the design of the iPhones’ user interface will allow people to type or use apps with just one hand; there will be a one-handed mode that can be switched on and off, two employees said.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, Oh, that can’t be. Samsung tried that and it was ridiculous. Haha, the New York Times got punked.
The thing is, I’m not laughing. You wanted Apple to make a 5.5-inch iPhone? This is what you get.
I think we have already been shown Apple’s one-handed mode. The below screen shots are from iOS 8. Both images show interface elements that require just one hand AND you do not need to lift your finger to get from one button to another; you simply slide your finger across the screen.
I think this feature is especially important when using larger phones with just one hand. Lifting your thumb off of the screen requires you to secure the device with your remaining four fingers; this is much harder with larger devices. But, being able to simply slide your thumb across the phone allows the user to maintain steadier control of a large device.
I seriously doubt Apple’s one-handed mode/features will just shrink the displayed area down like we saw with Samsung. I am willing to bet Apple will be moving more toward radial menus and moving the location of important buttons to the bottom half of the screen.
UPDATE:
@kyrelahtinen I think going to shrink the screen. Seriously.
— John Gruber (@gruber) September 8, 2014