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Level 1

5 points

iPhone 4 IOS 4.2 iPod play/pause button "size" (hitting skip forward/back)

Anyone else experiencing this annoyance?....

With iOS 4.2 I find myself hitting the skip forward or skip backward button when I intend to press the play/pause button. This occurs in the iPod software or the quick controls that pops up when the phone is locked and you press the "home" button twice.

This is a big annoyance for me since I mostly listen to audio books and the skip forward/backward buttons move you between chapters.

I'm guessing that the addition of the AirPlay button reduced the size of the other buttons making the play button's sensitivity area just enough smaller to be an annoyance to me and my not-overly-fat fingers. (The AirPlay button is slightly wider than the old bluetooth output control button.)

MacBook Pro, iPhone 4, iPad, Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Nov 27, 2010 11:04 AM

Best reply

Ginger Barbarian

Level 1

5 points

Posted on Nov 30, 2010 2:11 AM

Hi BenV,

This is so annoying. I have upgraded to iOS4.2.1 this Sunday and the first thing when I tried to pause my audiobook I went back to the beginning of the file (two files 5h each) then 5 minutes of searching just to go back.

I am on the older device (3G) and do not have any airplay or whatnot and I can't really see any reason for making the controls fiddly small.

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85 replies

Dec 21, 2010 6:59 PM in response to BenV

You can add me to the list of people who find this annoying. It may not be a big deal when listening to a four minute song but, as has been mentioned previously, it is a huge issue when listening to a five hour audiobook file.

I don't know as much about interface programming as a rock does about religion but it seems that this would be easily fixable.

Dec 22, 2010 10:56 AM in response to BenV

Add me to the list. This is my biggest complaint about the iPhone, and there is no need for the buttons to be so close, there is plenty of room. In fact, I'm sure most users would prefer to have just a single play/pause button on the lock screen. That's all I would ever need.

ptsube

Level 1

0 points

Dec 30, 2010 5:22 PM in response to BenV

Yep, I've noticed this lately. Very annoying. They have the entire screen, yet they cram the buttons close together.

Jan 3, 2011 8:09 PM in response to BenV

Me too! I never had an issue with this before upgrading to iOS 4.2. I keep hitting the pause button instead of FF or Rev on the lock screen iPod controls. I have small female fingers and still lose my place in my podcast most of the time.

StoicM

Level 1

0 points

Jan 5, 2011 4:50 AM in response to BenV

Big time annoyance for me as well. At first I thought I was just getting old then I realized they moved all the controls together. Not sure why they would do this as it was just fine previously.

Hope the music controls gets fixed in the next update...

Jan 9, 2011 9:38 AM in response to BenV

Add me and my girlfriend to the list of people that get incredibly annoyed by this problem. Fix this, Apple!

Jan 15, 2011 6:00 PM in response to BenV

This is the biggest usability issue out of all Apple products I've ever used and it is becoming unbearable.

In order to play/pause my audiobook I have to be really really careful.

Igarashi

Level 1

0 points

Feb 14, 2011 3:17 PM in response to BenV

This happens to me all the time, to the point where I just ignore the lock screen controls altogether. I use the airplay icon only when I'm getting out of my car (as it also controls bluetooth audio). I can stand for that to be a feature inaccessible from the lock screen if push comes to shove, but the current spacing is unusable.

Mar 1, 2011 3:47 AM in response to BenV

Add me to this list. I thought it was just me but I'm glad I'm not the only person experiencing this. The spacing is definitely tighter compared with my iPod Touch running iOS 3.1.2.

KiltedTim

Level 10

195,801 points

Mar 1, 2011 4:36 AM in response to BenV

Just another voice chiming in on this. I was JUST thinking about this yesterday. Got a new car over the weekend that supports A2DP bluetooth audio streaming and was getting annoyed with myself that I couldn't hit the dang play/pause button, but kept hitting forward or back.

I thought it was just age, bad eyes and poor coordination.

I'm glad to hear I'm not just falling apart, but that it's real.

Mar 2, 2011 11:10 AM in response to BenV

What are the chances Apple fixes this with iOS 4.3 coming 03/11/11?

Mar 9, 2011 11:45 AM in response to BenV

Can someone confirm whether iOS 4.3 has resolved this issue?

Mar 11, 2011 6:58 AM in response to BenV

I also have this issue and it drives me nuts, using the scrubber control to get back to the exact location of a 4 hr file is not easy.

My workaround for this is to go to ipod mode, turn my phone to landscape and press the pause/play button. In landscape mode there is no forward or back button.

Mar 13, 2011 7:58 PM in response to BenV

I'm so glad this thread exists. iPhone iOS 4.3 didn't seem to improve things, so it seems Apple isn't listening. Oddly, this design flaw is the kind of thing I'd expect to see from other manufacturers, but not Apple.

I'm only inspired to pile on because, in the midst of listening to a 90-minute podcast, I actually hit the wrong button twice, which took much time to figure out where I was in the podcast. I know, these issues don't really compare to earthquakes and tsunamis, but it sure is annoying.

Apple, please fix this very real issue on the next iOS revision! Move the AirTunes button somewhere else so you can spread out the three buttons so they aren't so close (how often do most of us press the AirTunes button compared to the play button?).

Mar 19, 2011 3:33 PM in response to BenV

Add me to this list also. I listen at least 30 hrs/wk to podcasts, audiobooks, etc. This problem happens to me all the time, even when trying to be very careful, and makes me nuts.

Plenty of room to space the buttons out further - on lock screen and iPod player, and even perhaps add a 30sec rewind, but please put more space around play/pause!

STILL not fixed with ios4.3. Come on already!

iPhone 4 IOS 4.2 iPod play/pause button "size" (hitting skip forward/back)