Won't ICS basically turn 4.3" phones into 4" phones?

[Calvin35]

Won't the navigation bar on ICS essentially make the display on all current phones smaller if you can't get rid of it?

 

[Deleted User]

it was said that the buttons on the display can disappear to allow for full screen applications and videos...not sure how that will work if u then dont have a home button to quickly exit the app

any1 have any insight into that and how it will work?

 

[Calvin35]

it was said that the buttons on the display can disappear to allow for full screen applications and videos...not sure how that will work if u then dont have a home button to quickly exit the app

any1 have any insight into that and how it will work?

I'm in the same boat as you are. I can't find any definitive information on this.

 

[kool kat2]

Won't the navigation bar on ICS essentially make the display on all current phones smaller if you can't get rid of it?

I would hope the OEMs have the sense to just assign the current buttons for those functions.

 

[rivera02]

I would hope the OEMs have the sense to just assign the current buttons for those functions.

Definitely. It is a no brainer that the software buttons wouldn't be ported over to the ICS builds of current phones with capacitive or physical buttons.

 

[Deleted User]

There will be no software buttons on the phone if there are hardware buttons present.

 

[Calvin35]

Does anyone know the advantage of the software buttons versus hardware buttons. Why not just have the Nexus with capacative buttons and have a nice 4.65" available all the time?

 

[jmt9779]

Does anyone know the advantage of the software buttons versus hardware buttons. Why not just have the Nexus with capacative buttons and have a nice 4.65" available all the time?

the advantage is that you can keep the phone the same size but make the screen bigger. a 4.65" screen with capacitive buttons under it would make an already large phone just gigantic.

 

[Deleted User]

the advantage is that you can keep the phone the same size but make the screen bigger. a 4.65" screen with capacitive buttons under it would make an already large phone just gigantic.

Yep, that's a good one. Means you can watch videos full screen without adding extra size.

Also, software buttons are configurable. That means that as the phone evolves and the OS changes, you don't HAVE to always have the same buttons. New universal voice feature that you want a launcher for? Add a fourth button. Decide that the task manager isn't working? Change it to something else.

Looking forward, apps might also be able to modify the buttons based on content. Obviously, some buttons you always want there but it could be useful to have one button for one app, and a different one for another app.

 

[ylexot]

Yep, that's a good one. Means you can watch videos full screen without adding extra size.

Also, software buttons are configurable. That means that as the phone evolves and the OS changes, you don't HAVE to always have the same buttons. New universal voice feature that you want a launcher for? Add a fourth button. Decide that the task manager isn't working? Change it to something else.

Looking forward, apps might also be able to modify the buttons based on content. Obviously, some buttons you always want there but it could be useful to have one button for one app, and a different one for another app.

+1 Apps could also decide that they don't use the menu button, so it won't display when running the app (kind of annoying when you hit the button and nothing happens).