Facial Recognition & Gesture Controls To Replace iPhone Home Button

Details about the upcoming iPhone 8 continue to be revealed, with the latest leak suggesting gesture controls and facial recognition will completely replace the home button.

As reported by Bloomberg, the new ‘high-end’ iPhone that is set to be launched alongside refreshes to the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus on September 12 will not feature a physical or virtual button in its almost bezel-less design.

Instead, Bloomberg said that “people familiar with the gadget” and leaked images seem to indicate gesture controls will replace some of the functionalities of the home button, including returning home and launching multitasking.

“Across the bottom of the screen there’s a thin, software bar in lieu of the home button. A user can drag it up to the middle of the screen to open the phone. When inside an app, a similar gesture starts multitasking. From here, users can continue to flick upwards to close the app and go back to the home screen,” Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman wrote.

The home button has been a key component of the iPhone since Apple launched the device ten years ago, and its functionality has grown in every new release to include things like multitasking, Siri and the Touch ID fingerprint sensor.

Facial recognition is also set to replace the fingerprint sensor to unlock the new iPhone and to verify payments using a facial recognition sensor located in a noticeable cutout at the top of the device.

iPhone 8 icon leaked by Apple in HomePod firmware.

Based on unreleased images, Bloomberg said information like battery life and Wi-Fi status would be split between the top left and right sides.

The growing list of reports about the iPhone 8 indicate it will feature an OLED display, wireless charging, and a price tag that would see it become the most expensive iPhone ever, possibly as high as $1,600.