Hanson
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Nov 1, 1998
- Messages
- 5,272
- Real Name
- Hanson
There are so many reasons a large screen device is better than one with a puny little screen -- easier to read, easier to input, room for larger batteries, and better for video and games. Basically, the Note 2 trounces the iPhone 5 on a multitude of tasks simply because the screen is larger.
But the phablet falters in one area -- one handed operation ranges from difficult to impossible depending on your task. I use my Note 2 one-handed 80% of the time. But pecking out a quick text is difficult one handed. Reaching the reply button on the upper right hand corner with my left thumb is difficult one handed. Tapping the pane switcher in Chrome one handed is, well, a pain.
But I figured out how to fix all of this. And I wonder if Samsung has it in store for the Note 3. The fix is "scale to one-handed mode".
There is already a one-handed keyboard feature on the GN2 that allows you to shrink the keyboard and move it to the bottom left corner. This allows you to type with one hand. But it has a couple of disadvantages -- first off, it's a feature of the stock keyboard only, and you'll have to pry SwiftKey out of my cold, dead hands. Secondly, it's just for the keyboard -- all of those tap targets in the upper corners are still out of reach.
My solution is an extension of this one-handed keyboard. Since the screens are now 1080p, why not scale the entire screen to shrink down to the right or left corner? On a 5.9" screen (like the rumored Note 3), it would shrink down to about 4", or the same size as the iPhone 5 screen. Now you can manipulate the entire screen one-handed. There are multiple ways to have this activate one-handed with either hand -- for instance, a double tap of the menu or back button.
But the phablet falters in one area -- one handed operation ranges from difficult to impossible depending on your task. I use my Note 2 one-handed 80% of the time. But pecking out a quick text is difficult one handed. Reaching the reply button on the upper right hand corner with my left thumb is difficult one handed. Tapping the pane switcher in Chrome one handed is, well, a pain.
But I figured out how to fix all of this. And I wonder if Samsung has it in store for the Note 3. The fix is "scale to one-handed mode".
There is already a one-handed keyboard feature on the GN2 that allows you to shrink the keyboard and move it to the bottom left corner. This allows you to type with one hand. But it has a couple of disadvantages -- first off, it's a feature of the stock keyboard only, and you'll have to pry SwiftKey out of my cold, dead hands. Secondly, it's just for the keyboard -- all of those tap targets in the upper corners are still out of reach.
My solution is an extension of this one-handed keyboard. Since the screens are now 1080p, why not scale the entire screen to shrink down to the right or left corner? On a 5.9" screen (like the rumored Note 3), it would shrink down to about 4", or the same size as the iPhone 5 screen. Now you can manipulate the entire screen one-handed. There are multiple ways to have this activate one-handed with either hand -- for instance, a double tap of the menu or back button.