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Re:The phone-makers bringing back buttons by penagwin on Wednesday February 27, 2019 @05:59PM (#19267688)
Home buttons break? Do you mean break in the UX/UI or physically break?

I've worked at a phone repair shop for the last 2 years, and I mainly work on iPhones. Very, very rarely are home buttons broken outside of a repair. Usually when they are broken the phone isn't in.... great condition. In fact I'm not sure I recall a home button ever being broken without the rest of the phone being completely shattered.

Re:The phone-makers bringing back buttons by untog on Wednesday February 27, 2019 @06:16PM (#19267787)
I'm surprised! I know at least a few friends that have enabled the accessibility mode home button because their hardware button is broken. Obviously way, way more people have their screens break but in my anecdotal experience a broken home button is not uncommon.
Re:The phone-makers bringing back buttons by penagwin on Thursday February 28, 2019 @11:05AM (#19272305)
Here's a fun one too: iPhone 7's and up don't have clicky home buttons. They vibrate to simulate a "click", although it is still a separate piece from the rest of the phone. Try turning one off and pressing it, they don't physically move.

Having the accessibility mode isn't uncommon, I only see phones for a short amount of time and mostly do a quick test, so I'll admit if a button is intermittent I might not catch it.

I will say breaking home buttons during repairs aren't uncommon though, it really depends on how honest the repair shop is. Even veterans can have issues with the home buttons because their cables are _sooooo_ thin, they're glued in place, and even the tiniest tear can mean it's done for. Touch ID can never be replaced and as of 7's and up they cannot be functionally replaced.

Re:The phone-makers bringing back buttons by mkoryak on Wednesday February 27, 2019 @06:05PM (#19267710)
That may be your experience, but I think OP was trying to say that stuff with more moving parts has more points of failure than stuff with no moving parts.
Re:The phone-makers bringing back buttons by badfrog on Wednesday February 27, 2019 @06:10PM (#19267745)
> I think OP was trying to say that stuff with more moving parts has more points of failure than stuff with no moving parts

That's a reasonable point, but it seems they've chosen to illustrate the point with an example that isn't true.

Re:The phone-makers bringing back buttons by sosuke on Wednesday February 27, 2019 @06:07PM (#19267726)
https://www.businessinsider.com/does-iphone-home-button-brea...

That was the first time I heard of the iPhone home button breaking.