In some African countries, iPhones are becoming popular but facts show that the company that sells iPhones, known as Apple is now the 3rd largest smartphone manufacturer in the world as Huawei takes number two position and closes the gap between Samsung, world’s number one smartphone manufacturer and seller.
But iPhones came with superb features, some of which we don’t even think of anymore as these phones loses popularity. Here, we intimate you with some of the very best features that iPhones promoted in the history of mobile smartphones. Try to see if any of these changes sent the company to where we find it today.
Skeuomorphism
I tend to think of this in two words- skew and morphine. But those words actually have no relationship with skeuomorphism which was introduced when iOS 7 debuted in 2013. It was seen as the most iconic feature of iPhone. On the display, the user is able to see the interface of the phone characterized by textures and patterns mimicking real-life materials like wood or leather. People complained when the interface came to life but after time, they realized that it was what made iPhone an iPhone.
The Home Button
For about a decade, Apple made use of a home button which was a circular button and you could find it on every iPhone. But after about a decade of manufacturing phones, Apple stopped putting the home button. But it was one of the main things in iPhones, as it was indeed central to the iPhone user iPhone 5S experience. It later became the company’s Apple Touch ID fingerprint sensor. In 2017 however, Apple introduced a new iPhone X without the home button. Slowly, until 2018, the smartphone maker removed the home button entirely from its phones.
Touch ID
Previously, users were able to unlock their iPhones and authenticate payments with Touch ID. But Apple also took away the fingerprint sensor. This has been the rule since 2012. But for most of us, we love the fingerprint sensor and can’t understand what on earth made Apple to ditch it in its phones. Today, virtually all flagship phones come with fingerprint sensor. Apple moved over to facial recognition, a security mode which some of us don’t use but almost all of use the fingerprint sensor.
Dedicated Headphone Jack
Apple is not the only phone manufacturer that ditched the headphone jack. Other smartphone manufacturers have done that on select phones too. However, it appears that iPhone had done this on all subsequent phones and users are still aching because of this. Only people who make use of Bluetooth headphones these won’t care a thing about the lack of headphone jacks in their iPhones. It seems that Apple wanted space for things it considered to be more important such as battery size and power. Now, if you want to use a headphone with iPhones, especially the newer ones, you may need to make use of an adapter. To also connect a wired charger, users have to buy a splitter.
Conclusion
Some believe that since Apple don’t want to connect with low-income buyers of smartphones, its move was doomed for some years now. There are also others who believe that the feature inconsistencies in its mobile phones made the company to become less popular. Which of these two points do you think is responsible for Apple’s loss of market grip in 2024?
