iPhone 8 to be released without home button

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Apple plans to remove the Home button altogether in the iPhone it plans to release in 2017, according to Bloomberg, which discussed the new mobile features coming to Japan. Citing a person familiar with the matter, Bloomberg informed readers that Apple intends to redesign the 2017 iPhone, and its main focus is on the display, from which it will remove the Home button.

Big plans for the 2017 iPhone

Rumors in the past claimed that Apple is considering a complete overhaul for the iPhone it will release in 2017, which could be named the iPhone 8. The device is rumored to sport an edge-to-edge flexible OLED display and do away with the top and bottom bezels that house features such as the Touch ID fingerprint sensor and front-facing camera.

Instead, the company might directly build the functionality of the Home button into the display, which will include Touch ID as well, reports Mac Rumors. It is said that Jony Ive, Apple’s design chief, had been nurturing a dream of building an iPhone that looks like a single sheet of glass and has chosen the tenth anniversary year of the iPhone (2017) to make his dream come true.

The edges of the 2017 iPhone display could be curved on both sides just like those of the Samsung Galaxy S7. Rumors state that the device will have a glass body, instead of aluminum that has been an integral part of all the iPhones since the iPhone 5. The 2017 iPhone could have several other features as well, like facial recognition, an enhanced taptic engine, wireless charging and new biometric capabilities like iris scanning, reports Mac Rumors.

Apple to foray into social media

In 2017, Apple is also reportedly planning to step in the social media space. Not only will it expand social media sharing within its iOS suites but also build a service that will allow users to share images and videos just like Snapchat. With the app, users will be able to apply filters and record videos and send them to contacts or upload them for sharing on social platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, Bloomberg reported.

Bloomberg claims that the design goals are one-hand use and that the complete process includes capturing, editing and uploading, all in less than a minute. The company is evaluating if it could introduce more social media sharing features for iOS and expand its adaptive assistance functionality, which makes suggestions to users based on location and time of day, the report stated.

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