Ask HN: why Apple uses a hardware switch for iPhone's silent mode? - ziodave
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niftich
My theory: its state can be detected by touch alone and toggled without having
to look at the device. This is very convenient when it's in one's pocket or
bag, especially when it's already making noise.

There additional benefits: you get one additional hardware button (or in this
case, switch) that can be remapped to other functions. iOS does this for the
screen rotation lock, where it again pays off immensely: when the screen is
already in an awkward rotation, not many people will want to poke around an
on-screen menu to get the screen to re-orient.

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scraft
I think there is also a sense of trust, in terms of users worrying that they
have clicked the right buttons in the UI to enable silent mode, if they get it
wrong, a phone goes off at a very problematic time. With the hardware switch
it is a very definite on/off silent mode.

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ziodave
This way I cannot program the phone, say, to be silent during night hours?

