No, this is not any “innovation” or revolutionary feature that the upcoming iOS 18 will bring. Nor is it the only change the new system will bring, as we have already seen that there will be various modifications on the iPhone.
However, it is a small fun detail that Apple will offer to its users, a little visual trick that is more for entertaining and showing friends than something that will change the user’s life.
In iOS 18, when pressing the device’s volume buttons, a small graphic animation on the edge of the screen simulates the physical pressure that the buttons exert on the side.
It’s as if they are pushing the screen. Check it out:
This is very reminiscent of the time when Scott Forstall was leading iOS. There was always this kind of playful interaction with buttons that would light up when the screen was touched, in the good old skeuomorphic philosophy.
All of this died when the dry (and flat) Jonny Ive took over the team and removed the charm from the system.
Now, among so many things to catch up on, it seems that the engineering team is finding time to play around with the system and make it more fun.
It’s a change that won’t change anyone’s life or revolutionize the market, but it will surely bring a little smile to many people who see it for the first time. And perhaps the world needs more of that: smiles.
