[Kirby64]

I don’t get this point of this article. Turning off your phone is an infrequent activity. Using a two button combo to accomplish this seems perfectly fine. It’s not like a two second hold is that inconvenient, and once you learn it in your phone… how often are you turning off other people’s phones?

Relegating the side button to only function as power off and nothing else is not a good default behavior, in my view. For power users, sure… let them configure it to do that, I guess.

[everforward]

I think the underlying issue is that phone power buttons are “special” in that they don’t work like literally any other power button.

I do not chord key binds on my desktop with the power button. My speakers, TV, router, etc will only ever turn off/on when I hit the power button.

It overrides a fairly rational user assumption: that “the power button” is responsible for controlling whether the device is on or off, and that that is its primary function.

They would probably fare better if they switched to calling it a Meta key (or something else that doesn’t invoke Facebook). Meta+VolumeDown to shut down makes more sense than Power+VolumeDown; the latter makes me wonder why the power button alone isn’t enough.

Overall, there really just aren’t enough context-free inputs on mobile phones. Apps generally use the whole screen, so all your non-app-specific inputs have to be put on weird chords of the 3-ish physical buttons a mobile phone has.

[Kirby64]

They’re also special in that the adverse outcome to powering them off accidentally is much more likely, though. Not many other devices are stored in our pockets and can be pressed accidentally.

Also, it probably would be best to call it a “sleep” button or “screen” button… or something like that. After all, that’s the primary single press function that is universal to all phones. It’s not actually a power button from a single press, it’s a button to toggle the screen on and off. The long press not resulting in a power off command is somewhat unusual, but also not ridiculous.

[nucleardog]

Me neither.

If anything, a combination seems like the better option when we’re talking a feature that is almost never used triggered by exposed buttons on a device that spends most of its life in people’s pocket.

If I accidentally turned my phone off in my pocket as often as I seem to accidentally hit buttons on my car key fob, it’d drive me fucking bonkers.

The extra button presses the once or twice a year (if that) I intentionally turn my phone off is really not much of an inconvenience, comparatively.

[hulitu]

> Relegating the side button to only function as power off and nothing else is not a good default behavior

And what will be a "good default behavior" ? A button which choses its actions by the phases of the moon ? /s

I turn off my phone, when not in use (at some nights or my work phone when i'm in the office).

[Kirby64]

If you turn your phone off frequently then knowing what the “secret combination” for power off should not be difficult. We’re talking about holding down the power button and one of the volume buttons… it’s not rocket science.

You can argue whether or not the default behavior is good… but no phone “chooses its actions by the phase of the moon”. That’s very disingenuous. Either way, having the power button held down not force off the phone is a good thing for avoiding accidental power down.