Why do iPhones have a mute or "switch" button?

When the original iPhone burst onto the market, it was a revolution. For starters, it completely abandoned the physical keyboard, a standard on all devices in those years (like Blackberry). Since then, the iPhone has shed more things, such as the 3.5mm jack or even the iconic Home button. However, there is one thing that has managed to remain unchanged to this day: the mute switch.

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This switch has generated as much devotion as indifference, especially for those who come from Android (here it is activated with a virtual button, for example). But the history of this curious iPhone button is several years old and dates back to the days of the iPod, without going any further.

If you were one of those who grew up with an iPod, you will surely know what I’ll talk about next. iPods had a button that was almost identical to the iPhone’s but served a different purpose: to activate Hold Mode. By doing so, the iPod’s screen was completely locked to prevent it from turning on by mistake.

Apple brought this same concept to the iPhone, although in theory it would not have been necessary thanks to its touch screen. In fact, the iPhone’s lock screen itself already served to prevent accidental touches, so including a Hold Mode made no sense. That’s why the bitten apple company changed the functionality of the button and opted to include a silent mode.

But, I can also take the volume control and bring it to minimum to activate this mode, right? This is something that was done on cell phones back then and is still done today (on Android, for example). However, Apple thought that this could generate confusion at the time as it was a more advanced smartphone in terms of functionality. Setting the volume to minimum meant muting the iPhone, but it could also mute the sound of the videos you were watching, the music you were listening to, etc.

The solution? Adding a physical button that would mute all sounds but at the same time let the user listen to the multimedia content. Although Android has solved this problem through software, the truth is that a physical button makes this action much simpler and more direct, at least according to Apple. However, it seems that with the iPhone 15 Pro this is about to change. And you, do you use the “switch” on your iPhone a lot to put it on silent?

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