iPhone X Owners Complain About Keyboard's 'Wasted Space'

As early adopters began to experience the iPhone X for the first time this past weekend, many users took to the MacRumors forums, Reddit, and Twitter to discuss the gap that exists below the keyboard within iOS 11 on iPhone X. As some users pointed out, this space was likely meant as a way to more easily swipe up to go Home, and potentially for ergonomics reasons since a lower keyboard could be more difficult to type on, but many iPhone X owners are still getting used to the way the keyboard looks across all apps on the device.

iphone x keyboard image 3

The iOS keyboard on iPhone X

On the new keyboard, the Globe or Emoji icon and the Dictation icon both sit below the space bar at the very bottom of the screen. Between these two buttons is a wide, empty gray area that isn't sitting well with some iPhone X owners, and which some early reviews of the device pointed out last week.

BuzzFeed, for example, wondered why Apple didn't do more with this space, potentially including adding "common punctuation, frequently used emojis, or literally anything."

It’s when the keyboard, in any app, is on screen (which, for me, is most of the time): There’s all this dead space on the bottom, where Apple could have put common punctuation, frequently used emojis, or literally anything, but instead left it blank. Other full-screen apps on other phones put navigation or other design elements in that area, and it doesn’t look crowded or crammed. It looks fine. It’s puzzling why Apple didn’t put something more useful down at the bottom, or why it didn’t add a row of numbers or emojis up top and push down the keyboard to make it more thumb-accessible.

Alex Muench, a UI/UX designer for apps like Todoist and Twist, went a step further and created a mockup of how this could look on future versions of iOS on the iPhone X. Muench likened this space on iPhone X to be a potential area for recently used emojis, "like Touch bar on Mac."

iphone x keyboard mockup alex muench

Twitter user @Yespur asked third-party keyboard SwiftKey if the company will "fill the bottom part of the screen," to which SwiftKey responded: "We'll have to look into it. Nothing to comment on beyond that." It's unclear whether third parties will have any ability to design for this area of iOS on iPhone X. In the Human Interface Guidelines for the new smartphone, the only direct mention of the keyboard asks developers to not duplicate the Globe and Dictation keys.

Don't duplicate system-provided keyboard features. On iPhone X, the Emoji/Globe key and the Dictation key automatically appear beneath the keyboard—even when using custom keyboards. Your app can't affect these keys, so avoid causing confusion by repeating them in your keyboard

The iPhone X comes with a variety of new interface gestures, features, and interactions that take some time getting used to following years of the traditional iPhone experience. Without a Home Button, unlocking the iPhone X requires you to swipe up from the bottom edge of the device, and also rearranges some physical commands like taking a screenshot by pressing the Side Button and Volume Up Button. For more information on Apple's newest smartphone, check out our iPhone X Roundup.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
macbook pro blue green

When Will Apple Release the M5 MacBook Pro?

Wednesday March 26, 2025 4:53 pm PDT by
Apple regularly refreshes the MacBook Pro models, and a new version that uses M5 series chips is in the works. Apple just finished refreshing most of the Mac lineup with M4 chips, and now it's time for the M5. Rumors suggest that we could see the first M5 MacBook Pro models this fall. Design There have been no rumors of a design update for the M5 MacBook Pro models that are coming this...
Apple Lumon Terminal Pro

Apple's Mac Site Features Fictional 'Lumon Terminal Pro'

Wednesday March 26, 2025 12:19 pm PDT by
Apple is going all out with promotions for the popular Severance Apple TV+ show today, and as of right now, you'll find a new "Lumon Terminal Pro" listed on Apple's Mac site. The Lumon Terminal Pro is designed to look similar to the machines that Severance employees like Mark S. and Helly R. use for macrodata refinement. The Terminal features a blue keyboard, a small display with wide...
Facebook Feature

Facebook's New iPhone App Feature Turns the Clock Back to 2007

Thursday March 27, 2025 1:59 pm PDT by
In the mid-to-late 2000s, Facebook was all about staying connected with friends and family. However, as the social media platform added new features and grew over time, that core experience began to get drowned out. That changes starting now, according to Meta, which today introduced a new feature that will "bring back the joy" of classic Facebook. Specifically, Meta has redesigned the...
Generic iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Coming Soon With These New Features for Your iPhone

Tuesday March 25, 2025 6:45 am PDT by
Apple is expected to release iOS 18.4 to the general public as soon as next week, following more than a month of beta testing. Apple's website says some iOS 18.4 features will be released in "early April," so the update should be out as early as Tuesday, April 1. Apple this week seeded the iOS 18.4 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, barring the discovery of any...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Supports 8K Video Recording, Suggests Leaker [Updated]

Wednesday March 26, 2025 4:06 am PDT by
Update 7:25 pm: Based on comments from our forums, it appears the original Weibo post may have been mistranslated and "8K" actually refers to the high price of the device rather than 8K video recording capabilities. The iPhone 16 Pro currently starts at 7,999 yuan in China. Our original article follows below. Apple's forthcoming iPhone 17 Pro models are capable of shooting 8K video, up...
iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Expected Next Week - Here Are the Release Notes

Friday March 28, 2025 2:01 pm PDT by
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect. There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
iOS 18 4 Ambient Music Control Center

How to Use iOS 18.4's New Ambient Music Feature in Control Center

Thursday March 27, 2025 7:45 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 18.4 update for the iPhone adds an Ambient Music feature to Control Center. Below, we take a closer look at how it works. iOS 18.4 is currently in beta, so the Ambient Music feature is not widely available yet. The update will likely be released to the general public next week. To use the feature on iOS 18.4, open Control Center and tap on the plus sign in the top-left...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature 1

'iPhone Fold' to Feature Metallic Glass Hinge That Resists Deformation

Thursday March 27, 2025 4:21 am PDT by
Last week, we covered a report claiming that Apple's book-style foldable iPhone (or "iPhone Fold," as we are provisionally calling it here) will use liquid metal hinges to improve durability and help minimize screen creasing. Today, a Chinese leaker provided more details on the properties of this hinge material that help to clarify why Apple chose it for its first foldable device. According...

Top Rated Comments

djcerla Avatar
97 months ago
Alternate universe headline: “iPhone X users complain about inadvertently entering symbols while using home gesture”.
Score: 54 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PastaPrimav Avatar
97 months ago
Apple is really slipping in the quality control department recently...
Totally irrelevant, uninformed comment. That would imply Apple just didn't know it looked like this. They know. And its on purpose. Try reading their Human Interface Guidelines. You're not supposed to crowd content close to the Home Bar, and precisely zero users would want them (or other devs) to do so.

Unfortunately, most "users" don't know what they want until they see it and try it. But, Apple isn't going to give you something bad just so you can decide for yourself that it was right the first time.
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
joshwenke Avatar
97 months ago
Apple is really slipping in the quality control department recently...
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PastaPrimav Avatar
97 months ago
Why do we have to shove things in there? I really don't want stuff in that close proximity to the Home Bar. There's enough screen in use already.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
randymac09 Avatar
97 months ago
I saw somewhere else someone mentioned that iOS 11 is really like iOS 1 for the X. It’s a completely new device and needs a different OS than the others. These things will get worked out. I’m not taking the blame away from Apple, but I think come iOS 2 for the X (i.e. iOS 12) we will see a much improved UI.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Nick A Avatar
97 months ago
I think it’s fine the way it is. It’s neat and clean and doesn’t look cluttered like it does in that mock-up pic with the emojis.

The keyboard on the X is also sits in the natural position your thumbs go when holding the phone.

I do wish Apple would fix the bug that keeps changing my “I” to an A with a question mark though!!
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)