- A thumbnail is a smaller version of a much larger image that is used to help conserve screen space. They are useful for helping users to view multiple images at once. Thumbnails are also commonly used on the Internet, helping the web page viewer see an image without having to download the full-sized.
- Picture in Picture lets you watch a thumbnail-size video play in the corner of your screen while you do other things on your phone. The video sticks around as you pop open a chat window, scroll.
The Photos app on iPhone and iPad has a bunch of features that help you keep your pictures and videos organized and all in one place. You can quickly see your pictures by day, month, or year, and even check where you were when you took the picture.
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In darts, hitting the bulls-eye is harder to do than hitting any other part of the dartboard. This is because the bullseye is the smallest target. This same principle can also apply to touch targets on mobile devices.
Smaller touch targets are harder for users to hit than larger ones. When you're designing mobile interfaces, it's best to make your targets big so that they're easy for users to tap. But exactly how big should you make them to give the best ease of use to the majority of your users? Many mobile developers have wondered this, and most have turned to the user interface guidelines provided by the platform developer for the answer.
Further Reading on SmashingMag:
What the Mobile Platform Guidelines Say
Apple's iPhone Human Interface Guidelines recommends a minimum target size of 44 pixels wide 44 pixels tall. Microsoft's Windows Phone UI Design and Interaction Guide suggests a touch target size of 34px with a minimum touch target size of 26px. Nokia's developer guidelines suggest that the target size should be no smaller than 1cm x 1cm square or 28 x 28 pixels.
(Image credit: ogimogi)
While these guidelines give a general measurement for touch targets, they're not consistent with each other, nor are they consistent with the actual size of the human finger. In fact, their suggested sizes are much smaller than the average finger, which can lead to touch target problems for users on mobile devices.
Small Touch Targets Lead to Big Problems
Small touch targets make users work harder because they require more accuracy to hit. Users need to reorient their finger, from finger pad to fingertip, to hit the target with clear visual feedback. Using the finger pad would cover the entire target, making it impossible for users to see the target they're trying to hit. Users use the fingertip to hit small touch targets because it gives them the visual feedback they need to know that they're hitting their target accurately. But when users have to reorient their finger, it slows their movement down, and forces them to work harder to hit their target.
Not just that, but small touch targets can lead to touch errors. When small touch targets are grouped near each other, users can accidentally hit neighboring targets and initiate unintended actions. This is because the user's finger overlaps on to the neighboring buttons. And if pressure is not carefully applied in the right spot, it'll trigger the wrong action. It's easy for users to make these errors with their index finger. But it's even easier for them to make these errors if they use their thumb, because their thumb is much larger than the target. Sometimes users will tilt their thumb sideways and use the thin side to hit a small touch target. But this is a lot of unnecessary work.
Thumb use among mobile users is popular. Some users won't always have two hands free when they're on their mobile device. Many prefer the convenience of using only one hand and their thumb. Users shouldn't have to switch from using one hand to two hands, or from their thumb to their index finger to hit a target accurately. And more importantly, the size of a target shouldn't cause them to make touch errors. Small touch targets make things harder for users, where a finger-friendly target does not.
Pixel Width of the Average Index Finger
An MIT Touch Lab study of Human Fingertips to investigate the Mechanics of Tactile Sense found that the average width of the index finger is 1.6 to 2 cm (16 - 20 mm) for most adults. This converts to 45 - 57 pixels, which is wider than what most mobile guidelines suggest.
A touch target that's 45 - 57 pixels wide allows the user's finger to fit snugly inside the target. Pokemon ruby mobile. The edges of the target are visible when the user taps it. This provides them with clear visual feedback that they're hitting the target accurately. They're also able to hit and move to their targets faster due to its larger size. This is consistent with Fitt's Law, which says that the time to reach a target is longer if the target is smaller. A small target slows users down because they have to pay extra attention to hit the target accurately. A finger-sized target gives users enough room to hit it without having to worry about accuracy.
Pixel Width of the Average Thumb
There are many users who use their index finger to tap mobile targets. But there are just as many users who use their thumb as well. The big difference with the thumb is that it's wider than the index finger. The average width of an adult thumb is 1 inch (2.5 cm), which converts to 72 pixels.
For users who use their thumbs, 72 pixels does wonders. They're easier and faster to hit because they allow the user's thumb to fit comfortably inside the target. This makes the edges visible and easy to see from all angles. This means that users don't have to reorient their thumb to the very tip to see it hit the target. Nor do they have to tilt their thumb to the side to hit it. One tap with their thumb pad is enough to do the trick.
A Target Size Study for One-Handed Thumb Use on Small Touchscreen Devices found that user errors declined as the target size increased. Users were able to tap the target faster without having to make intentional physical accommodations to increase accuracy such as reorienting the thumb, which would have slowed performance.
Another study on Touch Key Design for Target Selection on a Mobile Phone also found that the number of errors decreased as the touch key size increased. In addition, it was provided that the larger the touch key size, the higher the success rate and pressing convenience.
Finger-Sized is Ideal, But Not Always Practical
As many benefits there are to using finger-sized targets, they're not always practical in every situation. On a mobile device, you're working in a limited space. This means when you have many finger-sized targets together, they can take up more space than your screen can afford. However, when you have a few finger-sized targets together, that's when you can fit them all on your screen without trouble. You will need to measure the size of your screen and touch targets to know exactly how big of a touch target you can afford. If you can't afford finger-sized touch targets on your interface, use the guidelines the mobile platform gives you instead.
Finger-sized targets are much easier to apply on a tablet than a mobile device because there is more screen space available. You can use them liberally without the fear of taking up too much space and improve tablet usability instantly. However, mobile devices are where users have the most trouble hitting touch targets. And that's where finger-sized targets are needed the most. The challenge for designers is to figure out how to make the most of finger-sized targets on the mobile screen. This might require using less touch targets than you normally would. But this is a plus because it forces designers to keep their navigation simple and minimal.
Thumb-Sized Targets for Gaming Applications
Another thing to think about is when to use a thumb-sized target over an index finger-sized one. It's difficult to know whether most of your users will use their thumbs or index fingers on your application. However, if your application is a game, it's likely most users will use their thumbs to play instead of their index fingers. This is why thumb-sized targets are particularly useful for gaming applications. By making your game control targets thumb-sized, users can play the game with better handling and control. They're able to see the game control targets as they move their thumbs, and the game will feel more adaptive to them.
Gyro13 Steam Copter Arcade has larger touchscreen targets
It is without a doubt that matching your touch target sizes to the average finger size improves mobile usability for many. Whether your application is a game or any other, touch targets are designed for users to tap. If the user has to take their attention away from using your application to the way they move, orient or arc their finger to tap a target, it degrades their experience of your application. With this new-found insight, you can create applications that are truly finger-friendly. Finger-friendly design isn't reserved for the few. It's a new design standard for mobile applications to follow everywhere.
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When you take a screenshot on iPhone or iPad in iOS 11, a thumbnail preview will occur on the lower-right corner. When you tap it, it will appear in the corner of the screen and enables you to share the screenshot with others or edit with adding text, signature, and magnifier. iOS 11 screenshot preview brings a lot convenience and you will find it is unaccustomed if the iPhone screenshot thumbnail preview not working. Then, how to fix the screenshot thumbnail preview not working in iOS 11 on iPhone or iPad? Read on to get answers.
5 top ways to fix screenshot thumbnail preview not working in iOS 11
Screenshot preview in iOS 11 provides you quick access to edit and share the screenshot info as an image. If it doesn't work normally, following tips below to easily troubleshoot.
Tip 1 Restart your iPhone or iPad
The iDevice restarting can effectively fix many small issues, like iOS 11 screen recording not working, live wallpaper not working, Apps can't download, etc.
Restart iPhone X
- Press and hold the Side button and either volume button until the power off slider appears.
- Drag the slider to turn off your iPhone X. After a few seconds later, press and hold the Side button again until you see the Apple logo.
Restart iPhone 8/7/6 and iPad
- Press and hold the Top/Side button until the slider occurs.
- Drag the slider to turn off your iPhone or iPad. After a few seconds later, press and hold the Top/Side button again until you see the Apple logo.
Tip 2 Force restart iPhone or iPad
If your iPhone 8 keeps freezing or iPad can't work properly, you are afraid of needing a device hard reset, which isn't the same as normally restart.
What Is Thumbnail Image
Force restart iPhone 8/8 Plus/X
- Press and quickly release the Volume Up button.
- Press and quickly release the Volume Down button.
- Press and hold the Side button until you see the Apple logo. Please don't release the Side button when the screen goes black but keep holding until you see the white Apple logo on your screen.
Force restart iPhone 7/7 Plus
- Press and hold the Sleep/Wake and Volume Down button until the Apple logo appears.
- Ignore the Slide to power off slider pop up and keep holding down on both buttons until you see the white Apple logo on your screen.
Force restart iPhone 6, 6S and earlier and iPad
- Press and hold down on your Home button and your Power button.
- Keep holding down on your Home button and your Power button until the Apple logo appears.
What Is A Video Thumbnail
After you've force restarted your iPhone/iPad, try and check if the screenshot has been fixed. If not, go on with deeper level solutions.
Tip 3 Update to the latest iOS 11 version
Each iOS update will fix the bugs in the previous version. For some devices, the screenshot thumbnail preview not working in iOS 11 may be caused by system bugs.
Go to Settings >General >Software Update > check if there is a new update available. If yes, download and install the latest iOS 11 version.
Tip 4 Restore your iPhone/iPad
If the iOS 11 screenshot thumbnail preview still not working correctly, please continue to restore iPhone with iTunes backup.
1. Connect your iPhone/iPad to your computer via a USB cable.
2. Launch iTunes and click on the device icon in the upper left corner of iTunes.
3. Click Restore Backup. When the option appears, choose the latest iTunes backup and click Restore. If you have encrypted the iTunes backup, you need to enter the password to unlock the iPhone backup.
- Warning
- Restore your iPhone or iPad can only proceed when you have backed up your iPhone before. Therefore, in order to avoid data loss caused by iPhone stuck on Apple logo with no response, you'd better backup your iPhone regularly with iTunes, iCloud or a 100% free iPhone data transfer tool, like the EaseUS MobiMover Free that enables you to transfer photos, videos, audios, books, contacts, messages and more from iOS device to Windows or Mac computer in a simple click.
Tip 5 Put your device into recovery mode
If the iTunes doesn't recognize your device when you try to restore iPhone from iTunes backup, you might need to use recovery mode and reset your iPhone again to fix iOS 11 screenshot thumbnail not working problem. This is also the deepest type of restore you can try.
1. Connect your device to your computer and open iTunes. Please make sure your iTunes is the latest version.
2. Force restart your device by using the method in Tip 2. But, don't release the buttons when you see the Apple logo, wait until the connect to iTunes screen appears.
3. When you see the option to Restore or Update, choose Update. iTunes will try to reinstall latest iOS to your device without erasing your data. Wait patiently when iTunes is downloading the software for your device. If the process takes more than 15 minutes and your device exits the connect to iTunes screen, repeat the device force restart.
4. After the update process has finished, reset your iPhone again and check the screenshot preview works properly or not.
