Using large (5.55"+) screen phones one handed

Let me try to give you my perspective about how I have made using my phone (Xiaomi Mi A1) as one handed as possible. I have average size hands, not too big at all.

I am using Nova prime launcher.

  • Changed the home screen grid to 7x7 and also dock size to 7 icons. This allows me to stack 2 more apps in dock. I keep folders for my most used apps (Google apps, utilities, transport, social etc) on the bottom right side. I am right handed so all of these are accessible just by right thumb. I have also removed the icon of app list from dock and replaced it with a gesture which means that you have 7 app icons on dock as opposed to only 4 in by default dock.
  • I am using gestures to navigate on home screen. One of the biggest issue in using a large screen one handed is accessing notifications and settings. Slide up on home screen brings notifications. Slide down brings detailed settings. There are other gestures as well but these are 2 main.

  • App drawer grid is set to 7x7 as opposed to default 5x5. If you think about it then this means 49 app icons vs 25 (almost double) on same screen. It really helps in scrolling less in case you were looking for a particular app. Also there is a gesture on home screen which automatically opens app drawer search screen with keyboard enabled thus allowing to search one handed.

  • I am not too big on tasker yet but I have setup profiles which toggle auto-rotate screen if certain apps are launched (etc). Toggle location if Google Maps is being used. Toggle auto brightness and set it to 30%/50% depending on time of day if netflix/youtube is used.

  • This is not my use case but 18:9 aspect ratio should help in improving one handed usage a lot. Quite often its the width of a big phone which is a problem rather than height. A 6" 18:9 phone is way more friendly than 6" 16:9 phone.

In my view big screens bring a lot of real estate and significantly improve the usage of your device. However if you use it in traditional way then they are not at all usable one handed.

With the above I am just trying to demonstrate some ways to mitigate this issue while enjoying the benefits of a big screen. At the same time I am also looking for further suggestions in this direction.

By no means I am saying that everyone should switch to big devices, to each their own.



Submitted November 28, 2017 at 09:06AM by kw1k2345 http://ift.tt/2zNhr1t http://ift.tt/eA8V8J

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