Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, Apple, iPhone
Found Footage: copy and paste on the iPhone mockup
lonelysandwich put together this short demo of how copy-and-paste might work on the iPhone (and it's the first parody I've seen since the music was released last week). The whole thing with the guy and the lips is just freaky in the beginning (and pretty funny at the end), but in between there's a short demo of how text could be selected and pasted using the multitouch surface on the iPhone.
Is it just me, or is implementing an interface like this turning out to be harder than it looks? As easy as this mockup is, I really doubt Apple would go for something this complicated (there are multiple screens to go through, and it's somewhat intuitive, but just not intuitive enough for Apple, methinks). Maybe the reason Apple hasn't put C&P on the iPhone yet is that, as good as they are at what they do, they just can't come up with a good way to do it.
Thanks, ratiosans!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
CraigM said 2:57AM on 8-09-2007
just a thought - how about a two finger drag to select? Then a context sensitive copy/paste button? Nice and simple, no complex gestures needed.
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John Laur said 11:50AM on 8-09-2007
Yeah that concept would work but the problem is that it can't tell the difference between when you want to start a selection and when you want to paste. You'd really need to bring up the dialog first and have "Select" (to start a selection) and "Cancel" (to bail) buttons in there in addition to the clipboard history... no need for a paste button if tapping the text snippet causes the paste to occur...
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Ronald Poi said 2:15AM on 8-09-2007
Actually, it's not that bad... i think it's something doable... Maybe Apple could come up with a better idea, but yes. Copy/Cut/Paste should be in the iPhone
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enduser said 7:00PM on 8-08-2007
Wouldnt it be easier to have the "copy" as a button on the keyboard, you select the text, select the "paste" button on the keyboard and go on with your day? This would eliminate the coordination factor of 2 fingers for a copy/paste.
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Dave Wood said 2:28AM on 8-09-2007
That's hilarious.
Slight problem with the idea though, when you want to copy something and already have something on the clip board, since it's the same gesture to copy as it is to paste, you'll have to have another pop up to ask if you want to copy or paste.
Interesting concept though, and it does have potential.
I love you too.
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Ondra Soukup said 7:15PM on 8-08-2007
I love how the guy in the video speaks...and no sounds comes out...lol :DDDD
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wplate said 7:12PM on 8-08-2007
Great video. Just shows how critical it is to get Copy and Paste into iPhone. Someone went to a lot of work to make that video.
I want Copy and Paste!
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Jake Arakelian said 7:22PM on 8-08-2007
I think this is brilliant and seems like the most viable solution for this very much needed feature! Let's hope this, or something better, makes it into a future software update.
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julian said 8:55AM on 8-09-2007
Wouldn't a two-finger drag will be much easier? all macbook and most powerbook users are used to that system anyway, I actually miss dragging while on my windows machine. So, in my opinion, tap where you want to start, two-finger drag all the text, and when you raise your finger, the copy/save popups he proposes. A multi-step procedure just doesn't sound like Apple.
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est nyc said 7:50PM on 8-08-2007
Sigh. Copy and paste worked great on the Newton -- I wish Apple would just update the Newton OS's very effective "drag to an edge" technique. I know SJ hates/hated the Newton, but it really was a brilliant device, and OS. Now, Newton OS on the iPhone would be the hack of the century.
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Cris Pearson - plasq said 8:29PM on 8-08-2007
Great video.. lol.
I would add though, there no need for that mode most of the time.. just bring up the loupe, then put a 2nd finger on the loupe and drag over text to make a selection.
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Joe Stebbins said 8:54PM on 8-08-2007
Tick tock. This would be ideal. When is the new update coming adding this and other new features to the phone? Tick Tock.
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eric said 9:21PM on 8-08-2007
Awesome idea. At first I was going to say lame if I can only keep one copy in my clip board, but having multiple clips in the clip board makes the system work.
Apple, get on it! I want a copy function. call it iCopy
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Reg Muffet said 9:22PM on 8-08-2007
As a recovering Newton -> Palm -> WinCE -> PocketPC -> WM5 user, I *still* expect holding my finger (poor man's stylus) down will begin a selection.
(Even though most post-Newton stylus interfaces have used the "sweep" method to select.)
Even after a month, I'm still a bit surprised when the magnifying glass with character insertion point appears instead.
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Luke said 10:57PM on 8-08-2007
I love you too, man.
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JROD said 1:55AM on 8-09-2007
That is the Funniest ever LOL! Great Video.
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dalasv said 2:13AM on 8-09-2007
Yay Vimeo! I'm psyched to see our player on a website I read obsessively. This video is also on the front page of Digg! Awesome nerd moment for me.
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Geoff Shepherd said 12:54PM on 8-09-2007
Modes are generally to be avoided in UI design. You don't want a tech support call of someone stuck in selection mode and not sure what happened. I thought of something like this a couple weeks ago and sent it as a suggestion to Apple. You all should do the same.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html
I initially proposed one finger to get magnifying glass, position where you want, then drop second finger and drag to select. When you release, a Cut/Copy/Cancel menu comes up. To Paste, hold a position magnifying glass, then tap with second finger to get the Paste/Cancel menu. Pretty easy.
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Mark said 1:54PM on 8-09-2007
"Thanks for watching... I love you."
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Alex said 3:47PM on 8-09-2007
Since several people have come up with their own ideas for iPhone copy and paste, I thought I'd throw mine in.
The challenge is to come up with something both intuitive and quick. The best solution I've come up with so far is simple. It is basically the caret positioning method, but expanded slightly. To position a caret, one simply presses and holds where they want to position the caret, and after a little magnifying glass (meant to aid them) comes up, "corrects" by moving around their finger.
My text selection idea is nearly identical. One selects a starting position like normal, and then does the same thing for the ending position, but instead of simply pressing down and holding, he or she double-taps and then does not release. This would tell the iPhone not to erase the previous point, but use it as a starting selection point.
To copy or cut, simply tap the selection itself (much like one taps a link), and a command window (including cut, copy, paste, share) should pop up.
Simple, easy, quick.
Pasting shouldn't be too hard either. Perhaps simply position the cursor, and then tap, and an "insert" window could pop up. This window would include paste, insert picture, etc.
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