Apple introduced the first iPhone 15 years ago, and many things have changed since then. We are now talking about rumors about the upcoming iPhone with 8K video and a new screen, but it’s hard to believe that before the iPhone did not even have options to copy and paste. Now, former Apple software engineer and designer Ken Kocienda has revealed details about why the first iPhone did not have these features.
Kocienda, who joined Apple in 2001, was one of the key engineers behind the iPhone. Prior to working on the iPhone, Kocienda was part of the team that created Apple’s Safari web browser, which secured an important role in the development of Apple’s first smartphone.
Now that the iPhone is approaching its 15th anniversary on the market, the former Apple engineer decided to share some interesting stories about how Apple created the first iPhone. One includes details on why the company decided to ship its first smartphone with no copy and paste options.
There was no time for that.
Kocienda’s short and funny explanation is that Apple engineers didn’t have time to implement copy and paste on the first iPhone. But of course, the story goes further.
According to him, the computer was already busy creating the iPhone’s virtual keyboard and auto-correction system. After the launch of the iPhone, Kocienda and his team finally decided to work on the copy and paste options, but it was still a while before the feature was ready for users.
The engineer explains that he came up with the idea of the “text magnifier” to let users know exactly where the text cursor was pointing, which was crucial for copying and pasting. However, even with this classic virtual magnifying glass, the cursor ended up moving between characters after the user lifted their finger from the screen due to natural blinking.
Kocienda had to develop a “touch history log” for text editing only. This way, after removing your finger from the screen, the system automatically detects the position of the user’s finger milliseconds after the last touch, so that the cursor stays where the user really wanted it. .
Another interesting detail about the text input system on the iPhone is that, according to the former Apple engineer, all stylish text was originally based on WebKit. This means that every time an app used a custom font, it basically displayed a small webpage to represent the text. When text fields were not in edit mode, they displayed a static image of their contents, probably to save CPU, RAM, and battery power.
Copy and paste options were introduced as part of the iPhone OS 3.0 in 2009, which came preinstalled by default on the iPhone 3GS. Apple even created a TV ad highlighting the new feature at the time.
More details on the first iPhone
Kocienda also shared some other things about the development of the first iPhone. For example, the iPhone did not have a real multitasking not only because of the low RAM but also the lack of virtual memory. Engineers had to create a system known as “jetsam” to force the iPhone to run only one application at a time, automatically ending other processes in the background to avoid performance issues.
Because touch screen devices weren’t exactly popular and had no tactile feedback, the iPhone team implemented a virtual area that is larger than the buttons shown on the interface. As such, the iPhone recognizes the touch even when the user does not tap the screen button accurately.
This system was also important for the automatic keyboard correction function, as it identifies the letters surrounding the one the user touched to replace the misspelled word with the correct one.
Kocienda also explains that users’ perception of where they touch their fingers is different from where they actually touch their finger, and the system had to be prepared for that.
The curvature of your fingers makes you think you’re tapping higher on the screen than you are. Therefore, the touches are distorted to take this into account. That’s why, to this day, it’s hard to target when you have your phone upside down. pic.twitter.com/xl8YaxvKKu
– Ken Kocienda (@kocienda) June 19, 2022
Those interested in learning more about the iPhone development process should definitely read Kocienda’s book, “Creative Selection: Within Apple’s Design Process During Steve Jobs’ Golden Age.”
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