[Trainer-Talk] Reprogramming the iOS Rotor Gesture to Something Easier

[Christopher Murphy]

Good morning,
	I agree. When teaching the iPhone from the beginning to several people throughout the years I generally go over everything from the ground up. If they afterwords want to change things on there own devices I only suggest once they are comfortable.




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Christopher Murphy
Email:
cjohnmurph at gmail.com

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-----Original Message-----
From: Trainer-Talk <trainer-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Brian Vogel via Trainer-Talk
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2026 11:25 AM
To: List for teachers and trainers of adaptive technology <trainer-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Brian Vogel <britechguy at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Trainer-Talk] Reprogramming the iOS Rotor Gesture to Something Easier

When I first started out in assistive technology, I was an extreme customizer, trying to make everything "perfect" for the client.  But what I found out very quickly is that the old saw, "The perfect is the enemy of the good," is more true in regard to technology than almost anywhere else.

Most of us using anything, be it an iPhone, PC, Mac, Android-powered device, etc., will not always be using our own.  And when your own has been customized so much as to make its workings utterly divorced from the entire "out of the box" conditions of all other devices, that really restricts what one can do "in a pinch" when you've got to grab your friend's device when away from home or when your battery has died, etc., to accomplish something.

I've completely reversed my approach to be a customizing minimalist, avoiding it almost completely except in cases where specific ones are a reasonable accommodation.  I'd rather have something be "slightly clunkier to use" but able to be used on any device handed to one of my clients than it being absolutely easiest to use, but locking them in to a technique that cannot be set up quickly and easily "on the fly."

Ultra-customization is, in my opinion, a trap.  It constrains more than it frees with rare specific exceptions.  Regardless of the platform, the more of the native UI you can use, the better.

Brian
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