14 DAY TRIAL // The Android-inspired hamburger button arrived on Windows Phone a few months ago in an update for the OneDrive app, but despite criticism coming from users, Microsoft doesn't seem to be willing to give up on it. At least, not for now.
The very same hamburger button made it to Windows 10 for phones preview, so it's now available in even more apps, but as things seem to develop right now, there are very slight chances to see it go in the final version of the new mobile operating system.
Living proof is a statement by Jerry Nixon, a Microsoft Developer Evangelist in Colorado, who has recently said in a Channel9 session that the hamburger button is not necessarily a bad thing, but one that could come in handy in some apps.
Nixon has explained that the placement of the hamburger button is what makes things more difficult for Windows Phone users, despite the fact that the original position in Android at the top of the screen has more or less become a standard.
Why not change the position of the button?
The default position of the hamburger button makes it very difficult to use with just one hand, Nixon has explained, especially when holding a bigger phone in the right hand, and the thumb cannot reach the button.
“There are certainty other platforms that put their menus at the top, and they still seem to be successful, so it's not necessarily a recipe for failure, but it might make it so that your application isn't as easy to use as maybe it was. Nothing is stopping you from putting the hamburger button at the bottom,” he has said.
Right now, Windows 10 for phones is still in development, so some of the features you see in the current builds, including here the hamburger button, could be removed before the final version of the operating system gets the green light. This is expected to happen in the second half of 2015, when the PC version of Windows 10 is also projected to launch.