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Are Long Fingernails Compatible with iPhone?

Are there any problems with the iPhone that we girls may face that the average male wouldnt? Do long fingernails, for example, interfere with the use of the iPhone's touch interface in any way? Lets find out.

I've been texting on the iPhone like mad ever since I got it. Texting is the easiest way to get in touch with most of my friends, so if it didnt work well with long fingernails, my nails would be gone, or at least shortened. And I do love my nails!


But long fingernails do not, in any way, interfere with the use of this phone. The angle at which the phone is usually held facilitates the pad of the finger coming into contact with the screen, you arent approaching it perpendicularly with your fingertip while typing.

Answer:



All other phone functions are pretty easy to do with fingernails, too. I usually attack buttons with the pad of my pointer finger. Only once have I had to tap on an application more than once, and I was approaching it from a strange angle--someone else was holding my iPhone.

In all, this is a fantastic interface with or without fingernails. Ive never used a touch-screen that was this accurate before. All other ones, especially on portable devices (Palm Pilots, my old Newton, my GPS, et al) have been less-than stellar. It takes an annoyingly long time to type out an address on my Mio C220 GPS. The touchscreen of the GPS unit can be frustrating at times, having to repeatedly click on the same button several times to get it to register, while the iPhone does it the first time.

Multi-touch on the iPhone is fantastic.

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Posted: 64 months ago


Are there any problems with the iPhone that we girls may face that the average male wouldn’t? Do long fingernails, for example, interfere with the use of the iPhone's touch interface in any way? Let’s find out….

I've been texting on the iPhone like mad ever since I got it. Texting is the easiest way to get in touch with most of my friends, so if it didn’t work well with long fingernails, my nails would be gone, or at least shortened. And I do love my nails!

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Posted: 64 months ago
i used to have long gel nails (3 of them broke off this week :X but i've been wanting to get rid of them for the months ive had them), and they did get in the way. granted, theyre longer than the average nail, but it was really difficult to pinch with them.
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Posted: 64 months ago

i used to have long gel nails (3 of them broke off this week :X but i've been wanting to get rid of them for the months ive had them), and they did get in the way. granted, theyre longer than the average nail, but it was really difficult to pinch with them.


I usually use two hands. Hold down my left thumb and pinch open and pinch shut with my pointer finger on my right hand. Much easier, with or without nails, imho.
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Posted: 64 months ago
how dare you imply that I am not the average man because I have long nails.
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Posted: 64 months ago
Cut your nails. lol
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Posted: 64 months ago
Can you type with your nails though, not the actual finger ?
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
Posted: 64 months ago

Cut your nails. lol

No. :D

Can you type with your nails though, not the actual finger ?


and No. :(
Tapping on the screen is just a buncha tapping: noisy and uneventful. You need the actual skin-to-screen contact to do anything with it.
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Posted: 64 months ago

You need the actual skin-to-screen contact to do anything with it.


Interestingly, I've found that the thin latex gloves we use at work actually function with the iPhone. I'm pleasantly surprised, and no longer have to worry about operating it with my nose. :p
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Posted: 64 months ago
My Garmin Nuvi has a great touch screen.
It cost me just as much as the iPhone would... (if I had one :()
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Posted: 64 months ago
I play guitar for my own amazement (finger picking) and keep my right-hand nails a little longer than normal.

I have short, chubby fingers and I try to key text on the iPhone with the tip (nail) of my fingers... I have problems with the iphone, unless I stop & think to use my fingerpads instead of fingernails...

... Since I started adjusting to the iPhone, I can't type worth crap on a normal computer KB. %^(>
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