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Comment by Wowfunhappy | Hacker News Reader

Well, they didn't hide the scrollbar on desktop until Lion, at which point Steve was in quite poor health.

On mobile, and particularly on screens the size of the original iPhone, hiding the scrollbar is a necessary tradeoff for screen real-estate. It also doesn't necessarily hurt usability if you know the exact screen size you're designing for, and can ensure elements are never fully cut off on your initial view.

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It hurts usability in several ways. For example, you can’t click on an iOS scrollbar to jump to a specific part of the document. Nor can you use it as an instant reference to determine how long the document is.

> For example, you can’t click on an iOS scrollbar to jump to a specific part of the document.

How would you propose doing that on a 3.5" screen without a mouse or stylus?

> Nor can you use it as an instant reference to determine how long the document is.

You scroll the screen a tiny bit and the scrollbar pops up. Again, keep the size of the screen in mind—making the scrollbar persistent would be a poor use of space.

iOS isn’t just used on 3.5” screens, though - my 8” iPad mini screen could certainly accommodate a scrollbar. I also frequently interact with controls smaller than a scrollbar - apple's 'finger resolving' algorithm seems more than capable of this.

I know it’s still there - that’s why I said “instant”. It’s a very minor concern, I’ll grant you.

I recently discovered that on iOS, you can press on the scrollbar to get direct control of the scroll knob. That allows you to quickly jump to any part of the document without having to thumb scroll through it page by page.

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