Open Radar

 
SUMMARY:
In iOS 5.x Notification Center, the X buttons that dismiss all notifications from a single application are hard to tap because they are too small.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE:
1. Cause a notification to be posted on an iOS 5.x device. For example, I sent an iMessage to my iPhone.
2. Open Notification Center.

EXPECTED RESULTS:
The X to dismiss all notifications is larger than 44px. According to Apple, 44px is the smallest size for a button to be comfortably tappable on a touchscreen with the iPhone's pixel density.

ACTUAL RESULTS:
The X button is very small (about half of 44px), which means it's hard to press reliable. Also, the X button requires two taps to dismiss the notifications, compounding the issue.

If the user misses the X button, he/she might tap on Weather or Stocks, which launches those applications. This is frustrating, but probably harmless.

However, tapping on other notifications might not be. It might cause the application that posted the notification to take some action that the user didn't intend. For example, the Verbs IM application signs the user back in when a notification from the app is opened. Conceivably, other applications could send messages, delete things, etc. on behalf of the user.