Sunday, November 2, 2014

What does this button do?

Mysterious BBM for iOS button
A mysterious button appears

As I write this, I still don't know what the icon pictured above signifies, even though I got it from a mobile app that I've used almost once a week for several weeks. The icon is part of a mysterious button that I've been having an internal conflict with.

With the fear of the unknown in my heart, I've stared at the button for weeks, afraid to touch it, afraid to prod and explore, afraid of what it does — it stares right back, its arrow pointing accusingly as if it should be glaringly obvious what it means, making me feel dumb for not knowing. Would pressing it download something to my device? Would it invite all my contacts to the app? Would it share my deepest, darkest secrets to the world?

What could the three dots emanating from a circle signify? A "Share" action, perhaps? Then what does the diagonally pointing arrow mean? Towards what is it pointing?