This is a functionality issue: on large screen iOS devices such as iPads it is not quite possible to manually move the present place of playback (to move the audio cursor or “scrubbing”) without activating the iOS task manager (normally: swipe up) in portrait mode (although if playback is in the middle 70% of the song, the same thing applies to landscape mode too). I have very small hands and I still cannot move the cursor, unless I turn my palm upside down and try to use only the very tip of my finger.
I have seen many complaints about the new playback bar because of the smaller waveform area, but I think this one is actually not just annoying, but makes this feature utterly unusable.
I find myself touching a bit higher and thus avoid this issue… but yah, I see your issue… maybe we can do some tricks with visual hit areas here to make you want to touch a bit higher.
I understand. The problem is mostly hand-eye coordination. Either you had been lucky in the first place when you “learned” the area to touch or you knew how the software defined the touch area. Now after multiple tries I can manage to find the sweet spot, but I still regulary stop playback/jump track or enter the app switcher, because I don’t have any visual clues. Note that the non-streaming cursor (for the waveform view) is even worse as the touchable area is similar to the dot but the cursor looks taller.
I would suggest to either extend the “touchable” area with a clear separation of touch and hold vs. tap. This would allow the forward/backward/pause buttons to function when tapped as before and would enter into scrubbing mode when you’d touch + slow swipe to left/right (but would also deviate from the desktop software: you would not move the cursor, just the cursor would move according to how you swipe). Should you implement something like this it would also be nice to get the touch + hold for a real rewind and fast forward with playback…