Although now keeping your finger on an application and that a menu appears is the most common and is totally assimilated, we must go a few generations back to know its origin. In this article we tell you everything you need to know about 3D Touch and the evolution it has undergone in recent years.
What exactly is 3D Touch
With the arrival of the iPhone 6s along with iOS 9, Apple included a Taptic Engine under the screen that allows us to receive a response simply by applying pressure on the screen, but without going overboard. What is really interesting is that it not only detects the pressure but also the degree of it. That is, if we applied light pressure we receive a response, and with a stronger pulse we receive another type of response.
In the iOS configuration sensitivity is allowed so that we do not have to leave our finger pressing on the screen. As we have said, the difference between a firm and a slight pulsation is vital for the operation of this system, since depending on the pulsation we make we will have access to some functions or others.
As we mentioned earlier, the Taptic Engine was first seen on the iPhone 6s, and it brought quite a bit of controversy. If we disassemble an iPhone completely, we will find this piece at the bottom of the equipment occupying a few millimeters that are very valuable since it takes away space from the battery. In addition, the Taptic Engine does not work alone, since it also requires a layer at the bottom of the screen to detect pressure, something that makes the equipment larger, and that disappeared from the iPhone XR onwards.
3D Touch Compatible Devices
This technology has been spread over different generations of devices based on the iPhone 6s. But with the arrival of the iPhone XR the 3D Touch system began to disappear . Specifically, the list of devices that include this technology is as follows:
- iPhone 6s
- iPhone 6s Plus
- iPhone 7
- iPhone 7 Plus
- iPhone 8
- iPhone 8 Plus
- iPhone X
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone XR *
- iPhone 11 *
- iPhone 11 Pro *
- iPhone SE *
* As we said, from the iPhone XR onwards Apple decided to leave the 3D Touch apart, but not entirely. Although the screen can no longer ‘feel’ the degree of pressure that we apply to new generations of iPhone, the Taptic Engine continues to be maintained. This means that when we hold down the screen, on top of an icon for example, we receive a small response in the form of vibration.
3D Touch Utilities
Context menus
One of the most common uses for 3D Touch was context menus. Both in macOS and Windows when we press the right button, a menu will appear with different options. This is what was tried to ‘copy’ with the 3D Touch technology applied to the iPhone. When you press with pressure on an application on an iPhone with this technology we can see how a context menu appears with different options. For example, when you click on ‘Settings’ we have direct access to WiFi, Bluetooth …
This has not disappeared on iPhones that do not have 3D Touch, but the only thing that has happened is that you do not have to put much pressure on the screen. The context menu and the haptic response have been maintained, but we only have to press and hold the icon of an application without force.
These context menus are not just left in iPhone apps. We can also unfold the control center and press the icon of the flashlight to adjust the intensity or that of the calculator to copy the last result. They are small details that can save us some time while we are using the iPhone.
Animation of photographs
The latest generations of iPhone include the possibility of taking live photos . In other words, although we have a totally static image, the team has captured the seconds before and after it was taken. This is tremendously curious and can be viewed on iPhone with 3D Touch by exerting a pressure push on the photograph. At the moment, as if by magic, the photograph will come to life and we will see the seconds before it is taken. From the iPhone XR onwards, as we have mentioned previously, this has been simplified since you only have to keep your finger on the photo without having to apply pressure.
Content preview
It has happened to all of us that we have received an email or a WhatsApp that we do not want to open, but we are curious about what it says. Thanks to the 3D Touch we can put pressure on a WhatsApp conversation and view the content without having to access it. But be careful, because if more pressure is exerted than you should, we will end up entering the chat and the much hated ‘Read’ will appear. This action of viewing a content without actually entering is called ‘Peek & Pop’ . There are many applications that support this function, such as Messages or Mail.
Keyboard scrolling
Sometimes when we are writing we can make mistakes on the iPhone, and the truth is that it is not comfortable to go back. If we are on a Mac or on a PC we can use the mouse to locate ourselves where we have made the mistake to correct it, but on an iPhone it is not so easy. With the 3D Touch it ended up being solved, since by pressing on the keyboard you can scroll through the written text as if it were a cursor, moving on the keyboard while pressing.
