Multiple credible sources are adamant that Apple’s upcoming ‘iPhone 6s’ and ‘iPhone 6s Plus’ smartphones will come outfitted with a screen which responds to pressure. Additionally, there ‘s some pretty solid evidence out there that iOS 9 on these new iPhones will feature built-in Force Touch support, potentially indicating a wider roll-out of the feature on future iOS devices.
And now, sources who spoke with 9to5Mac’s Mark Gurman have provided interesting tidbits related to how Force Touch works and feels under iOS.
3 Force Touch implementations on new iPhones
According to sources who spoke with the author of the report, Force Touch will be represented in three ways on the forthcoming iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus:
- No additional user interface as with the subtle integration on the new MacBooks.
- A user interface that appears surrounding the finger where the Force Touch gesture is conducted.
- A shortcut list toward the bottom of the display akin to a typical options list across iOS.
Here’s a closer look at how Force Touch will be implemented throughout some of Apple’s stock iOS applications on the new iPhones, as per Gurman’s sources.
Apple Maps—Firmly pressing a point of interest in Apple Maps performs a quick look up of the location. Firmly pressing on the destination immediately starts turn-by-turn navigation, saving you two extra steps versus the normal tap-tap-tap method.
Music app—Pressing on the listing for a song brings up a menu with options to quickly add the song to a playlist or save it for offline listening, saving your finger a trip to the ellipsis icon on the rightmost side of each track listing.
Home screen—Deep-pressing an icon on the Home screen presents you with shortcuts to specific tabs of that app. “For example, if a user deep presses on the Phone app icon, he could choose to shortcut directly to the Voicemail tab,” noted the source. “This could also apply to deep pressing the News app icon and being taken directly to either the Favorites or For You tabs.”
Force Touch shortcuts—Deep pressing a link in Safari instantly previews that webpage. Pressing firmly an address or contact name brings up previews of a map view or contact card, respectively. You can also deep-press on a word in any app to look up its definition, as opposed to long-tapping a term and choosing Define from a bubble menu.
Force Touch feedback—Whereas both the Apple Watch and 2015 MacBooks with Force Touch trackpads provide additional context to firm presses in the form of haptic feedback, it’s not clear if the new iPhones will implement haptics. That being said, some form of physical feedback is reportedly in the works for Force Touch iPhones and it’s being described as “nice” and “consistent” across the system.
So, what’s your opinion of the report?
Are you sold on Force Touch iPhones yet?
Source: 9to5Mac