The 3D Touch technology is the main innovation of the iPhone 6s. Previously inaccessible ways of expanding possibilities of interaction with the device, open a new change with iPhone. Application developers can propose new scenarios for using 3D Touch.
In addition to such familiar gestures like touch, swipe, and pinch, 3D Touch allows you to use Peek and Pop. Through these gestures, you can view online content and work with it, even opening. For example, if you click on a letter, Peek show preview. But if you push harder — it will Pop open.
Thanks to the “Quick action” will need much less clicks to perform the most common operations. For example, just click on the icon of the Phone app to call someone from the list of favorite contacts. If you press with force on the application icon “Message”, you can create a new message or to contact one of the friends from the list of favorite contacts.
3D Touch or long press?
3D Touch has nothing to do with familiar to most Android users retention. The combination of special software algorithms and physical modules allow the iPhone screen to distinguish between depression of different intensity and interpret them depending on the action being performed. Sensor to detect the many gradations of pressure and tactile response feature called the taptic Engine, is unique to the market solution.
About perfection of technology says the way of implementing the 3D Touch. Apple engineers have implemented additional panel under the capacitive touch layer. The top screen is protected by a heavy-duty glass, which, thanks to two-stage ion exchange process used in its manufacture is the most durable smartphone. Therefore, even a very strong pressure can cause damage to the display.
It would seem to add application context menu invoked by long pressing, and without the physical module. Like, for example, implement some tweaks from Cydia. However, Apple chose a different path, as long click – less promising technology. In addition, in iOS the gesture for a long period of holding your finger on the icon is designed to enable moving or deleting.
To achieve such a high level of convenience of software implementation impossible. The only way the developers can simulate the 3D Touch at the moment is to use a different length of time to press. However, no one will want to keep your finger two seconds to make a preview of the letter and five seconds to open it.
Module 3D Touch works due to the additional capacitive panel, which determines the strength of the taps, and a linear actuator called the taptic Engine responds gently to the touch. Long click on Android cannot be compared with the 3D Touch.
Mathematical calculations
“Despite the many gradations of depression, the 3D Touch doesn’t cause any difficulties for users. The technology is so designed that people easily and quickly included in the process,” writes R. Kevin Nelson in the article “Studying Apple 3D Touch”.
After examining iOS 9 developer found code in new properties UITouch, among which force and maximumPossibleForce. They allow the OS to differentiate between various pressure levels from minimum to maximum. The implementation of these properties, according to the programmer involves the expansion of the number of gradations. Existing algorithms allow you to do this without too much difficulty.
Processing pressure on the screen, uses iOS 9 does not simply scale with the numbers, like 0–, 1 – and 2 Peek gesture – gesture for Pop. The number of efforts is not limited, so 3D Touch has great potential.
However, application developers have yet to fully switch to the 3D interface Touch. Until then, until the market will be devices that do not support this technology, they will have to support conventional ways of interacting with gadgets, notes Nelson.
The future of 3D Touch
With regard to further development of 3D Touch, here everything is more than rosy. It has long been rumored that Apple intends to abandon the physical key “Home”. In the future it could easily replace the integrated display module that recognizes the effect of depression. Recently patented the curved screen on the iPhone indirectly confirms the possibility of implementing many new features based on 3D Touch. For example, increase the volume by pressing on the edge of the display.
Top-Manager of Apple’s Craig Federighi told Bloomberg that the implementation of 3D Touch out iOS is extremely difficult. Competitors will only have to improvise, trying to keep up with Apple technologies.
“Everything starts with an idea that the device in such a delicate body must be able to determine the effect of depression. But to just take and copy this function will not work, because when we created it, we have been guided not only by hardware but also software. There are a huge number of technical obstacles,” said Federighi.
Apple has integrated 3D Touch, MacBook, Apple Watch and the iPhone. Probably the next generation iPad will also learn to recognize the effect of depression. There is no doubt that soon we will see new and more exciting scenarios for using this technology.
