How Force Touch 'will work' on new iPhones

How Force Touch 'will work' on new iPhones

Apple is rumoured to be bringing its pressure-sensitive technology, Force Touch, to the new iPhones and tech news site 9to5Mac has obtained information on how it will work on them.

According to sources who have handled one of the upcoming iPhones, nicknamed iPhone 6s by observers, Force Touch on the iPhone is expected to be given the internal codename "Orb". Its implementation differs from that of the Apple Watch, where Force Touch was introduced in September last year.

Instead of opening a new window of extra controls when you press and hold (long press) on the display of the Apple Watch, Orb is designed to skip the current lists of options or button taps.

Here are several examples of how it will work:

Long press on a point of interest in the Maps app to activate turn-by-turn directions

Long press on a song in the Music app to quickly add it to a playlist or save it for offline listening

Long press on the Phone app on the Home Screen to access the Voicemail tab

Long press the News app to be taken to Favourites or For You tabs

Long press on a link in Safari to get a preview of the website

Long press on an address or a contact to get a preview of a map view or contact card

Long press on a word to get its definition

Force Touch is fine-tuned to offer "nice" and "consistent" haptic feedback across the iOS system. Apple is also said to be opening Force Touch to third-party developers, so that they can start coding apps to use the new way of interaction on the new iPhones.

Besides the new iPhones, the sources also claim that Force Touch will be coming to the rumoured 12.9-inch iPad Pro.

AppleInsider reported in May that "a person familiar with Apple's future product plans" asserted the iPad Pro will come with Force Touch. The upcoming iPhones - the rumoured iPhone 6s and 6s Plus - have been reported multiple times to sport Force Touch as well.

Force Touch is already on the Apple Watch, MacBook and MacBook Pro, and it makes sense for Apple to expand it to iPhones and iPads to ensure a consistent user experience across its entire product portfolio.

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