3D Touch Brings Trackpad Shortcut to iPhone 6s Keyboard

[chucker23n1]

Hm, I'm not sure what Apple's message is here. That the iPhone is too small for two-finger gestures? As someone said, early 9.0 betas allowed swipe selection on the iPhone as well as on the iPad, but this was removed later on. The iPad still does it using two-finger swipe, and now the iPhone 6s does it… how? With a light press on the keyboard, then single-finger gestures, I assume?

 

[Salvor Hardin]

I find it quite amusing that people say Apple isn't innovating but then when we get something like 3D Touch or the Pencil it's just a gimmick to try and get people to upgrade.

The problem here specifically is that they had this trackpad feature working on older iPhones in the beta.

 

[Kobayagi]

Sorry, but this doesn't seem so handy... Why would I want to hold and wait to see the contents of a email? I can just as easily tap it, it opens right away and I can go back if needed. They make it sound like opening a email takes an hour combined...

Same for the camera, I can just tap it and often, your front camera will be the one that starts up because that's the one you've used the last. No need to tap, hold and wait...

This doesn't seem like a feature you'd really want nor does it improve the user experience.

 

[Kobayagi]

The Touch ID was also a gimmick according to people. I'm so fond of Touch ID I can't change to android because of Touch ID alone.

Android phones don't offer equally fast (if not faster) touchID-like homebuttons?

 

[Nicky G]

Ever since learning about haptic feedback, I've been really eager to have tactile feedback of a keyboard delivered via a flat surface… but I think Apple specifically refers to their vibration motor as a "Taptic engine" to imply that it only simulates taps.

I'm not sure if you've tried the trackpad on the new 12" retina MacBook, but let me tell you, they most definitely could do what I'm talking about. It would also be a great "universal access" feature. I think they might well do it.

 

[Traverse]

I still question how useful this really will be.

 

[redman042]

Sorry, but this doesn't seem so handy... Why would I want to hold and wait to see the contents of a email? I can just as easily tap it, it opens right away and I can go back if needed. They make it sound like opening a email takes an hour combined...

Same for the camera, I can just tap it and often, your front camera will be the one that starts up because that's the one you've used the last. No need to tap, hold and wait...

This doesn't seem like a feature you'd really want nor does it improve the user experience.

You don't have to wait. That's the whole point of 3D touch. The "press hard and slide your finger to the menu" item gestures are very fast once you get the hang of it.

 

[Nicky G]

Sorry, but this doesn't seem so handy... Why would I want to hold and wait to see the contents of a email? I can just as easily tap it, it opens right away and I can go back if needed. They make it sound like opening a email takes an hour combined...

Same for the camera, I can just tap it and often, your front camera will be the one that starts up because that's the one you've used the last. No need to tap, hold and wait...

This doesn't seem like a feature you'd really want nor does it improve the user experience.

If it saves me one second per email, I will take it, because that REALLY ADDS UP for people like me who receive several hundred messages on the average day. Some are obviously things I can trash without previewing the message, but for many I need just a quick peek to see if I can delete it or not. This will be perfect, and again, if it saves me a minute a day, that's six hours of my life I "get back" per year. I'll take it!

 

[AngerDanger]

I'm not sure if you've tried the trackpad on the new 12" retina MacBook, but let me tell you, they most definitely could do what I'm talking about. It would also be a great "universal access" feature. I think they might well do it.

I have. It's a single tap that affects the whole trackpad whereas keyboard emulation would require many nearly-simultaneous taps in different areas.

 

[redman042]

I am quite thrilled to learn that they are adding this trackpad feature to the 6s. I'm placing my preorder tonight and this is icing on the cake. The traditional way of selecting text in iOS was never easy/reliable due to the small target.

 

[Nicky G]

Android phones don't offer equally fast (if not faster) touchID-like homebuttons?

They do not, if you read the reviews -- Apple's fingerprint scanner is considerably more accurate and faster than most of the others on the market.

 

[cariacou]

is it just me or text manipulating has gotten worse with every iOS release?
I remember my iPhone 3GS. I thought with these huge fingers that the copy and paste thingy was a gimmick.

turns out I was wrong. 95% of the time, moving these cursors selected exactly what I wanted.

now with the iPhone 6 and iOS8, I have to play with the cursors at least 5-10times before being able to select what I want

 

[Kobayagi]

They do not, if you read the reviews -- Apple's fingerprint scanner is considerably more accurate and faster than most of the others on the market.

Hmm I've seen youtube reviews which proved Samsung's is as fast if not faster and also really accurate. But if Samsung if not your thing (which I can understand if it's not ), then yeah, there aren't many other options. The new OnePlus 2 is on the way though.

 

[JohnApples]

They do not, if you read the reviews -- Apple's fingerprint scanner is considerably more accurate and faster than most of the others on the market.

True— the S5 tried it and turned out to be embarrassingly inaccurate and cumbersome. The S6 comes close but from what I've seen (my friend and I had a finger-print-unlocking contest) it's a bit slower than Touch ID still. Now with Touch ID 2.0 coming out, my guess is that the gap between performance will be even bigger unless Samsung has also improved their own a bunch.

 

[AppleMad98004]

Show some evidence?

I'm not trying to outright say I don't believe you, it's just that I don't remember this feature on my 6+ when I was testing out the beta releases. You're probably right but I need to be sure...

He's right it was in the previous beta's and is now and 6s only feature. Remember Apple uses software OS's to sell hardware so they artificially limit features to sell new things.

 

[Rogifan]

He's right it was in the previous beta's and is now and 6s only feature. Remember Apple uses software OS's to sell hardware so they artificially limit features to sell new things.

Why would Apple add it to a beta and then take it out vs not having it there in the first place? Did someone in Cupertino forget to take it out?

 

[dugbug]

He's right it was in the previous beta's and is now and 6s only feature. Remember Apple uses software OS's to sell hardware so they artificially limit features to sell new things.

This is initiated by a force touch. I think they removed the two finger thing because of false positives. Obviously force touch requires hardware

 

[mpavilion]

I'm sure there will be some neat implementations. Based on these examples, seems like it may initially save a second or two, here and there, in an OS that's already very fast and user-friendly.

 

[cap7ainclu7ch]

Please give up a haptic keyboard! It would be perfect with the new taptic hardware.

 

[Dydegu]

This is awesome. I struggle often with selecting the text that I want with my fingers... especially when dragging a selection to the edge of the screen.

 

[C DM]

Why would Apple add it to a beta and then take it out vs not having it there in the first place? Did someone in Cupertino forget to take it out?

Most likely. Thus the nature of betas.

 

[maxsix]

Apple is going gimmicky to sell phone upgrades.

Sad but true. I just re-watched the keynote, then read through all the specs one more time. What hit me harder than ever was just how little change there is.

Apple's hype really is remarkable. One views the presentation the first time and comes away feeling like maybe it's worth upgrading. But the second or third time through the marketing materials and specs reveals that this may be the least improved of any iPhone to date.

 

[Mizouse]

With this new peek/pop/shortcut feature, how does one rearrange the icons on the home screen?

Press and hold even longer? Press very hard?

 

[ericgtr12]

Meh.

 

[Fzang]

This is initiated by a force touch. I think they removed the two finger thing because of false positives. Obviously force touch requires hardware

They could also remove heavy animations from older devices, which don't have the hardware, but nooooo....