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3D Touch - your opinion, your usage and future of it

M

mich070

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 22, 2013
153
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I created this thread to ask your opinions about 3D touch on the new iPhone 6s/6s plus (or SE even though it does not have the 3D touch, it works differently).
Do you use a lot? If so, for what do you use it? Do you think it's a handy feature?

What's the future of it? Do you think that Apple will bring more functionalities for it, or will they just leave it behind?
 
I don't always use it. But i seem to be using the multi task swype right feature quite a bit which i find useful
 
Ledsteplin said:
It has it's coolness, but I really don't use it much. I forget it's there mostly. Some seems gimmicky. I do like the ability to peek at messages without leaving the read receipt. That's handy.
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Same here. I always forget it haha. Just made me curious about asking people this, to see if they actually like it or they find it handy. BTW how do you read them without leaving a read receipt :D?
 
I am using it more and more. It's one of those features that will eventually become indispensable even if we don't use it much now. I think the iPad is ripe for getting this tech as well - and once it's been a feature on all new iOS devices for a couple of years developers will really begin to build on it.
 
As I get used to it, I am using it more and more. I use it in Facebook to like and share pictures and posts. I use it to open my camera app when I am going to take a selfie. I often use it to access just my VIP messages on the Mail app when I have a ton of messages and only want to see those from certain people. I also use it to make a call to someone on my Favorites list if I'm not using Bluetooth in my car. There are probably other things that I use it for on a daily basis but the number has grown in recent weeks, most noticeably since I got my watch and use force touch so frequently on it. Come to think of it, I think the watch is probably what has gotten me so used to using the force touch feature and made me realize how handy it is on the phone!
 
ladytonya said:
As I get used to it, I am using it more and more. I use it in Facebook to like and share pictures and posts. I use it to open my camera app when I am going to take a selfie. I often use it to access just my VIP messages on the Mail app when I have a ton of messages and only want to see those from certain people. I also use it to make a call to someone on my Favorites list if I'm not using Bluetooth in my car. There are probably other things that I use it for on a daily basis but the number has grown in recent weeks, most noticeably since I got my watch and use force touch so frequently on it. Come to think of it, I think the watch is probably what has gotten me so used to using the force touch feature and made me realize how handy it is on the phone!
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Awesome thank you so much for your feedback :)
 
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I find it a gimmick. Most of my apps don't support it so it's just a waste of time at this moment. May improve as more apps support it.
 
Pretty useless IMO. I use it to bring up multi-tasking and a cursor in text. Oh, and playback of live photos works so much better on the SE not having 3D touch.

I feel the same way about "Force Touch" on the mac. I maybe use it once every 2 months.
 
I want to use it more. It looks like and could be an awesome feature. Still, the areas to effectively use it are minor but growing and developers are finding ways to make it work better / faster.
Still, by the end of the day my use is minimal. It is difficult to get into the habit of using something that only exists in some places and works well even less.
 
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Rhonindk said:
I want to use it more. It looks like and could be an awesome feature. Still, the areas to effectively use it are minor but growing and developers are finding ways to make it work better / faster.
Still, by the end of the day my use is minimal. It is difficult to get into the habit of using something that only exists in some places and works well even less.
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perfectly stated. I also find it awkward to use in places like mail. Peek and Pop sounds good in theory, but is still way less efficient than just going through emails "old school" style. Message too. Peeking into a message feels clunky, and serves zero purpose.

I was way more excited about the announcement of 3D touch than its practical use.
 
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mich070 said:
Same here. I always forget it haha. Just made me curious about asking people this, to see if they actually like it or they find it handy. BTW how do you read them without leaving a read receipt :D?
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You just peek at them using 3D Touch on the messages list.

I'm a little disappointed with 3D Touch. I was hoping more apps would take advantage of it. I think in the future Apple will build it deeper into iOS. But will developers? I've seen mockups such as the one where you could customize control center by 3D Touching on it. I could see it being used more to customize things in the future, much like it's used on the Apple Watch to customize the watch face?

My favorite feature is using the keyboard as a touchpad for the cursor selection. It's just kinda finicky sometimes, like when you let up your finger it will jump over a character or two. I don't use the multitasking gesture because it was kinda difficult to activate at first. They've made it easier with software updates but I still haven't taken up using it very often. I need to force myself to do it because I think that could be really useful. I hope they add 3D Touch for Today View and Notification Center. It's kinda ridiculous that you can't peek at notifications like email from there. I also wish that widgets in Today View were 3D Touch capable. For instance, my Fantastical calendar would be great if I could 3D Touch on an appointment and get more details quickly without having to open the app. I think there are other possibilities as well, such as 3D Touch swipe from the right edge of the display (so opposite of the multitasking gesture) to open a customizable area, kinda like what is to the left of the home screen but better like Google Now.
 
To me it wasn't very useful because it didn't allow enough to be accomplished *just* with the 3D touch action.

I don't need a shortcut to fire up an App to a specific point...I'd like to be able to uber customize those actions to truly accomplish complete & sometimes complex actions w/ just the 3D touch invocation.
 
I use it all the time for the keyboard cursor and to open the app switcher (saves wear and tear on the home button).

I occasionally use it to peek into safari links, or save time / clicks with it to send a message, start a new voice recording, or get directions home faster than I would by opening the apps and doing what 3D Touch can do in a quick press and click.

Not a single 3rd party app I have (albeit only 12) support it yet.

It's not groundbreaking, but definitely a nice trick for a phone to have and it's nice that it's abilities can be expanded further in the future.
 
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I personally use it for the keyboard cursor most of the times And sometimes photo. In the future it will be more useful. It's a rival for S pen
 
turbineseaplane said:
To me it wasn't very useful because it didn't allow enough to be accomplished *just* with the 3D touch action.

I don't need a shortcut to fire up an App to a specific point...I'd like to be able to uber customize those actions to truly accomplish complete & sometimes complex actions w/ just the 3D touch invocation.
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Very good point. I think that was my biggest issue with it. It didn't actually increase productivity. For example, the messages app could allow a "peek" into the most recent message/messages. Basically a window into the actual message app main screen. When I am in the app, what good is peeking into a message when I can easily click and swipe in and out of it. It just seemed like the choice for actions was not well thought out.
 
It needs more dev support and genuine must have use cases in apps.

However, Apple seem to be preventing it becoming aired in the user base by not including the hardware in post 6S devices (iPP 12.9, then the 9.7 and SE).

Therefore there is much less incentive for devs to do anything but add a few things as an after thought.
 
Yeah that is quite weird that past devices did not get this feature. I really wonder why and also if the next iphone, probably iphone 7 will have this option.
 
I use it every so often. It's not a feature I'd say I absolutely need. I used my 6 for a week while on a cruise, and I didn't miss 3D touch at all. Now when I popped my SIM back in my 6s, I found myself going immediately back to using 3D Touch. But again, it's a feature I could live without.
 
Have not found it useful and forget it is even there. We'll see if iOS 10 changes this.
 
Don't use it. Just another tech I won't use, and wish Apple would make a larger battery instead
 
mich070 said:
I created this thread to ask your opinions about 3D touch on the new iPhone 6s/6s plus (or SE even though it does not have the 3D touch, it works differently).
Do you use a lot? If so, for what do you use it? Do you think it's a handy feature?

What's the future of it? Do you think that Apple will bring more functionalities for it, or will they just leave it behind?
Click to expand...

We use it quite frequently viewing photos on the phone and social media, to quickly go through dozens of emails, in iTunes movie store (purchased quite often in iTunes - 3D Touch reveal just enough to look the description of the movie), FaceTime, create new contact, Shazam, Notes. Make me actually use my iPad less and less.

I think even if they cannot incorporate the screen layer to the iPad yet, they should make it to the Apple Pencil - just press harder with the pencil.
 
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The only app in which I find it useful is mail (I use Spark). But, because it is the only app it is useful, I have not developed auto memory to use it — and I am past the time when my 'feature absorption' was at its peak. I have started to find it useful in photos, etc. But, I would really like to return to a phone the SE's size, so I am thinking I just might live quite well again without it. BTW, I wish it was useful in Safari, but I find that if I 'peek', the 'pop' is hard to execute properly and then it just closes back up and I have to touch to open it anyway. As a long time tech user, I am finding that perhaps we are trying to be too clever with the features. I find that touching things with finger or mouse or trackpad has so many options that it is rather difficult to get what I want, and I end up doing things I did not intend, so it just ends up taking more time ('smart lookup', anyone?).
 
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