Force Touch Panels Enter Mass Production Ahead of 'iPhone 6s' Launch

[Hunabku]

Let's get realz - there is killer app stuff with Force Touch. For example:

Pressure-sensitive drawing

Apple has also highlighted a third type of click/gesture that's for pressure-sensitive drawing. In other words: you can press lightly on the Force Touch trackpad to create a thin stroke while drawing or harder for a thick one when, let's say, creating a signature for forms in Preview.

The trackpad will of course also send a tangible response to your fingertip whenever you perform certain actions, including Force click, accelerators, and pressure-sensitive drawing, meaning you'll be able to feel even mundane tasks like like aligning annotations on a PDF.

Apple could gracefully/seamlessly adapt force to stylus use on the iPhone or iPad. Could get very interesting and the following patent released in May smacks of one that will stick - see: An Apple Patent Reveals More Force Touch Details for Controlling a Virtual Paint Brush and Interacting with 3D Buttons

 

[Zakzilla]

Just curious what made you feel connected to iOS 6 and prior?

I think it was the skeuomorphism -- the OS felt like it was a stylish luxury item and probably had a subconscious effect on me. Of course, Apple had to move away from that and move toward iOS7 and up with the sleeker, minimalist design. I do like the new aesthetic, but it feels less personal IMO. I don't have the same excitement about the OS that I did with earlier versions

 

[Keirasplace]

Whew. We all got lucky you were not running the design team otherwise we might still tote phones in shoulder bags.

There's "Totally Trolling" (no kidding) in his profile and 60 messages in 6 years, that's all you should know about this person...

 

[Keirasplace]

The problem is, then people would bitch about the "wasted" 2-4 seconds of a long push, and how Apple is slipping or how convoluted it was.

Long press is undertermined and it takes time (and if you use it say, for something creative, its just a total hindrance), that's the problem with it. While, pressing is something intuitively definite and instantaneous.

 

[bushido]

Could say the same thing about right clicking on a computer. There's so much potential for a third input method. Don't let your (not pointing fingers at you specifically) lack of imagination cloud what this could do in the future. As someone said we might not get these "amazing" features with the 6s.

Maybe Apple doesn't really see it yet. And changing everything in how you interact with the ui might be to big of a change for some. So slowly integrating it to iOS is a better move. It has to start somewhere.

you can tell when its time to right click tho now force touch on the other hand theres no way to tell when its doing anything. i already get confused on my apple watch

 

[UltimaKilo]

The iPhone 6s is seemingly Apple's largest update in years; the phone is gearing up to be the largest jump in iPhones since the 3GS to 4 update. It would be so nice if Apple could squeeze an extra 5-10% battery out of the device!

 

[LordBeelzebub]

Don't forget "tock" cycle (S series, as opposed to the "tick" cycle which is the numbers) always has the same design as the previous model, meaning they've also ironed out any design flaws in the hardware.

**Ahem** Bendgate...

and **ahem** antennagate...

I've read "tumors obviously" that they have addressed the bend gate with a different type of aluminum to make it stronger. If rumor be true, you be wrong!

 

[BlackLight]

I can't wait to force touch my new iPhone 6s Plus.

 

[Eminemdrdre00]

Stupid question... but how will Force Touch be different than just tapping and holding today?

 

[MrGuder]

The iPhone 6s is seemingly Apple's largest update in years; the phone is gearing up to be the largest jump in iPhones since the 3GS to 4 update. It would be so nice if Apple could squeeze an extra 5-10% battery out of the device!

The current iPhone 6 battery now is 1810 mAh I predict Apple to increase the 6s to only 1860 mAh due to force touch and Apple music. So basically it will equate to 0 extra mins extra of battery life. Lol

 

[Keirasplace]

The current iPhone 6 battery now is 1810 mAh I predict Apple to increase the 6s to only 1860 mAh due to force touch and Apple music. So basically it will equate to 0 extra mins extra of battery life. Lol

That depends mostly on what they do with the extra processing power they get from the A9. If they don't put a higher resolution screen and extra functionality doesn"t use much power, the die shrink could get you a substantially longer operating time with the same battery.

 

[Keirasplace]

Stupid question... but how will Force Touch be different than just tapping and holding today?

The tap (a touch really) doesn't generate much force unless you tap and press (or tap hard), that would be detected by force touch.
If you already have you finger on the glass and just press a bit (that would be force touch too). The response will be instantaneous (no hold).

Holding would be a long press (which takes X time to be detected after the initial touch, so it is kind of a laggy input, even if has its use).

 

[skottichan]

Long press is undertermined and it takes time (and if you use it say, for something creative, its just a total hindrance), that's the problem with it. While, pressing is something intuitively definite and instantaneous.

Yeah.

I mean, I'm pretty excited about Force Touch in the phones, I was just pointing out to the previous poster, that there's no solution that will satisfy everyone. Contrary to his/her assertion that long touches would.

 

[DCIFRTHS]

The new MacBook trackpads don't move at all. They detect strain, not movement.

Watch this video. At 40 through 47 seconds, you can clearly see the trackpad move. This is what worries me about force touch on a phone. IMO. if the screen moves at all, it will be a crappy experience. Additionally, it will make the phone feel like a cheap, piece of junk.

 

[iFanaddic]

But it will require a swipe gesture like Copy ID did on the S5



Here's my take.

-FT on home screen apps to show notifications at a quick view
-FT on text to define
-FT on links to preview (iPad)
-FT on selected text to select further (press harder to select sentence, paragraph and whole text)
-FT on fast forward and rewind to do so faster
-FT on email to flag
-FT to clear all apps/notifications
-FT on shutter to take 20fps burst shots
-Any FT trackpad tricks that can be implemented
-FT API

Someone here said the technology does not recognize your finger position on the screen et, if true force touch could not be "content aware" and would limit itself pretty much to the way we know it on the AW, has a full screen input only.

Maybe iPhone 7s?

 

[ZEEN0j]

Someone here said the technology does not recognize your finger position on the screen et, if true force touch could not be "content aware" and would limit itself pretty much to the way we know it on the AW, has a full screen input only.

Maybe iPhone 7s?

Force touch per say doesn't have to be content aware. We have a touch screen for that. The moment the digitizer notices your finger it will know where you are and pressing more firmly it will give the corresponding action.

 

[CFreymarc]

Everyone will use it, force touch is simple and elegant. A lot simpler than extra menu options, or having a 2nd button on the phone

My guess is we'll see APIs for Force Touch when the 6S comes out. Probably in iOS 9.1 or close to that.

 

[SCReagan21]

Watch this video. At 40 through 47 seconds, you can clearly see the trackpad move. This is what worries me about force touch on a phone. IMO. if the screen moves at all, it will be a crappy experience. Additionally, it will make the phone feel like a cheap, piece of junk.

Dang, yeah, that would be awful, but the Apple Watch screen doesn't move so I think we can count iPhone safe here.

 

[SgtPepper12]

Watch this video. At 40 through 47 seconds, you can clearly see the trackpad move. This is what worries me about force touch on a phone. IMO. if the screen moves at all, it will be a crappy experience. Additionally, it will make the phone feel like a cheap, piece of junk.

That just looks like the material of the trackpad bending down under pressure. If you press down the uppermost part of a non-force touch trackpad you'll see that it bends down very similarly as well, even though it shouldn't move at all.

Which brings me to a related problem that hasn't been addressed so far: Take your iPhone and apply a force to the screen. Maybe it's not a problem with more recent iPhones, but on my iPhone 5 this causes the screen to do change color in weird ways at some point. That's just the screen bending, causing the liquid crystals of the screen to change properties. I guess Apple needs to address this as well.

 

[nj-morris]

Stupid question... but how will Force Touch be different than just tapping and holding today?

If you're talking about function, then it would probably be the same difference as that of secondary clicking and force clicking on the MacBook. If they just give Force Touch the same function as long pressing, I think that would be incredibly stupid.

Someone here said the technology does not recognize your finger position on the screen et, if true force touch could not be "content aware" and would limit itself pretty much to the way we know it on the AW, has a full screen input only.

Maybe iPhone 7s?

Force touch per say doesn't have to be content aware. We have a touch screen for that. The moment the digitizer notices your finger it will know where you are and pressing more firmly it will give the corresponding action.

Yeah this. The phone already knows where you're pressing due to the touch sensor, and then the force sensors will be able to detect the force, and the combination will result in Force Touch.
And I wouldn't compare it to the Watch, as FT on that and FT on the iPhone will serve entirely different purposes. On the Watch it is used because there is no room on the display for controls on the sides. On the iPhone I expect it to function more like the MacBook.

 

[Mattsasa]

Stole my line. The early iPhone's were all about elegance and simplicity. We are now seeing a gizmo feature of the year. Curious how many will regularly use force touch once released?

I wasn't talking about developers, I was talking about end users

 

[Edgar Spayce]

can someone clarify does tit actually sense pressure or just the amount of surface area your finger has on the screen

Neither, you just feel a click or double click, not much to do with pressure or surface.

 

[0098386]

As Samsung ready's for "Copy Touch" just 6 months later..

Yeah, reminds me of how Apple copied Nintendo with their motion and touch inputs. Or how Apple stole the design for the iPhone 4 from the Sony Playstation Portable. Are Apple copying Sony by using OLED displays in their watch?

I just don't understand fanboys one bit.

 

[DynaFXD]

The iPhone 6s is seemingly Apple's largest update in years; the phone is gearing up to be the largest jump in iPhones since the 3GS to 4 update.

Seriously? Why do you say this? Seems completely tepid to me. Shrug. No matter to me, the technology and design is at a point where I am personally satisfied with what I got; no need to send Cupertino the yearly 600 tax payment this year ;-)

 

[AlexJoda]

Force Touch? Wish the basics would be fixed first; a less slippery and slightly thicker phone with space for a larger battery and the whole camera module! No, a case is not the answer, it is a waste of space and nullifies the whole point of original and supposedly "premium" design. It should be more durable out of the box.

Exactly that ! It should not crack without case and protective screen. Additionally it should be waterproof! This is much more important than any new feature for me. I am even not sure if these protective screens made of glass are still working with force touch. They saved the life of my iPhone several times.....