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Haptic Touch Will Work With Notifications on iPhone XR in iOS 12.1.1

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As noted by 9to5Mac, Haptic Touch can be used to expand notifications on the iPhone XR starting with iOS 12.1.1.

To use this feature, simply tap and hold a notification on the lock screen or in Notification Center for a split second. Once you feel haptic feedback from the Taptic Engine, let go and the notification will expand, providing more detailed information and contextual shortcuts, such as a reply field for iMessage conversations.

iphone-xr-haptic-touch-imessage.jpg
iMessage notification expanded with Haptic Touch on iPhone XR​

Haptic Touch is simply a marketing name for a long press combined with haptic feedback from the Taptic Engine. The feature is a substitute for 3D Touch, which Apple wasn't able to include in the iPhone XR, as it had to remove the pressure-sensitive layer from the screen to achieve a nearly edge-to-edge LCD.

Haptic Touch works in only a few places, such as the flashlight and camera shortcuts on the lock screen, and in Control Center to pop open additional toggles and menus, but Apple recently confirmed it is working to bring the 3D Touch replacement to more places across iOS over time, and notifications is a start.

iphone-xr-haptic-touch-mail.jpg
Mail notification expanded with Haptic Touch on iPhone XR​

Haptic Touch can only be implemented for actions that don't already rely on a long press. For example, long-pressing on an app icon on the home screen enables "wiggle mode," allowing apps to be deleted or rearranged on the home screen, so 3D Touch's Quick Action menus are not supported on the iPhone XR.

Haptic Touch also doesn't support Peek and Pop for previewing content such as websites and messages since the feature relies on detecting multiple levels of pressure, and the iPhone XR does not have pressure sensitivity at all.

peek-pop.jpg
3D Touch features on iPhone 6s: Quick Actions on left, Peek and Pop on right​

On the iPhone 6 and earlier, which lack 3D Touch and Haptic Touch, a notification can be expanded by sliding it to the left and tapping View. This is still an option on the iPhone XR, but the Haptic Touch solution is more convenient.

Haptic Touch support for notifications on the iPhone XR is functional in the second beta of iOS 12.1.1https://www.macrumors.com/2018/11/07/apple-seeds-ios-12-1-1-beta-2-to-developers/, seeded to developers and users enrolled in Apple's Beta Software Program on Wednesday. The update is a relatively minor one overall, so it will likely be released to the public fairly soon.

Article Link: Haptic Touch Will Work With Notifications on iPhone XR in iOS 12.1.1
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/11/08/haptic-touch-notifications-iphone-xr/
Why in the world did apple regress with the Xr and 3D touch? Did they really think it would sell more XS and XS maxes that way? Most people probably didn't even realize the Xr was missing the feature until they went to use it. Now I'm sure some customers are feeling burned.
 
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I love 3D Touch for flashlight brightness in the Control Center but feel like when sharing this most weren’t aware that pressure triggers anything. It’s disappointing but I have a suspicion that most aren’t aware of 3D anything.
 
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MrGimper said:
So can someone explain why they have never put vibration/Taptic Engine in the iPads?
Click to expand...
I like this idea a lot. The iPad is significantly bigger, so to achieve even vibration, it'd probably be necessary to put in multiple engines, like one in each corner. With a little customization, unique ringtones could be assigned to contacts, so receiving a call will drive your iPad around if it's resting on a table.

tl;dr: RC iPad car: YES

0RDnw8T.gif
 
Last edited:
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MrGimper said:
So can someone explain why they have never put vibration/Taptic Engine in the iPads?
Click to expand...

I would assume because an iPad is very large compared to an iPhone and it wouldn’t sit in the palm of your hands, like an iPhone would, where you can fully feel the vibration.

Plus if they did include it, I would think only the lower portion would feel it strongly(assuming they’d put it in the same place like the iPhone). It would be odd to force touch the upper part of the display and not feel it as strongly as the bottom.
 
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Wow Apple figured out to implement a long press??? /s

For real though it's weird to me that this always becomes news worthy.
 
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Interesting my habit is to long touch. I never got used to pressing on my screen more forcefully for "3D Touch" maybe they can give us an option to disable "3D Touch" for this "Haptic Touch."
 
My problem with 3D touch was that it wasn't clear exactly where to use it. I could figure out a few places like emails, clicking on links to preview them, etc. And I use those features often. I'm usually pleasantly surprised when I read about/discover other uses, such as long-pressing on the flashlight icon in control center to change the brightness of the flash.

At any rate, I always kind of wondered why 3D touch came out before long presses were widely useful on iOS. Changing the placement or deleting apps is the only place I can remember it being used.

After using 3D touch so long, I would be hesitant to go back though; with 3D Touch, you can click and hold something to preview it, then press harder to open/execute the action. All without lifting your finger from the device.
 
This was an annoyance when I was testing out a XR. I apparently use 3D Touch on notifications a lot more than I thought I did. It never should have been missing from the launch, but that’s the new way things work. Release products that aren’t ready and fix things through a software update later.
 
I used 3D Touch on my phone on lock screen to view/delete emails, for flashlight/camera and for keyboard cursor scrolling. This update will fully restore all my use cases for the “3D” touch features on my XR. Can’t wait!
 
alj96z said:
Why in the world did apple regress with the Xr and 3D touch? Did they really think it would sell more XS and XS maxes that way? Most people probably didn't even realize the Xr was missing the feature until they went to use it. Now I'm sure some customers are feeling burned.
Click to expand...

I didn’t know. I couldve swore I heard haptic touch would replace 3D Touch so I thought all the features would work the same. Peek and pop but it doesn’t? Or it will later? Now I’m confused
 
I wish I could preview links like i can on my X on my iPad Pro.. or maybe I can and I don’t know how.. anyone?
 
MrGimper said:
So can someone explain why they have never put vibration/Taptic Engine in the iPads?
Click to expand...
The iPad would need a much bigger Taptic Engine because of the size of the device, and it would be hard to incorporate because people hold it so many different ways.
I know I’ve tired holding my phone at the top to see how much you feel the “vibrate” since the Taptic Engine is in the bottom portion of the iPhone and you don’t feel much of a response. (hope this makes sense)
But I guess it’s not as useful on a tablet/computer device that’s not kept in your pocket.
 
This is great news

It means more features will be added to haptic touch before iPhone XI removes 3d touch completely next year.
 
AngerDanger said:
I like this idea a lot. The iPad is significantly bigger, so to achieve even vibration, it'd probably be necessary to put in multiple engines, like one in each corner. With a little customization, unique ringtones could be assigned to contacts, so receiving a call will drive your iPad around if it's resting on a table.

tl;dr: RC iPad car: YES

0RDnw8T.gif
Click to expand...
Is this a first APPLE CAR leak?
“We have eliminated a useless part of a car. An engine”
 
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So hopefully this feature will be introduced on the iPhone X as well! Because I’ve disabled 3D Touch.
 
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