Other Recently purchased a 6s plus: BRING BACK 3D-touch

[BreakYurAnkles]

I picked up a really cheap iPhone 6s plus (battery health 73% and screen cracked) but it is still functional (mostly).

I got it to use as a music player/GPS for my daily driver (literally my daily driver CAR) so I don't really care about its battery life or screen(*sort of* might replace it with a cheap-0 from ebay/amazon)

When I was navigating the menus and Apps on this 6s Plus, using the control center and playing with settings... 3d-Touch is AWESOME. its way faster and responsive. I honestly don't understand why Apple moved away from this technology (only reason I *heard* was that it wasn't adopted widely by developers). The difference is night and day, I honestly suggest other people who haven't used it in a long time try it (if you know someone with an iPhone model that has 3D Touch)

IMHO from a user experience standpoint, and how iOS has developed along with the inferior "Haptic Touch" usability, Apple re-introducing/bringing back 3D Touch would actually make sense (other than design/size problems).

 

[Pakaku]

The way I see it was that it was obscure and unexplained, like a lot of "hidden" input that iOS suffers from, so to no one's surprise it ended up underused...

It's like using a computer mouse that can't right click, it feels wrong not to have it. Hence I am sticking to my 6S for as long as it lives

 

[BreakYurAnkles]

The way I see it was that it was obscure and unexplained, like a lot of "hidden" input that iOS suffers from, so to no one's surprise it ended up underused...

It's like using a computer mouse that can't right click, it feels wrong not to have it. Hence I am sticking to my 6S for as long as it lives

I think it was a little ahead of its time, considering how much Haptic Touch is implemented into iOS today, it would have been a huge leap in usability and a benefit for the apple ecosystem.

I definitely would appreciate it when I switch modes on my AirPods Pro (which I do on a regular basis)

 

[adrianlondon]

I have a 6S as my backup phone (as an aside, it runs iOS 15 really well) and miss the haptic touch when I go back to my iPhone 11. However, it doesn't take long to completely forget about it; mainly because developers don't code for it.

 

[eyoungren]

Apple still has long-press, which I believe is easier to explain than 3D Touch. People interpret 'long press' and 'long press harder' in different ways.

 

[goobot]

Really the fault of a flat os not being able to convey things to you

 

[now i see it]

Apl is too enamored with flickering OLED screens that don’t support 3DT to ever go back to LCD.

 

[throAU]

It was neat but rarely used and likely cut to shave costs and/or maybe improve water resistance.

I had it, barely ever used it, do not miss it.

 

[BreakYurAnkles]

Apl is too enamored with flickering OLED screens that don’t support 3DT to ever go back to LCD.

Gah lee..... the OLED on my 12 mini was a nightmare, I honestly thought it was because I went to a smaller screen and the text messed with my eyes (Had a Xr before my 12 mini). but even when I watched media on the phone it would give me eye strain/headaches.

interestingly, my current 13 pro doesn't give me problems but YMMV

It was neat but rarely used and likely cut to shave costs and/or maybe improve water resistance.

I had it, barely ever used it, do not miss it.

I thought the same way, until I was playing with this 6s plus (13 pro is my "daily driver"). It blew me away how fast and responsive it is.

 

[Regina del Mare]

I have an 8 and 8 Plus, and I enjoy having the 3D Touch feature!

 

[GMShadow]

It was neutered in...iOS 13? Either way, even phones with 3D Touch today don't truly have it unless you're running an older OS.

 

[Boyd01]

I upgraded from a 6s Plus to a 12 Pro Max. The 6s Plus still works fine, I use it to test a web app I'm developing. I never cared for 3d touch and frankly never understood when/where to use it or what would happen when I did. So I don't miss it. However, what I *really* miss is the landscape homescreen.

I understand that this went away when the notch first appeared, but fail to understand why. I'm developing a GPS app, and use the phone in landscape mode in a holder in the car. Having a sideways portrait home screen is really annoying for this sort of use.

Oh well, I guess that's water under the bridge now.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

It was neutered in...iOS 13? Either way, even phones with 3D Touch today don't truly have it unless you're running an older OS.

My backup 6S is running iOS12.4 and 3D Touch has full functionality. My X was on 12.4.1 until I had to update to iOS15 due to a new S6 watch I bought. I really miss it on the X but iOS15 hasn't been as bad as I thought it was going to be and I really love my S6 so it worked out ok..

 

[ElRojito]

3D Touch was the best feature ever introduced. I am honestly thinking of going back to a XS because I miss it so much. Also I hate the size of the 13 Pro so that doesn't help my opinion.

 

[JPack]

It was never widely adopted because the technology doesn't make sense for a touchscreen. Users don't expect to push hard on a touchscreen. People associate pushing with a button and tapping with a touchscreen.

Use a mall directory or an old PDA if you want to push hard.

Everybody wants lower actuation force on a touchscreen, not more.

 

[BigBlur]

Apl is too enamored with flickering OLED screens that don’t support 3DT to ever go back to LCD.

3D Touch has nothing to do with the display type. The The X and XS have an OLED screen and also have 3D Touch.

I had an XS and loved 3D Touch, but actually switched to using Haptic Touch even though 3D Touch still worked. Everything is still largely the same between the two, other than it is tad slower (we're talking about one or two tenths of a second slower). I've always thought it felt a little odd having to push into the screen, especially when I wasn't sure if the object had any 3D Touch capability... Does it not have 3D Touch? Did I not push hard enough? To me, long pressing feels more natural to invoke and when exploring.

 

[throAU]

Gah lee..... the OLED on my 12 mini was a nightmare, I honestly thought it was because I went to a smaller screen and the text messed with my eyes (Had a Xr before my 12 mini). but even when I watched media on the phone it would give me eye strain/headaches.

interestingly, my current 13 pro doesn't give me problems but YMMV


I thought the same way, until I was playing with this 6s plus (13 pro is my "daily driver"). It blew me away how fast and responsive it is.

I had a 6s for about 3 years and used it maybe 2-3 times as a novelty.

*shrug*

 

[Motionblurrr]

I wonder what would’ve happened if Apple rebranded it as “Push Touch” instead of 3D Touch.

The common person would understand “oh, if I push it instead of pressing it it’s another layer” or something idk

 

[JPack]

I wonder what would’ve happened if Apple rebranded it as “Push Touch” instead of 3D Touch.

The common person would understand “oh, if I push it instead of pressing it it’s another layer” or something idk

It's not a marketing problem, but a fundamental interface problem. No one will intuitively push a touchscreen, much less push it hard. The whole point of a touchscreen is you touch, not push. People push buttons, not screens.

Remember the Back Tap feature introduced with iOS 14? Same thing, no one taps the back of the phone because it's not intuitive.

 

[Abazigal]

The problem with 3D Touch was that the Taptic Engine was taking up a lot of space in the phone, and well, many people simply weren't using it. I miss it (especially the cursor function), but I will take a larger battery over it any day.

It likely also means lower production costs for the iPhone, so I guess Apple is happy to see it go as well.

 

[hmorneau]

What I love is you can force touch anywhere on the keyboard and move the cursor up or down easily. Without it, you can hold the space bar, but then it's very hard to move the cursor to the line below as you are already at the bottom of the screen. But might not be as bad on newer phone since I think you have some screen space below the keyboard. I guess I will see it once I upgrade my phone.

 

[Paddle1]

Having Haptic Touch available on devices that didn't support it and having 3D Touch for devices that do would have been better. Developers would be more likely to support it if it was widely available and a bit more intuitive to discover.

Basically how it is now except with the pressure-sensitive responsiveness of iOS 12 and earlier and still having it on new devices. I just find Haptic Touch is better at making its presence know than 3D Touch was as well as being more consistently implemented.

The problem with 3D Touch was that the Taptic Engine was taking up a lot of space in the phone, and well, many people simply weren't using it. I miss it (especially the cursor function), but I will take a larger battery over it any day.

It likely also means lower production costs for the iPhone, so I guess Apple is happy to see it go as well.

I believe the Taptic Engine is still in every phone and used for the haptics.

 

[Abazigal]

I believe the Taptic Engine is still in every phone and used for the haptics.

And you would be correct, though the Taptic Engine appears to be smaller in the iPhone 13.

It has me confused though (and google search isn't turning up the desired answers). What's the difference then? Just the sensors integrated in the display for 3D Touch?

 

[JPack]

And you would be correct, though the Taptic Engine appears to be smaller in the iPhone 13.

It has me confused though (and google search isn't turning up the desired answers). What's the difference then? Just the sensors integrated in the display for 3D Touch?

The 3D Touch layer is in the display. We know it adds about 0.5mm because that's the difference in thickness between the iPhone 6 and 6s display module.

 

[John981]

I also miss 3D Touch, but you have to admit that Apple never even got close to using it to its full potential.

Discoverability was probably the main issue, since people literally had to poke around on their phones at random in order to see where it does something. I liked and used the feature a lot, but even nowadays I‘ll still occasionally find out about a 3D Touch gesture that had been available but unbeknownst to me.

I love the idea of having another entirely different way of interacting with the screen, but given how inconspicuous the feature was, it‘s easy to understand why it was ultimately killed off.