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subjonas

macrumors 603
Original poster
Feb 10, 2014
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I keep reading conflicting testimonies about 3D Touch and iOS 13:
- it’s totally gone
- it’s still there, just some things are gone or changed
- it’s gone for some phones, still there on others (the 8?)

Can someone please clarify the situation? (I use an original SE without 3D Touch.)

I’d especially like to know about the 3D Touch situation on the iPhone 8. I’m considering getting one if it’s the last iPhone with full 3D Touch functionality. I used 3D Touch years ago and was a huge fan so I’d like to ride it out.

On that note, if iPhone 8 is the last iPhone with full 3D Touch functionality, is there any reason to believe Apple would change or remove it from the 8 on a future iOS update?
Thanks
 

ian87w

macrumors G3
Feb 22, 2020
8,704
12,636
Indonesia
I keep reading conflicting testimonies about 3D Touch and iOS 13:
- it’s totally gone
- it’s still there, just some things are gone or changed
- it’s gone for some phones, still there on others (the 8?)

Can someone please clarify the situation? (I use an original SE without 3D Touch.)

I’d especially like to know about the 3D Touch situation on the iPhone 8. I’m considering getting one if it’s the last iPhone with full 3D Touch functionality. I used 3D Touch years ago and was a huge fan so I’d like to ride it out.

On that note, if iPhone 8 is the last iPhone with full 3D Touch functionality, is there any reason to believe Apple would change or remove it from the 8 on a future iOS update?
Thanks
I have an iPhone 7 Plus, but it came with iOS 13 out of the box, so I can only compare it to the feature presented on the 2015 September keynote. My experience :
- some gestures are still there. I can still hold and press on the edge of the screen to get to the task switcher
- you can still peek, but no more pop. Eg in photos, I can press in to get a preview of a photo, but I cannot press further to go to that photo. I have to remove my finger and do a regular tap. The same with links. From the keynote, you can press to preview the link, and press further to open it. With iOS 13, to go to the link, I have to remove my finger and do a regular tap.
- all icon shortcuts from the home screen are still there

3D touch was still available as a hardware feature on the iPhone Xs. The XR was the first iPhone that uses haptic touch.

If you're used to the original SE, I don't think you'll miss 3D touch. With Apple going with haptic touch on all new iPhones, I would just forget about 3D touch and embrace haptic touch.
 
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Sam in SoCal

macrumors 6502a
Oct 13, 2019
762
1,031
Yesssss exactly. Let’s move on. We’ve been terrorized with non stop commentary with people lamenting the loss of the headphone jack for years, we still to this day get people that bitch about it here and there. 3D Touch is dead. It’s an unnecessary business expense that most people never appreciated or knew was there. Apple can somewhat be partly to blame for not really pushing it. regardless, from a business standpoint it was the wise thing to do.
 

mattopotamus

macrumors G5
Jun 12, 2012
14,671
5,883
Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought this was a 3D Touch feature:

On my X I can “3D touch” the keyboard to move the cursor around text. Can you do that with the new haptic version?
 

Sam in SoCal

macrumors 6502a
Oct 13, 2019
762
1,031
Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought this was a 3D Touch feature:

On my X I can “3D touch” the keyboard to move the cursor around text. Can you do that with the new haptic version?
Yes. With Haptic Touch you just long press the spacebar And then move around anywhere you want once it activates
 

phpmaven

macrumors 68040
Jun 12, 2009
3,466
522
San Clemente, CA USA
It's alive and kicking on my Xs Max, although it's severely crippled. When you lay your finger on an icon as opposed to pressing you can see a significant difference in how quick the context menu pops up. There's like a .5 sec delay when you just touch as opposed to press. I can also still use the press to get the cursor trick on the keyboard.
 
Last edited:

achappy

macrumors 6502
Oct 26, 2017
260
305
Yes. With Haptic Touch you just long press the spacebar And then move around anywhere you want once it activates

But moving the cursor is limited to the spacebar on non-3D Touch phones. On 3D Touch phones, you get significantly more functionality with 3D Touch such as: moving cursor anywhere on the keyboard, selecting text with subsequent presses (word, sentence paragraph) without lifting thumb and you can quickly delete text.

iOS13 changed how 3D Touch worked in phones with 3D Touch screens but it's still there. They tried to bring it inline with Haptic Touch phones but the 3D Touch specific features like the advanced cursor is still there. Also 3D Touch is still slightly faster than Haptic.
 

snipr125

macrumors 68000
Oct 17, 2015
1,813
2,860
UK
There is 3d functionality still active on ios 13. As ian87w said you can log press on the side of the screen for the app switcher, you can long press on ‘settings’ app to quickly access wifi, bluetooth and mobile data to turn them off etc, and also other apps to quickly access aspects of that app etc.
 
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Brien

macrumors 68040
Aug 11, 2008
3,668
1,285
It could have been our right click but alas. Hope it returns one day.
 

mpavilion

macrumors 65816
Aug 4, 2014
1,460
1,072
SFV, CA, USA
Does haptic allow you to press & hold on the sliding scroll bar to quickly scroll up & down a web page (as 3D Touch still allows my 7+ to do)?
 

mattopotamus

macrumors G5
Jun 12, 2012
14,671
5,883
But moving the cursor is limited to the spacebar on non-3D Touch phones. On 3D Touch phones, you get significantly more functionality with 3D Touch such as: moving cursor anywhere on the keyboard, selecting text with subsequent presses (word, sentence paragraph) without lifting thumb and you can quickly delete text.

iOS13 changed how 3D Touch worked in phones with 3D Touch screens but it's still there. They tried to bring it inline with Haptic Touch phones but the 3D Touch specific features like the advanced cursor is still there. Also 3D Touch is still slightly faster than Haptic.

that’s exactly what I was thinking of. I knew there was something different with the cursor when using actual 3D Touch phones vs Haptic.
 

subjonas

macrumors 603
Original poster
Feb 10, 2014
5,637
5,985
Thanks for the posts, all.
Not sure if anyone mentioned this, but I’m still unclear whether or not 3d Touch now works differently on different generation iPhones (that have 3d Touch hardware).

I have an iPhone 7 Plus, but it came with iOS 13 out of the box, so I can only compare it to the feature presented on the 2015 September keynote. My experience :
- some gestures are still there. I can still hold and press on the edge of the screen to get to the task switcher
- you can still peek, but no more pop. Eg in photos, I can press in to get a preview of a photo, but I cannot press further to go to that photo. I have to remove my finger and do a regular tap. The same with links. From the keynote, you can press to preview the link, and press further to open it. With iOS 13, to go to the link, I have to remove my finger and do a regular tap.
- all icon shortcuts from the home screen are still there

3D touch was still available as a hardware feature on the iPhone Xs. The XR was the first iPhone that uses haptic touch.

If you're used to the original SE, I don't think you'll miss 3D touch. With Apple going with haptic touch on all new iPhones, I would just forget about 3D touch and embrace haptic touch.
Thanks for being specific. The details is what I’m trying to get. It’s all about the details.
A couple questions to clarify..
So you can’t press hard and instantaneously get the app switcher anymore? If there’s a delay, isn’t that really haptic touch?
Do you happen to know if 8 works exactly the same as 7?

Yesssss exactly. Let’s move on. We’ve been terrorized with non stop commentary with people lamenting the loss of the headphone jack for years, we still to this day get people that bitch about it here and there. 3D Touch is dead. It’s an unnecessary business expense that most people never appreciated or knew was there. Apple can somewhat be partly to blame for not really pushing it. regardless, from a business standpoint it was the wise thing to do.
I don’t know how any of this relates to this thread. I’m trying to gather info.

It's alive and kicking on my Xs Max, although it's severely crippled. When you lay your finger on an icon as opposed to pressing you can see a significant difference in how quick the context menu pops up. There's like a .5 sec delay when you just touch as opposed to press. I can also still use the press to get the cursor trick on the keyboard.
Also 3D Touch is still slightly faster than Haptic.
So 3d Touch is still instant or did they introduce a slight delay, but just not as much as Haptic Touch?

There is 3d functionality still active on ios 13. As ian87w said you can log press on the side of the screen for the app switcher, you can long press on ‘settings’ app to quickly access wifi, bluetooth and mobile data to turn them off etc, and also other apps to quickly access aspects of that app etc.
It sounds like you’re describing Haptic Touch if you have to long press, though. 3d Touch, at least when introduced, was an instant hard press. Is there now a delay? But isn’t that what Haptic Touch is? I’m getting confused.

Does haptic allow you to press & hold on the sliding scroll bar to quickly scroll up & down a web page (as 3D Touch still allows my 7+ to do)?
I don’t know how it works for 3d/Haptic Touch, but on my original SE once you see the scroll bar you can grab and immediately move it. No need to long press. Though it is a little finicky, the grab usually happens on the second attempt. Or maybe I’m doing it wrong.

My Xs is on the latest version, and 3D touch is working.
Any details on how it has changed, if at all, from previous iOS versions?
 

mpavilion

macrumors 65816
Aug 4, 2014
1,460
1,072
SFV, CA, USA
I don’t know how it works for 3d/Haptic Touch, but on my original SE once you see the scroll bar you can grab and immediately move it. No need to long press. Though it is a little finicky, the grab usually happens on the second attempt. Or maybe I’m doing it wrong.

Ah, apologies... I thought it was a 3D Touch feature (it “feels” that way when I press down to grab the scroll bar), but I guess it’s not.
 
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EM2013

macrumors 68020
Sep 2, 2013
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The peek functionality is still there, the pop (where you press the screen to jump into whatever is being previewed) is no longer there.

You can’t press the side of the screen to bring up the app switcher.

You can still 3D Touch apps on home screen.

You can still press anywhere on the keyboard to control the cursor.
 

subjonas

macrumors 603
Original poster
Feb 10, 2014
5,637
5,985
The peek functionality is still there, the pop (where you press the screen to jump into whatever is being previewed) is no longer there.

You can’t press the side of the screen to bring up the app switcher.

You can still 3D Touch apps on home screen.

You can still press anywhere on the keyboard to control the cursor.
Thanks. Although not being able to bring up the app switcher seems to go against what some others are saying. Does it make a difference which 3D Touch iPhone are you are using (6S - XS)?
 

AnotherGuy345

macrumors member
Apr 15, 2020
35
27
Orange County, CA
Yes, my iPhone X. However it will go to my mom, replacing her iPhone 6+, once I get my SE is delivered.
Here’s the funny thing, my mom she loves pressing the screen really hard because the 6+ sometimes lag. So with her replacement the X, by habit she will likely 3D press it often and won’t know what’s going on. I won’t tell her until she asks. ;) She’s older by the way.
 

mpavilion

macrumors 65816
Aug 4, 2014
1,460
1,072
SFV, CA, USA
I can still bring up the app switcher with a 3D Touch on the edge of my 7+ (running the latest version of iOS).

It is true that I can now only “peek,” and no longer “pop,” when viewing photos and links. Didn’t realize that limitation had been introduced, until someone mentioned it above.
 
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EM2013

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Sep 2, 2013
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Thanks. Although not being able to bring up the app switcher seems to go against what some others are saying. Does it make a difference which 3D Touch iPhone are you are using (6S - XS)?
Not sure, I have a XS Max and it doesn’t work.
 
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EM2013

macrumors 68020
Sep 2, 2013
2,480
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X, XS, XS Max have never been able to bring up the app switcher by pressing on edge of the screen. 6S, 6S+, 7, 7+, 8 and 8+ only.
That makes sense. I couldn’t remember my xs on iOS 12. I could only remember on my 8 plus.
 
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