With the rollout of iOS and iPadOS 17 beta 2 that Apple released a few hours ago the so-called minor innovations are starting to emerge, changes not so important as to deserve space during the WWDC keynote but still visible, especially by those with a trained eye. Yesterday, ready to go, the novelty that will allow you to choose the default messaging app for Siri did not go unnoticed, but today the center of attention is the 3D Touch.
Those who have owned iPhones for several years will remember 3D Touch, the feature introduced with the iPhone 6s which, thanks to a pressure-sensitive display, added a further “dimension” to the user experience. From 6s to iPhone Xs long pressing felt different than pressing “hard”, firmly, on the displaythen from the following year the renunciation of 3D Touch tested first on the iPhone XR was also confirmed on subsequent generations, simulated by haptic touch.
In terms of functionality 3D Touch and haptic touch ensure roughly the same possibilities, in terms of sensations instead of immediacy between the strong pressure and the reaction of the system, that is the opening of the contextual menus, the haptic touch has always lacked something compared to the original formula. With iOS 17 Apple tries to reduce the gap by refining the software simulation. On the menu Haptic touch of the section Touch Of Settings – Accessibility one has appeared third option:
- Brief
- Default
- Long.
On iOS 16 there are two options, short or long, while on iOS 17 beta 2 there is also default. Those who use the beta tell that the old “short” now in terms of responsiveness is “default”, while the new “brief”, that of iOS 17 beta 2, brings the experience guaranteed overall by the reaction simulated by iOS to greater pressure on the screen a lot closer to 3D Touch. It seems that the same structure will be carried over to iPadOS 17: a first for iPads, since they have never had the pressure-sensitive display.
