Rumor has it that Apple is going to put the Force Touch technology in their new iPhone, the iPhone 6s.
CultOfMac reports that an iOS developer named Hamza Sood has found evidence that Force Touch is confirmed to be in the new model, the iPhone 6s. This means that the 6s will be packaged with pressure-sensitive technology as well as the new trackpad gestures that Apple is adding to the iPad with the release of iOS9.
Some force touch code in iOS. Looks like they’ve tested kb trackpad gestures on the 6s, activated via force touch pic.twitter.com/FWk2N1qgLg
— Hamza Sood (@hamzasood) August 26, 2015
Today's iPhone reports Sood pointing out that the code is similar to the one used in the iPad keyboard's new trackpad text selection in iOS9 — highlighting or selecting text by merely pressing harder and dragging a finger over them.
According to 9to5Mac, the iPhone Force Touch has been rumored to be similar to the Force Touch on Mac, which has thousands of levels of pressure detection. Although the code term "enableDeepPress" may indicate a binary action, it is possible that the iPhone 6s' Force Touch feature will be pressure sensitive.
9to5Mac also adds that according to their unnamed sources, the iOS version of Force Touch, called "Orb" will enable the iPhone to skip listing of options or button presses. "There is consistent usage of Force Touch across the operating system to 'shortcut' actions," unlike the Apple watch which presents new options, says the source.
The 9to5Mac source cites some examples:
- A user can look up a point of interest in Maps and then quickly get turn-by-turn directions simply by Force Touching on the target destination, skipping two steps.
- A user can Force Touch a listed track and be presented with a list of options, to either add it to a playlist or save it for offline listening. This replaces clicking the buttons on the right side of each track listing in the Music app.
- Another feature in testing is the appearance of shortcuts after Force Touching an app on the home screen. For example, according to the source, if a user Force Touches the Phone app icon, he or she can choose to go directly to the Voicemail tab.
- Some gestures will reportedly come from the latest MacBooks. For example, one can Force Touch a link in Safari to get a preview of the web page, or can Force Touch a word to see its definition.
Another 9to5Mac report adds that Force Touch is widely "assumed" to be coming to all of new iPhones and iPads that Apple has announced this year.
According to the website, Apple is rumored to announce the new iPhones, and probably the new Apple TV, on September 9.
