I’m quite surprised to hear the latest rumors that Apple is removing 3D Touch from future iPhones. 3D Touch has always struck me as the perfect way to add a set of “cheat moves” with which to add features to a device with limited screen real estate. This would be a big mistake for a couple of reasons.
I’ve never liked the proposal of making the long-press equal a 3D Touch because a long-press can only mean one thing at at time. Meaning that if I use the long-press to bring up the same menu that 3D Touch used to do. I can no longer use long-press for something else. On an iPhone, using long-press on the settings icon will make it jiggle and allow you to move the icon. But doing a 3D Touch will bring up a shortcuts menu. It’s like having two different buttons for two different functions.
Will everyone make use of 3D Touch? No. That’s the way it always is with a hidden set of features that are aimed at the core power users. Very few Mac users ever attempted Apple scripts. But these hidden features are what engender ferocious brand loyalty. Most people don’t know how to create a custom ringtone on their iPhone but I’m glad that Apple doesn’t remove this functionality.
I’m sure 3D Touch is not a trivial thing to add to screens. To this day, Android has never been able to copy it. Either Android phone makers lack the level of hardware and software coordination that exists in the iPhone or they lack the iPhone level of gross margin to be able to afford adding the more expensive screen components. Only Apple is able to do something like 3D Touch.
Removing 3D Touch from iPhones would be a mistake on two fronts. First, it takes away a premium feature that iOS power users like. And second, it hamstrings app developers by only allowing one virtual button versus two.
I had written a post a couple of years ago about how Apple creating 3D Touch for iOS power users was somewhat parallel to how they spent time on Automator for macOS. Giving up on 3D Touch would be a mistake on Apple’s part and this previous post captures most of why I feel that way.
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Originally Published on Dec 1, 2016
When news broke that Apple decided it no longer needed a Product Manager of Automation Technologies, all of Sal Soghoian’s long-lost friends came out of the wood work. And apparently, he had lots of friends.
All of a sudden, from countless directions I started hearing about Automator and Applescripts from people who never mentioned them before. They openly lamented that more people didn’t take advantage of these tools. Being a former Apple hater, who had never touched a Mac prior to 2012, I had no idea what they were talking about. I still don’t, but they sound like great time savers that most people are unaware of.
Even though it’s nowhere near as powerful as Automator or AppleScripts, 3D Touch seems to exist in a similar space in the iOS world. It’s there, it’s great, and it can make you more efficient. And most people have no idea how to use it. The old phrase rings truer than ever, “Out of sight is out of mind”.
I love 3D Touch, and I even enjoy looking for new functions that I can add to my tool box. For whatever reason, I get a sense of satisfaction out of using a 3D Touch shortcut and bypassing the menu options that everyone else uses. It’s like finding an empty cashier at Walmart while everyone is waiting in a line ten deep.
But Automator and AppleScripts took time and effort to master. Much more so than 3D Touch. But the payoff is commensurately larger. If you used Macs and were motivated to streamline your workflow, you did what you had to do.
The principle is the same with 3D Touch. No one is going to hold your hand and help you use it. You have to take it upon yourself to search out these shortcuts and commit them to memory.
But what surprised me the most was when I heard people extol the virtues of Automator who’ve in the past said that they find little use for 3D Touch. That doesn’t make any sense to me. There are uses―they just don’t know about them or made no effort to remember them. They have become the very thing that they decry. They’ve become apathetic or lazy.
Will everyone make use of 3D Touch? No. That’s the way it always is with a hidden set of features that are aimed at the core power users. Very few Mac users ever attempted Apple scripts. But these hidden features are what engender ferocious brand loyalty. Most people don’t know how to create a custom ringtone on their iPhone but I’m glad that Apple doesn’t remove this functionality.
I’m sure 3D Touch is not a trivial thing to add to screens. To this day, Android has never been able to copy it. Either Android phone makers lack the level of hardware and software coordination that exists in the iPhone or they lack the iPhone level of gross margin to be able to afford adding the more expensive screen components. Only Apple is able to do something like 3D Touch.
Removing 3D Touch from iPhones would be a mistake on two fronts. First, it takes away a premium feature that iOS power users like. And second, it hamstrings app developers by only allowing one virtual button versus two.
I had written a post a couple of years ago about how Apple creating 3D Touch for iOS power users was somewhat parallel to how they spent time on Automator for macOS. Giving up on 3D Touch would be a mistake on Apple’s part and this previous post captures most of why I feel that way.
••••••••••
Originally Published on Dec 1, 2016
When news broke that Apple decided it no longer needed a Product Manager of Automation Technologies, all of Sal Soghoian’s long-lost friends came out of the wood work. And apparently, he had lots of friends.
All of a sudden, from countless directions I started hearing about Automator and Applescripts from people who never mentioned them before. They openly lamented that more people didn’t take advantage of these tools. Being a former Apple hater, who had never touched a Mac prior to 2012, I had no idea what they were talking about. I still don’t, but they sound like great time savers that most people are unaware of.
Even though it’s nowhere near as powerful as Automator or AppleScripts, 3D Touch seems to exist in a similar space in the iOS world. It’s there, it’s great, and it can make you more efficient. And most people have no idea how to use it. The old phrase rings truer than ever, “Out of sight is out of mind”.
I love 3D Touch, and I even enjoy looking for new functions that I can add to my tool box. For whatever reason, I get a sense of satisfaction out of using a 3D Touch shortcut and bypassing the menu options that everyone else uses. It’s like finding an empty cashier at Walmart while everyone is waiting in a line ten deep.
But Automator and AppleScripts took time and effort to master. Much more so than 3D Touch. But the payoff is commensurately larger. If you used Macs and were motivated to streamline your workflow, you did what you had to do.
The principle is the same with 3D Touch. No one is going to hold your hand and help you use it. You have to take it upon yourself to search out these shortcuts and commit them to memory.
But what surprised me the most was when I heard people extol the virtues of Automator who’ve in the past said that they find little use for 3D Touch. That doesn’t make any sense to me. There are uses―they just don’t know about them or made no effort to remember them. They have become the very thing that they decry. They’ve become apathetic or lazy.
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