Oliver Haslam on October 24, 2018, 1:11 am

iPhone XR Haptic Touch Feature To Expand In Function With Future iOS Updates

Now that the iPhone XR is in the hands of reviewers and their embargoes have been lifted, we’re starting to learn more and more about what may be Apple’s 2018 sleeper hit.

The device costs $250 less than the least costly iPhone XS and if the reviews are anything to go by, the differences between the two aren’t all that big. If you don’t need a 2x camera or an OLED screen, there’s plenty to suggest that the iPhone XR may be the best purchase of this year’s lineup. Unless you want the 6.5-inch iPhone XS Max, of course.

One feature that is missing from the iPhone XR is 3D Touch, the feature that allows other iPhones to have users push on the display more firmly to access certain menus and options.

Apple has added Haptic Touch to the iPhone XR, essentially turning a long press into something akin to 3D Touch, but in many places, it doesn’t behave the same. That’s a problem if you have years of muscle memory to work with, and according to The Verge’s Nilay Patel, Apple knows that it has some way to go before Haptic Touch can compete.

Thankfully, it appears Apple is planning on improving the use of Haptic Touch throughout the iPhone XR over time.

Haptic Touch does not have equivalents to everything 3D Touch can do, however — I missed previewing links in Safari and Twitter quite a bit. Apple told me it’s working to bring it to more places in iOS over time, but that it’s going slow to make sure the implementation is right.

In its current incarnation, there are definitely times where 3D Touch has the edge, with Peak & Pop completely AWOL with Haptic Touch. That alone would be a huge speed bump for us, so it’s great to learn that Apple plans to make improvements to Haptic Touch in due course.

(Via: The Verge)