3D Touch and Force Touch: A technology for the future? – AndroidPIT (blog)

Apple

Force Touch has already been introduced with the Apple Watch. The display of the SmartWatch from Cupertino was award two pressure stages in a position and therefore trigger different actions. This expansion of the operation had to incorporate Apple, because they wanted to send the user a simple operation on the still very small display

The first Apple device with Force Touch was the Apple Watch. / © Apple

After this little pilot phase in the Apple Watch the Force-touch technology from Apple now holds now also in the latest Apple-generation collection. The iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus are the first mass produced smartphones with pressure-sensitive displays, although Huawei has come with the presentation of the Force-touch enabled Mate S at the IFA 2015 in Berlin Apple before.

How does Force Touch and 3D touch anyway?

Basically, you can Force Touch or 3D touch as in the pressure-sensitive S Pen with the Galaxy Note 5 imagine, only with the big difference that one for input uses his fingers and held the recognition on the display. Thus, it is clear: For Force Touch a special touch panel is needed that can measure the pressure strength on the smartphone display. Conventional capacitive display contrast, only recognize the touch of a conductive object on the surface. In the recognition of different pressure stages of the touchscreen must constantly recognize the pressure exerted on the glass print and evaluate.

According to Huawei, the Force-touch display in Mate S pressure strengths should be able to between one and perceive and process four Newton. How sensitive is the 3D-Touch display of iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, Apple is not yet price.

In order to measure the pressures, an additional layer in the display must be integrated. This makes the display a little thicker, the Huawei Mate with S Force Touch is about 0.5 mm thicker than the model without new printing technology.

Under the smartphone display an additional layer for three-dimensional printing sensitivity © Huawei

Which functions are possible? P > If you could have been playing with the S Pen of the Galaxy Note 4 or with the grade 5, then you know that different pressures only in drawings or notes is possible actually. Much more is not with the S Pen in printing sensitivity possible. Here is actually touch and 3D Force Touch a huge leap forward. When Huawei Mate S could, depending on how strongly you press on the display, for example, in pure photos and get back in. It is also the S Mate in the Force Touch version also possible to hide the on-screen buttons and the Mate S realized then by vigorously pressing the bottom of the display, if you want to have back or the multitask view to the home screen.

AndroidPIT.com editor Scott Gordon attempts from the Force-touch feature of Huawei Mate S. / © AndroidPIT

The highlight of the Huawei Mate with S Force Touch is definitely the possibility of using the smartphone as a balance, even if it can only perceive between 100 and 400 grams. It is clear that this function is certainly not very often used in everyday life and it is questionable how accurate the scales integrated app of Mate S is indeed, but as a party gag or demonstration of Force-touch technology is terrific. All what is currently feasible with Force Touch in Mate S unfortunately, is not comparable to Apple’s 3D Touch.

Last block: the operating system

Only to build in a pressure-sensitive display in a smartphone, brings nothing, if the operating system or apps, the information can not be processed. Apple shows impressively how to exploit the possibilities of 3D touch thanks to hardware and software from a single source. Many additional actions have been integrated by Apple into the system. For example, you can add a fixed pressure on the phone icon and select Speed ​​Dials. Also an overview of e-mails about can be displayed by a firmer pressure. If you press more firmly on the screen of the iPhone 6s, then the e-mail then opens in full-screen. That opens up the a 3D touch panel just a few examples of the possibilities. All the calls Apple Peek and Pop.

In the few hours that I until now had time to play around with the iPhone 6s Plus and gather impressions Force Touch, you have to say that Apple here once again shows that there are advantages has that hardware and software come from one source. How good 3D Touch on iPhone 6s Plus works, you can see in the following video.