With the iPhone 11 Pro series, Apple has ditched 3D Touch and replaced it with Haptic Touch. The latter is essentially a sophisticated form of long press, while 3D Touch relied on special hardware to detect the amount of pressure being applied on the screen and then show the relevant options. 3D Touch is still found on iPhone 6s to iPhone XS Max though and with Haptic Touch-enabled, things get a bit confusing.
After the iOS 13 upgrade, Apple has essentially crippled 3D Touch and stripped it away from half of its features. You cannot Peek and Pop in Safari, the ability to simply 3D Touch the keyboard and move the cursor around has gone, and more. No wonder then that Apple forums online are filled with complaints from users on how they are hating this change.
The problem is that Apple has stripped down 3D Touch and moved most of its functionality to Haptic Touch. Thus, having both enabled can get a bit confusing since you are always second-guessing if their press would invoke 3D Touch or Haptic Touch.
With Apple getting rid of 3D Touch, it is clear that Haptic Touch is the future. Until and unless you rely heavily on 3D Touch, you should just turn it off and get used to Haptic Touch. Alternatively, you can also tweak the 3D Touch sensitivity which will solve this conflict between 3D Touch and Haptic Touch.
Turn Off 3D Touch On Your iPhone
Step 1: On your iPhone 6s to iPhone XS/Max, go to Settings -> Accessibility -> Touch.
Step 2: Under 3D Touch & Haptic Touch, you will find the option to disable 3D Touch.
If you like 3D Touch and want to keep it enabled, you can simply adjust its sensitivity to firm or light.
Remember that turning off 3D Touch is not going to impact Haptic Touch. On iPhones with 3D Touch, there’s no way to tweak the sensitivity of Haptic Touch. However, on iPhones which lack 3D Touch, the same menu will provide you with the option to tweak the Haptic Touch sensitivity.
3D Touch was a feature that was mostly used by pros and advanced users so most iPhone users are simply not going to realize that 3D Touch has been dumbed down. If you are in the second category though, you are going to find this change infuriating. There’s not much you can do here other than stick to your 3D Touch-capable iPhone for as long as possible or just get used to Haptic Touch.
What are your thoughts on Apple ditching 3D Touch in favor of Haptic Touch? Did you use 3D Touch extensively? Or you never got around to getting used to it? Drop a comment and let us know!
