4 ms·

Force touch is like adding right click to mobile, but if you mention that then there is no story.

chimeracoder 11y ago
> Force touch is like adding right click to mobile, That's a really amusing way to phrase it, given Apple's long history with the single-button mouse.
- happyscrappy 11y ago
  Actually calling it right click is severely under selling it, it has huge advantages for gaming etc. there will be apps that will not be able to be ported to android, at least not usably.
  - minthd 11y ago
    Android supports pressure sensitive touch at the API level since 2009, and There's a phone from 2015 that supports this from huawei. But they didn't create useful interactions with it.
    - happyscrappy 11y ago
      Does it work well? If it does why didn't they incorporate it? You can have double the specs and still be a laggy nightmare.
    - meatysnapper 11y ago
      Yeah and there's bluetooth support too. Wait no, bluetooth on Android is a horrible quivering mess that nobody in there right mind touches.
- baldfat 11y ago
  I HATE APPLE but force touch, Apple Pencil and iPad Pro made me think that Apple is finally away from the thumb of Jobs and is making things that are actually useful for some people and getting made. It use to seem like they made everything for the 90% and could care less for the last 10%.
  - aganders3 11y ago
    > It use to seem like they made everything for the 90% and could care less for the last 10%. This is an interesting take when looking historically at Apple's marketshare.
    - baldfat 11y ago
      Well if you look they did this with getting 90% of their target audience. They did it with how they made things for their audience. If it didn't fit the 90% of our users will use this they didn't make it. This is regardless to market share.
  - heartbreak 11y ago
    Is that disclaimer really necessary?
    - baldfat 11y ago
      Yes it is. People still don't see this. Look at the verges apologetics on Steve Jobs and the stylus. http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/9/9298117/apple-pencil-stylus-ipad-pro-steve-jobs http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/9/9298117/apple-pencil-stylus... The main point was this was about iPhone in 2007 and not an iPad. So apple and oranges. My counter point: Microsoft's first tablet had a stylus and was mocked it was 12 years and a good screen away. Surface had the pencil beat three years ago. https://twitter.com/APZonerunner/status/641665840803352576/photo/1?ref_sr https://twitter.com/APZonerunner/status/641665840803352576/p...
ChrisClark 11y ago
And Android got rid of the press-and-hold for 'right click' long ago. Because hidden menus and settings aren't easily discoverable.
- GrinningFool 11y ago
  Actually it's still fairly common in 5.current, and it's used in settings, on notification bar, etc.
  - raisedbyninjas 11y ago
    Also in the launcher, the keyboard, cut/copy/paste, maps, etc.
eknkc 11y ago
One difference I see is that there are millions of hardware with no force touch, already in market. And they will still be around for years to come. Developers will not hide stuff behind force touch, but just use it as a convenient method to access common tasks, preview stuff etc. I think this convention will stick around. It will just improve user experience for those who use it and will not make a difference for those who dont. Kind of like pro user features.
vidyesh 11y ago
And I am not convinced this needed a special hardware functionality. Why can't a already existing gesture of 'long tap' do all those functions?
- eknkc 11y ago
  Because it takes time to perform a long tap. Makes it slow to perform common tasks. You can force touch immediately, like a swipe.
  - happyscrappy 11y ago
    It also has a gradient, which will be too compelling to not use in gaming and drawing apps, despite the fact that it will not run on older devices.
gress 11y ago
Except it's nothing like right click at all other than that it brings up a menu on homescreen icons. In case you need proof - consider the multitasking gesture of pressing a little harder at the edge of the display and pulling to the side to reveal the precious app on the stack. This is a totally naturalistic direct manipulation gesture - the additional force gives the feeling of traction needed to break the friction holding the current app in place. A masterpiece of interaction design. Also, think about the peek and pop metaphor. Obviously no right click has ever afforded this, so that rebuts the claim, but also consider that peeking is a transient state that naturally and smoothly transitions into popping based on a natural and obvious muscular affordance. How you are comparing this with clicking a mouse button is beyond me.

> Force touch is like adding right click to mobile, That's a really amusing way to phrase it, given Apple's long history with the single-button mouse.

happyscrappy 11y ago
Actually calling it right click is severely under selling it, it has huge advantages for gaming etc. there will be apps that will not be able to be ported to android, at least not usably.
- minthd 11y ago
  Android supports pressure sensitive touch at the API level since 2009, and There's a phone from 2015 that supports this from huawei. But they didn't create useful interactions with it.
  - happyscrappy 11y ago
    Does it work well? If it does why didn't they incorporate it? You can have double the specs and still be a laggy nightmare.
  - meatysnapper 11y ago
    Yeah and there's bluetooth support too. Wait no, bluetooth on Android is a horrible quivering mess that nobody in there right mind touches.
baldfat 11y ago
I HATE APPLE but force touch, Apple Pencil and iPad Pro made me think that Apple is finally away from the thumb of Jobs and is making things that are actually useful for some people and getting made. It use to seem like they made everything for the 90% and could care less for the last 10%.
- aganders3 11y ago
  > It use to seem like they made everything for the 90% and could care less for the last 10%. This is an interesting take when looking historically at Apple's marketshare.
  - baldfat 11y ago
    Well if you look they did this with getting 90% of their target audience. They did it with how they made things for their audience. If it didn't fit the 90% of our users will use this they didn't make it. This is regardless to market share.
- heartbreak 11y ago
  Is that disclaimer really necessary?
  - baldfat 11y ago
    Yes it is. People still don't see this. Look at the verges apologetics on Steve Jobs and the stylus. http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/9/9298117/apple-pencil-stylus-ipad-pro-steve-jobs http://www.theverge.com/2015/9/9/9298117/apple-pencil-stylus... The main point was this was about iPhone in 2007 and not an iPad. So apple and oranges. My counter point: Microsoft's first tablet had a stylus and was mocked it was 12 years and a good screen away. Surface had the pencil beat three years ago. https://twitter.com/APZonerunner/status/641665840803352576/photo/1?ref_sr https://twitter.com/APZonerunner/status/641665840803352576/p...

ChrisClark 11y ago

And Android got rid of the press-and-hold for 'right click' long ago. Because hidden menus and settings aren't easily discoverable.

GrinningFool 11y ago
Actually it's still fairly common in 5.current, and it's used in settings, on notification bar, etc.
- raisedbyninjas 11y ago
  Also in the launcher, the keyboard, cut/copy/paste, maps, etc.

eknkc 11y ago

One difference I see is that there are millions of hardware with no force touch, already in market. And they will still be around for years to come. Developers will not hide stuff behind force touch, but just use it as a convenient method to access common tasks, preview stuff etc. I think this convention will stick around. It will just improve user experience for those who use it and will not make a difference for those who dont. Kind of like pro user features.

vidyesh 11y ago

And I am not convinced this needed a special hardware functionality. Why can't a already existing gesture of 'long tap' do all those functions?

eknkc 11y ago
Because it takes time to perform a long tap. Makes it slow to perform common tasks. You can force touch immediately, like a swipe.
- happyscrappy 11y ago
  It also has a gradient, which will be too compelling to not use in gaming and drawing apps, despite the fact that it will not run on older devices.

gress 11y ago

Except it's nothing like right click at all other than that it brings up a menu on homescreen icons. In case you need proof - consider the multitasking gesture of pressing a little harder at the edge of the display and pulling to the side to reveal the precious app on the stack. This is a totally naturalistic direct manipulation gesture - the additional force gives the feeling of traction needed to break the friction holding the current app in place. A masterpiece of interaction design. Also, think about the peek and pop metaphor. Obviously no right click has ever afforded this, so that rebuts the claim, but also consider that peeking is a transient state that naturally and smoothly transitions into popping based on a natural and obvious muscular affordance. How you are comparing this with clicking a mouse button is beyond me.