Inside iOS 10: 3D Touch allows renaming folders, clearing all notifications, sharing apps

Posted:
in iPhone edited September 2016
Apple's pressure sensitive 3D Touch technology expands in small but meaningful ways with iOS 10, including the ability to quickly rename app folders, or clear all alerts from Notification Center.



In the public version iOS 10, 3D Touch can now be used with all third-party app icons, even if the application does not offer 3D Touch support. By default, iOS 10 displays a new "Share" link when an app icon is given a firm press, allowing users to bring up a share sheet and send a link to that option on the App Store.

Apple's own apps have been expanded with home screen widgets that can be displayed via 3D Touch, and third-party apps like Dark Sky are already taking advantage of Apple's APIs to display in-app data on the home screen.

In another new addition for 3D Touch, pressing on a folder pops up a "Rename" shortcut. Selecting it automatically opens the folder, with all of the apps in "jiggle" mode for management, with the name of the folder highlighted and software keyboard displayed for quickly renaming.

Finally, 3D Touch also adds the ability to quickly clear all notifications in iOS 10. Simply swipe down from the top of the screen to show Notification Center, then firmly press the 'X' button in the upper right to present a new "Clear All Notifications" option.

Selecting this works as expected: All notifications, for all days, are wiped from Notification Center. Previously, in iOS 9, users had to clear notifications on an app-by-app or day-by-day basis.

3D Touch can also be used to access advanced settings via the iOS 10 Control Center. They include varying levels of flashlight brightness, quick timer lengths, and advanced HomeKit accessory controls.

New rich notifications on the iOS 10 lock screen are also 3D Touch compatible, giving users the ability to quickly open and address items, such as text messages, without the need to unlock an iPhone.

Editor's note: This article was originally published in June following Apple's announcement of iOS 10 at WWDC 2016. It has been updated and republished to coincide with the mobile operating system's public release. For more on iOS 10, see AppleInsider's ongoing Inside iOS 10 series.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 11
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Hopefully this leads to better file handling in iOS.
  • Reply 2 of 11
    doozydozendoozydozen Posts: 539member
    Hopefully this leads to better file handling in iOS.
    Hopefully what leads to better file handling, 3D Touch? How would that work?
  • Reply 3 of 11
    sockrolidsockrolid Posts: 2,789member
    Hopefully 3D Touch will be added to iPad some time soon. Will require next-gen models, of course.
  • Reply 4 of 11
    Hopefully this leads to better file handling in iOS.
    Hopefully what leads to better file handling, 3D Touch? How would that work?
    They probably saw the mention of folder renaming in the headline and didn't look any further to realize it's talking about home screen icon folders and not file folders.
    edited June 2016 doozydozenfastasleep
  • Reply 5 of 11
    EsquireCatsEsquireCats Posts: 1,268member
    Essentially this is the "right-click", so contextual menus will become more meaningful as 3d touch devices become the norm on the platform - currently it's just restricted to time saving shortcuts and other unimportant functionality.
    fastasleepjony0
  • Reply 6 of 11
    kevin keekevin kee Posts: 1,289member
    I still hope Apple would expand the function of 3D touch as it is capable of doing much more than what a force touch can do. Yes, 3D touch reacts quicker than force touch which is why it's noticeably pleasing to use it (compare to force touch) - however the function still remains the same which is essentially a "right click" menu. Dynamic actions will be cool such as 3d touch as user interface. For example: setting timer from clock app by just using different pressures to select the amount of time, changing bulb brightness/sound speaker volume/thermostat temperature by applying different degree of pressures, changing line thickness in drawing, etc. These are just some ideas, but essentially shows what 3D touch is capable of. Not just a simple force touch.
    doozydozen
  • Reply 7 of 11
    dacloodacloo Posts: 890member
    kevin kee said:
    I still hope Apple would expand the function of 3D touch as it is capable of doing much more than what a force touch can do. Yes, 3D touch reacts quicker than force touch which is why it's noticeably pleasing to use it (compare to force touch) - however the function still remains the same which is essentially a "right click" menu. Dynamic actions will be cool such as 3d touch as user interface. For example: setting timer from clock app by just using different pressures to select the amount of time, changing bulb brightness/sound speaker volume/thermostat temperature by applying different degree of pressures, changing line thickness in drawing, etc. These are just some ideas, but essentially shows what 3D touch is capable of. Not just a simple force touch.
    Nice ideas but I think some elements require too much skill from the user. E.g pressure to set the amount of time. This can be done with a slider, which is more intuitive.

    the problem I have with 3D Touch is that 80% of its use currently can be done with a long-press.
    Even home screen icons could trigger the 'right click menu' with a long press. It's just that the 'wobble mode' to move icons needs to be triggered differently because they would interfere.
  • Reply 8 of 11
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Hopefully what leads to better file handling, 3D Touch? How would that work?
    They probably saw the mention of folder renaming in the headline and didn't look any further to realize it's talking about home screen icon folders and not file folders.
    No, "they" read the article and the comment stands. iOS continues to evolve bit by bit into a richer form of computing and that will hopefully include more traditional file handling at some point. 3D Touch renaming of top-level files is just one more tiny step on that path.
  • Reply 9 of 11
    Hopefully this leads to better file handling in iOS.
    Hopefully what leads to better file handling, 3D Touch? How would that work?

    It's ironic. A big difference with Mac vs Windows has always been that Macs do no need contextual menus whereas it's impossible to avoid them in Windows. Now we have iOS where a big usability improvement is contextual menus or modes putting them a leg up on the competition in terms of elegance and ease-of-use.
  • Reply 10 of 11
    1. Got a launch day iPhone 7. I like it. But iOS has now reached the level of capability/ complexity OSX achieved years ago: it can do far more than I am able to (or wish to) use. I think both systems now need control functions to turn features on/off. I remember doing is back in the good old days of OS9: more extenstions meant less performance, and more confusing interfaces.

    2. I note with interest that watchOS3 seems to negatively effect my watch battery life when paired with the iPhone 7. Since I purchased the watch, I always put it on the charger at the end of the day with 30-45% life remaining. Since pairing with the iPhone7, I've hit low battery warnings both Sat and Sun about 6pm. Don't think I've been using the watch more. Hum.

     
  • Reply 11 of 11
    Anyone else besides me still waiting for the ability to duplicate an event using 3D touch? I've been emailing Apple about this need (using older tech like a long touch or 2 finger touch) since the iPhone 4.
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