Tech giant Apple recently released its latest iteration of the iPhone, its wildly popular smartphone brand. As expected, the company tweaked many parts of the phone's design, from its headphone jack to the interior processing units to the camera, and, as I will focus on in this journal entry, its home button.
Apple's 3d touch being used on the iPhone 6s.
Apple has used a technology that they call "3d touch" in the past on the touchscreen part of the phone. What this allows the user to do is push harder on the screen to unlock additional outputs than just selecting whatever may be on the screen at that time. Different amounts of pressure can trigger previews of an output, menu shortcuts, and quicker actions than usual. On the iPhone 7, however, Apple is applying this technology to its home "button." While this has previously been a physical button that can be engaged for a number of purposes, the newest edition is a button only in name. Instead of operating mechanically, the new button receives a user's pressure on the button not with a tangible movement, but with an internal response. A major benefit of this advancement appears to be increased durability as well as compatibility with Apple's desire to make the iPhone water resistant.
The iPhone 7 shown from the bottom.
Perhaps most interesting is that "Third-party companies will also be able to program their own feedback through a taptic engine API" (The Verge). This means that the myriad apps downloaded on iPhones will be incorporating another input option. From a programming standpoint, this gives app developers and Apple's own engineers many exciting new directions to explore by just increasing the variety of inputs. Overall, replacing a mechanical button with a 3d touch button demonstrates how Apple's development teams are overcoming obstacles introduced by oft-failed physically triggered home buttons. As they have with all of their product lines in the past, the tech giant is attempting to quell an issue while progressing their technology towards the future.
Sources:
http://appleapple.top/iphone-7-touchscreen-button-force-touch-id-will-accurately-simulate-the-usual-clicks/
http://www.slashgear.com/iphone-7-home-button-how-does-it-work-07455109/
http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/09/10/force-touch-gets-redefined-in-the-iphone-6s-with-3d-touch
http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/9/7/12828652/apple-iphone-7-home-button-removed-force-touch
http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-3d-touch-for-iphone-2015-9
Speaking as someone who has had trouble with the buttons on his iPhone before, I really do hope that this change solves some of their durability issues. You make a really interesting point about how apps will be able to use this new data in a variety of new ways. I was thinking gaming apps in particular will be able to go down a whole new path with pressure-sensitive games. I can't wait to see how all of this goes!
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