Apple introduced 3D Touch with the launch of the iPhone 6s last year and highlighted it as one of its leading features. I remember being a bit underwhelmed with it when I first tested the iPhone 6s. It’s now been over six months and slowly, but surely, I’ve found myself using 3D Touch more often because more apps are adding this functionality. The recent launch of iOS 9.3 certainly helped where Apple added 3D Touch support to many of the built-in apps on the iPhone.
Although 3D Touch offers in-app functionality like Peek and Pop, I've only found myself using it on the home screen- i.e, 3D Touching an app icon (?) and using one of its quick actions. Here are five apps that I regularly use with 3D touch.
1) The Phone App
The phone app on the iPhone allows you to access your top favourite contacts using 3D Touch and it’s a quick and fast way of calling someone. I use this many times in a day.
2) Google Maps
Using 3D Touch, you can instantly get "Directions to Work" or "Directions to Home" which is a great way to get back after a meeting in some part of the city you've never been to. Certainly helps with the ever changing roads in Dubai.
3) LIFX
Yes, I’m guilty of having more than a few light bulbs in my house replaced by Wi-Fi enabled ones and the LIFX app allows me to turn all of them on or off using 3D Touch.
4) Instagram
Instagram recently introduced support for multiple accounts and 3D Touch makes it super quick to switch between work and personal accounts before posting a picture.
5) The Entertainer
With a recent update, The Entertainer required multiple taps to search for your favourite restaurants but support for 3D Touch allows me to quickly get to the food section or search for a restaurant.
So there you have it- five apps on my iPhone 6s that I use 3D Touch with. What I find interesting is that only one of them is by Apple which means your favourite third party developer might already support 3D Touch. Are there any apps that you use 3D Touch with? Let us know in the comments section below.
By Abbas Jaffar Ali
