Has Apple realized that 3D Touch may be a gimmicky feature after all?
Acclaimed analyst says Apple is dropping 3D Touch from one of its next iPhone models

Has Apple realized that 3D Touch may be a gimmicky feature after all?
Quick Actions are the menus accessible from the Home screen with a 3D Touch gesture on any app icon (iPhone 6s or newer). They not only contain shortcuts to vital app functions but they sometimes host widgets that summarize information from that particular app.
While some enjoy these widgets, the same can’t be said for everyone. Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t provide a way to hide these widgets from the Quick Action menus, so a new free jailbreak tweak called No3DTouchWidgets by iOS developer DGh0st was born.
Anyone with an iPhone 6s or later can access handy 3D Touch-based app features directly from their Home screen without launching the said app, but those with older devices haven’t been as lucky (until now).
A new free jailbreak tweak called Force3DAppShortcuts by iOS developer DGh0st lets you access the same Home screen-based Quick Action menus that you could typically only access on a 3D Touch-enabled device.
Pretty much everyone is familiar with the iOS app switcher, Apple's multitasking view on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch traditionally invoked by double-pressing the Home button.
Apple today released the public version of iOS 11.1 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch with more than 70 new emoji, the ability to use 3D Touch to invoke the iOS app switcher, multiple emoji suggestions for the QuickType keyboard and other changes and bug fixes.
Apple's 3D Touch technology uses an additional layer of 96 pressure sensors to detect when you press the display, simulating a click feel by vibrating the phone's built-in Taptic Engine.
A third beta of iOS 11.1 for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch was seeded yesterday to Apple's registered developers and public beta testers. Among the other bug fixes, we saw only minor yet important tweaks since the last beta which brought several changes.
Apple earlier today seeded a second beta of iOS 11.1 to its registered developers, along with new betas for tvOS 11.1, macOS High Sierra 10.13.1 and watchOS 4.1.
The popular 3D Touch app switcher gesture that was intentionally removed from the initial release of iOS 11 has been brought back in iOS 11.1 beta 2.
With iOS 11, Apple has inexplicably removed the popular app-switching gesture that was available on iPhones with 3D Touch. Fortunately, it's just temporary because Apple's reportedly confirmed bringing that tremendously useful feature back with a future iOS 11.x update.
On 3D Touch-enabled devices, you can access your App Switcher with a 3D Touch gesture on the left side of the display. Once you observe the screen beginning to shrink down, simply follow through with a rightward swipe.
With a new free jailbreak tweak ForceTouchSwitcher by iOS developer CydiaGeek, you can further customize your App Switcher-based 3D Touch gestures.
iOS 11 offers more customization for Control Center than ever, allowing you to make it your own by disabling toggles you rarely use. If puts frequently used controls all on one page, many of which can be expanded to reveal additional options when pressed with 3D Touch.
For instance, you can press the Home toggle lightly to bring up your HomeKit scenes, press the Now Playing toggle with 3D Touch to expand media controls, press the Apple TV Remote toggle to navigate your Apple TV or type some text into it, and much, much more.
So far, so great. But what if your device lacks 3D Touch?
Unlike prior iOS editions that didn't provide a fallback mechanism for 3D Touch interactions on non-3D Touch devices, iOS 11 allows you to use all of the features the redesigned Control Center has to offer without having to own a 3D Touch device.
Our resident video editor Andrew O'Hara details how iOS 11's Control Center works on devices that don't include 3D Touch features, like iPads and iPhone 6 and older models.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpSoo5_TqIQ
Subscribe to iDownloadBlog on YouTube.
Continue reading for step-by-step instructions on using Control Center without 3D Touch
How to use Control Center without 3D Touch1) Access Control Center by swiping up from the bottom of the screen
TIP: Enable Access Within Apps in Settings → Control Center to have your device respond to that gesture when you're using an app.
2) Tap and hold on the control to expand it.
In Andrew's example, he long-taps the Brightness toggle to access controls for turning Night Shift on or off. You can long-tap other Control Center items that are expandable. For example, long-tapping the Volume control enlarges the slider as if you pressed it with 3D Touch.
iPad lacks Taptic Engine so you won't feel haptic feedback when long-tapping.
That's it, boys and girls, now you know how to interact with Control Center on iOS 11 without actuating having to have a 3D Touch device. This tip should be especially useful for iPad owners as Apple's tablets lacks 3D Touch features.
TUTORIAL: How to force-quite iPad apps on iOS 11
Don't forget you can selectively enable or disable nearly two-dozen different toggles and change the order in which they appear in Control Center under Settings → Control Center → Customize Controls, including new system toggles and features like Screen Recording, Voice Memos, Low Power Mode, Apple TV Remote, Accessibility Shortcuts and more.
To lear more about iOS 11's Control Center, watch another walkthrough video below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGWjmt6UXJI
Aside from drag and drop, iOS 11 brings five different types of tap gestures, including a longer tap to move multiple apps on the Home screen, a special half-long tap to pull up an extra Dock menu and a long-tap in the notifications overlay to access additional options.
Need help? Ask iDB!If you like this how-to, pass it along to your support folks and leave a comment below.
Got stuck? Not sure how to do certain things on your Apple device? Let us know via help@iDownloadBlog.com and a future tutorial might provide a solution.
Submit your how-to suggestions via tips@iDownloadBlog.com.