If you want to learn in plain English what are haptics on iPhone, you are in the right place.
With the spread of wearable technology and consumer tech, computer scientists are working hard to drop out different accessibility features, virtual objects, and physical sensations to enhance the user experience.
In this practical guide, I’m going to show you what are haptics, how you can enable or disable this feature on your iPhone, and I share some tips that employ haptic technology to enhance your user experience and productivity.
Let’s get started.
What are haptics on iPhone? (In simple terms.)
Haptics, or rather haptic feedback is when your iPhone employs different tactile sensations or tactile responses when you perform a certain action on your device. It can vary in duration and intensity depending on your settings and the task you’re performing.
To tell you the truth, before writing this article, I didn’t know much about iPhone haptics and tactile feedback other than typing out a text message or previewing photos. In this guide, however, we are going to dive deeper into haptics to find out what it is good for and how to employ this feature to increase your productivity on your iPhone.
Haptics overview
| Examples | Typing, previewing content, rearranging apps, alerts & notifications |
| Haptic feedback types | Keyboard haptics, system haptics, sound haptics, custom app haptics |
| Supporting iOS versions | iOS 9 and later |
| Pros | – Increases your iPhone experience and user interactions – Enhances video games on your mobile device – Helps the Disabled – Increases productivity by allowing nuanced functions |
| Cons | – Drains battery life of your iPhone – Sometimes distracting or redundant |
Haptic technology for the rest of us
There is a small compartment in your iPhone called the Taptic Engine that generates vibration. This small motor can generate very precise and varied tactile feedback and sense of touch. The vibration happens through the application of electromagnetic forces.
To produce the desired vibration pattern, the Taptic Engine works closely with your iPhone’s software. The software controls the haptic patterns. App developers can make use of the iOS haptic framework to develop specific haptic features in their apps. They can manipulate the intensity, timing, and duration of vibrations thus making a customized and unique customer experience.
What is it good for? Absolutely nothing? 🙂
Haptics have many valid use cases and benefits for iPhone users with or without visual impairments.
The most common use cases are dragging and deleting apps on your home screen, previewing photos, and typing out text messages. However, there are many more specific functions.
- Keyboard haptics: You can turn on the haptic keyboard functionality on your iPhone (see below) to get physical responses when typing. This way, your iPhone keyboard feels more physical.
- Home button tactile feedback: If you have an older iPhone with a physical button, you can enable haptics on your home button to get a sense of a physical touch.
- Notifications: You can customize the vibration patterns for incoming calls, text messages, reminders, emails, social media alerts, and more.
- System haptics: Once enabled (see below), you can play haptics for system controls and interactions.
- Enhancing third-party apps: Gaming apps are great candidates for haptics because they often apply haptic technology and tactile feedback to enhance the gaming experience and virtual reality. However, there are many more use cases.
How to enable, disable, and fine-tune haptics on your iPhone?
Please note that the steps I provided below may vary across different iOS versions and iPhone generations. For example, 3D Touch may not be relevant for newer iPhone models.
General settings
- Navigate to Settings and find Sounds & Haptics.
- Tap Keyboard Feedback and toggle on Haptic to enable haptics on your iPhone keyboard.
- Toggle System Haptics to enable haptics for system controls and interactions.
- Navigate to Settings and find Accessibility.
- Tap Touch.
- Toggle 3D & Haptic Touch to access 3D touch sensitivity and touch duration.
Adjusting haptic strength
- Go to Settings and find Sounds & Haptics.
- Scroll down to Ringtone and Alert volume.
- Grab the slider to adjust the volume and strength of haptic feedback.
Playing with Haptic Touch
When you long press your home screen, you activate Haptic Touch and then your phone gives haptic feedback to your action. The most common scenario is long-pressing your screen to rearrange your apps or preview a photo in your library.
Haptic Touch doesn’t equal to 3D Touch. While Haptic Touch is activated through long-press, 3D Touch gives you precise feedback based on the pressure level you applied on the screen.
To access Haptic Touch and 3D Touch:
- Open Settings and find Accessibility.
- Scroll down and hit Touch.
- Find 3D & Haptic Touch.
- Toggle 3D Touch and adjust sensitivity on a scale.
Customizing Haptics for Individual Apps
Some apps allow you to customize haptics right in the app. Check the settings of your favorite app to find out whether there is a way to use custom haptic vibration.
Pro Tip
Enable Back Tap to perform actions quickly by double tapping on the back of your cell phone. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Touch > Back tap and toggle either Double Tap or Triple Tap. You can learn more about this method here.
What are haptics on iPhone: FAQ
1. What’s the differences between haptics and vibration?
While haptics are different vibrations, they are more nuanced and capable than simple vibrations. The vibration pattern generated by the Taptic Engine can vary in timing, duration, and intensity providing customizable tactile feedback (haptic response) for mobile phones even in silent mode. Haptics can provide app and system-specific actions and thus are favored by app developers.
2. How do I turn haptic feedback on or off on my iPhone?
Open Settings > Sounds & Haptics > toggle System Haptics.
3. How do I disable haptics in silent mode?
Go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Ring / Silent Mode Switch to toggle haptics in silent mode.
4. How do I disable vibration while typing on my iPhone keyboard?
Go to Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Keyboard Feedback and untoggle Haptic.
5. What is 3D Touch?
3D Touch uses pressure strength to reveal content previews, actions, and contextual menus. Accessing 3D Touch: Settings > Accessibility > Touch > 3D & Haptic Touch. (It works on older iPhone models.)
6. How do I customize sound & haptic patterns for different notifications?
Navigate to Settings > Sounds & Haptics > Sounds and Haptic Patterns to access individual settings and then tap Vibration to customize the vibration or create a new vibration pattern from scratch.
Cover photo by David Grandmougin on Unsplash
