Craig Federighi Says 3D Touch App Switcher Gesture Will Return in Future Update to iOS 11

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federighi hero20120727Apple software engineering chief Craig Federighi has revealed that a popular 3D Touch gesture for accessing the App Switcher will apparently return in a future update to iOS 11.

Federighi, replying to an email from MacRumors reader Adam Zahn, said Apple had to "temporarily drop support" for the gesture due to an unidentified "technical constraint."

Question from Zahn: Could we at least make the 3D Touch app switch gesture an option in iOS 11 so that I could retain the ability to switch apps that way instead of having to double tap the home button?

Response from Federighi: Hi Adam,

We regretfully had to temporarily drop support for this gesture due to a technical constraint. We will be bringing it back in an upcoming iOS 11.x update.

Thanks (and sorry for the inconvenience)!

- craig

On devices that support 3D Touch running iOS 9 or iOS 10, users can press deeply on the left side of the screen, drag to the right, and release to quickly access the App Switcher. The gesture stopped working in the iOS 11 beta, and an Apple engineer later confirmed it was "intentionally removed."


MacRumors has verified this email exchange passed through mail servers with an IP address range linked to Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California. Coupled with the fact Federighi has been replying to several customer emails since the iPhone X event last week, we're fairly confident in its accuracy.

Federighi replies have also revealed that Face ID will work with most sunglasses and that Apple has considered a Nightstand mode for iPhone X.

Tags: Craig Federighi, 3D Touch

Top Rated Comments

Geert76 Avatar
Geert76
47 months ago
Craig should be CEO of this company (not just because of this email)
Score: 81 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JM Avatar
JM
47 months ago
Craig for CEO
Score: 56 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
cmaier
47 months ago
As a general observation, Apple missed an opportunity in iOS 11 to make 3D touch more pervasive, more useful, and more discoverable (e.g. visual or other indications when it is available, etc.)
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Phogro Avatar
Phogro
47 months ago
Wow - we were loud enough
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lion007s Avatar
Lion007s
47 months ago
Hope you can toggle it off. Hated it. Wouldn’t work when I wanted it to and always activated when I’d be swiping to go back.
How hard were you swiping when going back? Because it actually requires pressure exerted just on the edge. This would mean when you initiate a swipe you'd actually be pausing on the edge and applying pressure before continuing the swipe motion. A fluid swipe without pressure would solve this issue for you.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
citysnaps Avatar
citysnaps
47 months ago
Craig should be CEO of this company (not just of this email)
Why? Be specific, outlining his credentials and suitability.

He's doing a really good job as SVP Software. But that is far different than being a CEO of a company the size of Apple..
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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