Apple Says iPhone 3D Touch Multitasking Gesture Will Return In iOS 11

On iOS 10, the iPhone had two ways of bringing up the multitasking feature for quickly switching between apps: the commonly known double-tap of the home button, or a 3D Touch gesture that used a firm press on the left edge of the screen. With the newly released iOS 11, the latter option has been removed, leaving the home button double tap as the only way to activate the app switcher. Fortunately Apple has confirmed that the 3D Touch gesture will be making a return in a future update.

The removal of the screen press gesture for multitasking was first discovered in the iOS 11 beta period, with Apple confirming that it was an intentional decision. It was assumed this was because the gesture wasn't very well-known or used very often, but it turns out more than a few iPhone users were upset about the change.

One MacRumors reader emailed Apple to express this frustration, and ended up getting a reply from Craig Federighi, the executive that heads up iOS development. Federighi wrote that the shortcut was removed "due to a technical constraint," but it was meant to be a temporary change. He went on to promise "we will be bringing it back in an upcoming iOS 11.x update."

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It's not clear what the "technical constraint" was exactly, and there's no timeframe for the feature's return, however Apple is usually quick to release several updates in the first few months after the launch of a new iOS version.

Of course, future iPhone X buyers won't need to worry about this, as that device has its own unique gesture for bringing up the app switcher: swiping up from the bottom edge of the screen and then briefly pausing in the middle.

SOURCE MacRumors