Documentation Android Q contains references to its own variant 3D Touch

References to a variant of the touch called deep press have been found in documentation for the second beta of Android Q. Possibly this is Google’s own implementation of what is called 3D Touch at Apple.

According to Android Q’s documentation, a deep press is intended to elicit the same result as a long press does, but faster. There is no mention of special hardware to measure the pressure of a touch, which suggests that Android tries to do this in the software.

The function previously appeared in an easter egg on the Pixel phones, in Android P. If you tapped the version number a number of times in the settings and then the logo that appeared a number of times, you ended up in an MS Paint-like application. What is special about this app is that it tries to estimate how hard users place their finger on the screen, in order to allow a variation in the width of the brush strip.

Apple came up with this feature in the form of Force Touch. The first appearance of this was with the first Apple Watch. Later, another pressure level was added, bringing the total to three, and the function was renamed 3D Touch. That can be found on the iPhones and adds all kinds of extra usefulness to existing apps and functions.

The fact that Google is building compatibility for varying levels of touch pressure into its operating system means we may see smartphone makers follow suit on the hardware side with displays that can measure pressure in the future.

The easter egg in Android P that seemingly has the same function