Apple drops support for Force Touch in watchOS 7

Apple is ending support for hard-pressing the screen to bring out hidden menu items. Apps should no longer use the feature, which is called Force Touch, which requires a layer in the touchscreen, according to Apple.

Developers should move options that use Force Touch elsewhere in the interface, Apple says. Force Touch is a feature that has been on the watch since watchOS 1 and the first Apple Watch. The feature works with a separate screen layer that can measure how much pressure a user exerts on the screen.

With that, it looks like Apple will omit the feature from the next Watch, 9to5Mac speculates. That is not inconceivable: 3D Touch, which works with the same screen layer, disappeared from iPhones in recent years. The 2018 iPhone XS was the last Apple smartphone to support it, but this year’s XR, iPhone 11 series, and SE don’t have it.

Apple doesn’t mention why the feature is disappearing. It didn’t mention the change in its keynote Monday night, with the manufacturer announcing watchOS 7. In the same keynote, Apple also presented iOS 14 and said it will eventually equip Mac computers with its own ARM socs.