Haptic Touch goes missing on new iPhone SE notifications

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Haptic Touch notifications aren't working - sort of - on the new iPhone SE.
Photo: Brad Gibson / Cult of Mac

Since receiving their new 2020 iPhone SE mobile phones on Friday, customers have been reporting the inability to press on notifications in the Notification Center and to select various shortcuts and commands, better known as Haptic Touch. From all indications, it appears the specific inability is deliberate on the new device.

Various Twitter posts confirm the user details …

https://twitter.com/tylerc/status/1253833293356818432

It appears from various users contacted by Cult of Mac that while they were not able to press on notifications with the screen locked or while in the Notification Center, users were able to activate Haptic Touch when a notification was alerted and the iPhone was unlocked.

An Apple phone support representative confirmed to two users the developments, but said that from what they could tell, “there are no plans to update the iOS to support this feature.”

Haptic history

Apple introduced a pressure-sensitive technology in 2015 called 3D Touch. In 2018, the technology fell out of favor with users and was replaced with Haptic Touch on the iPhone XR and iPhone 11 models.

Haptic Touch technology is similar to 3D Touch but does not use pressure. Instead, it activates when a user presses on the screen, responding with a small vibration.

Haptic Touch now offers a lot of functionalities very similar to 3D Touch. Additionally, when users press on an app, widgets can appear together with shortcuts. Users can also rearrange apps and share them on Instagram.

Similar commands using Haptic Touch include tapping on the iPhone app to create a new contact or view a list of recent calls, tapping on the Weather app for a quick glance of conditions in a certain location, and opening all inboxes in the Mail app to create a new email, search mail, or see V.I.P. messages.

Haptic Touch sensitivity can be adjusted in Settings to react from fast to slow.

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