3D touch on keyboard to control cursor - works inconsistently

[j-a-x]

I LOVE the idea of using 3D touch on the keyboard to move the cursor around. The only problem is, it only works for me 10% of the time some days, and 75% of the time other days, but it never always works, and when it doesn't work it usually triggers incorrect characters which is counter productive because I need to delete them.

Is there any foolproof way to make this work? Is the problem that I am touching too hard or too soft or with too much or too little of my finger? Any tips would be appreciated.

 

[Newtons Apple]

Other have reported the same and it works most the time for me but there are times it does not.

 

[SR71]

Wait for the cursor to start blinking. Then you'll know you can move the cursor by 3D touching the keyboard.

 

[j-a-x]

Wait for the cursor to start blinking. Then you'll know you can move the cursor by 3D touching the keyboard.

I think that actually works. As long as the cursor is blinking it seems to catch the force touch. I guess sometimes in going pretty fast. I still don't see why you should have to wait s second to trigger the cursor mode.

 

[CPx]

It bugs me too. I'll try to wait for the blink, thanks for the tip.

 

[nordique]

I think that actually works. As long as the cursor is blinking it seems to catch the force touch. I guess sometimes in going pretty fast. I still don't see why you should have to wait s second to trigger the cursor mode.

yeah it is weird.

it was not like this with iOS 9.0, when it used to work perfectly fine whenever you would use 3D touch at any time, but after I think it was 9.1(?) they changed it so you had to wait

there must have been some reason why they did it. I wonder if it has anything to do with people trying to access special characters (when you hold down on the letters) and then they entered 3d touch scrolling by accident

 

[Andres Cantu]

Inconsistent is the perfect way to describe it. And it's too bad, since it's one of the few useful 3D-Touch features that Apple released for the 6s.

 

[chestvrg]

Does anyone know if the 3D Touch function can be made to work on third party keyboard. I would love to see this function on swiftkey for example. Swiftkey is a famous third party keyboard that already exist on android.

 

[Applefan4]

Lightly tap any letter on your key board and continue pressing it for 3D Touch effect. It works every time.

 

[yegon]

Inconsistent is the perfect way to describe it. And it's too bad, since it's one of the few useful 3D-Touch features that Apple released for the 6s.

Yeah, exactly. I find it only reliably activates when the cursor is in an open space i.e. in a line break or something. Which renders it pretty useless as that's rarely where the cursor is when I want to activate it.

 

[j-a-x]

Yeah, exactly. I find it only reliably activates when the cursor is in an open space i.e. in a line break or something. Which renders it pretty useless as that's rarely where the cursor is when I want to activate it.

If you wait for it to blink it always seems to work. At least so far it does for me. The bad part is you have to wait a second between typing and moving the cursor which wastes time and I sometimes forget to do it.

 

[Max(IT)]

I didn't even know about that function

 

[yegon]

I'll try and wait for the blink.

 

[Vexxx]

I didn't even know about that function

Very handy and not only to move cursor. If you 3D touch again and slide, it will start to select text.

 

[j-a-x]

Very handy and not only to move cursor. If you 3D touch again and slide, it will start to select text.

The way I think about is a light 3D Touch moves the cursor and a harder touch selects. You can swatch between the two.

 

[Vexxx]

The way I think about is a light 3D Touch moves the cursor and a harder touch selects. You can swatch between the two.

You do not have to keep 3d touching while you slide. It is enough to just have contact to screen while sliding. So "move" 3d touch is no different from "select" 3d touch.

 

[Ovedius]

I've been experiencing inconsistent behaviour as well.
Most annoying!
But waiting for it to start blinking seems to do the trick, thanks for the tip!

I do however also find it a little hard to land the cursor where I want.
It seems to always jump a step to the left or right when I lift my finger.
...most annoying!

 

[petecee]

I've also experienced this problem. However, after changing the 3D Touch sensitivity to light, keyboard swiping is now a LOT more consistent.

 

[Hooshka]

Does anyone know if the 3D Touch function can be made to work on third party keyboard. I would love to see this function on swiftkey for example. Swiftkey is a famous third party keyboard that already exist on android.

I was curious about the same thing.

 

[Max(IT)]

Very handy and not only to move cursor. If you 3D touch again and slide, it will start to select text.

Yep, just tried.
Similar to the two-fingers gesture on the iPad mini 4.

 

[chestvrg]

I was curious about the same thing.

Yes and today I read swiftkey was bought off by Microsoft. If only Apple had bought them instead and eventually integrated swiftkey with all the customization they have and added an extra number row, this would indeed have been the ultimate iPhone keyboard.

 

[macfacts]

Inconsistent is the perfect way to describe it. And it's too bad, since it's one of the few useful 3D-Touch features that Apple released for the 6s.

To me it doesn't seem like a good use of 3d touch. To me it looks like a solution looking for a problem.

The feature people seem to want is the ability to move the text cursor by swiping their finger on the keyboard. You don't need 3d touch for that.

My 3 year old Android phone (note 3) can do this without 3d touch. The Samsung keyboard has an option to toggle between swiping on the keyboard to move the cursor or chain together letters to input words.

Apple just copied that feature but added 3d touch as a requirement.

 

[I7guy]

To me it doesn't seem like a good use of 3d touch. To me it looks like a solution looking for a problem.

The feature people seem to want is the ability to move the text cursor by swiping their finger on the keyboard. You don't need 3d touch for that.

My 3 year old Android phone (note 3) can do this without 3d touch. The Samsung keyboard has an option to toggle between swiping on the keyboard to move the cursor or chain together letters to input words.

Apple just copied that feature but added 3d touch as a requirement.

But the 3D Touch solution is very fast without changing anything on the keyboard; nearly instant and without moving your fingers. It's clearly a bit of a learned gesture as everything in life seems to be.

 

[Blujelly]

Wait for the cursor to start blinking. Then you'll know you can move the cursor by 3D touching the keyboard.

It bugs me too. I'll try to wait for the blink, thanks for the tip.

I two had the same problem, but I will give this a go and see how it works out!

 

[redman042]

If you learn the right technique, touchpad mode works consistently 100% of the time. Problem is, Apple doesn't teach the finer points of using it. I had do do some looking around for tips to figure it out. Do it this way:

• Bring up the keyboard and let the cursor start blinking
• Place your thumb lightly on the keyboard, hold it there, then do the equivalent of a "mouse click" by briefly applying more pressure then releasing (without lifting your thumb off the display). That activates touchpad mode.
• With only a light touch, slide your thumb around to move the cursor.
• To enter selection mode, do the "mouse click" again, then lightly slide to select text. Or you can do repeated "mouse clicks" to toggle select word, select paragraph, selection mode off.

This approach works for me perfectly all the time.