I have the iPhone 6+ and has been trying to do the 2 finger tap on the keyboard but the trackpad is not coming up? Is it just me?
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iPhone Where's the Trackpad feature on iOS 9?
- Thread starter edtorious
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I've been watching youtube videos of people showing this trackpad feature on their iPhones. Was it on beta only I guess?
Ridiculous that this is iPad only. iPhone can't detect when two fingers are touching the screen in a specific location? Ludicrous.
i was super looking forwards to this feature because trying to place the cursor has always been a little clunky. given that it *did* work in one beta, do they really have any excuse other than "we're artificially holding back features to entice people to upgrade"
I suppose one could argue that the trackpad area was too small for two fingers on SOME iPhones. This doesn't fly for the 6+, but then again my feeling is that Apple is underutilizing the larger screen of the 6+ in general. (like why on earth haven't they included a multicolumn landscape view for podcasts, music, or the new News app?)
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You make a good point. I didn't get to try the feature out as I didn't install the beta on my 6, just my 4s, where I can definitely see the screen size as a logical restriction. I'd be curious to hear from beta testers if there was any issues with the phone screen size, but I assume there wouldn't since it is still a feature of the 6s/+
Also sometimes they blatantly reveal things as up sells, like messages contact photos, which was limited to 6+ at launch, yet somehow they found a way to add it to the 6/6s in ios9. #innovation. There's a bunch of things they could have done to differentiate the +, like you mentioned, but instead they chose to limit things that really didn't need to be.
Apple removed it form some beta because maybe ios9 had soooo many unapologetically new features that they decided to remove some.
/s
/s
It's a rather silly feature to be honest. A trackpad function on a device which only input is touch and that has select & scroll since cut, copy and paste got introduced. Now, I can imagine that on a huge screen where you are typing and trying to correct typos it is easier to use the same area for both typing and scrolling. Maybe that's the reason why this feature is in iOS9. In that regard it also makes more sense for the iPad to have it instead of the iPhone.
i'm not sure if you're familiar with what the feature actually does. its not a general use trackpad, but a way to move the cursor during text input that doesn't involve trying to place a tiny line as it is being covered by your finger. i know there's a loupe to assist, but i've encountered PLENTY of situations where it was still very difficult to get the cursor in the right spot. and the existing method still exists, this just would have been an additional option. I did test it on my iPad 3, and in my opinion it did feel easier to control.
also, they are including it on iPhones - the new ones, with the excuse that its a 3d touch feature even though the iPads don't require force touch to use it, nor did iPhones when it popped up by accident in a beta.
Very frustrating that Apple preaches at WWDC for devs to be layout neutral and support both portrait and landscape yet they still can't be bothered to fully support landscape for their own 6 Plus apps.
I do this with Nintype on my 5S. I really hope it gets an update for iOS 9. Some of the writing apps have a similar toolbar you can setup to do the same thing with the default keyboard.
The fact that it uses a two finger gesture is what makes it complicated on the smaller phones. On the bigger ones, the phone didn't have enough weight and already had bending issues. They didn't want to introduce a feature where people will most likely apply extra force on the bottom half of their device.
The iPads are much bigger and sturdier.
And the new screens are probably stronger, hence the added weight.
The fact that it uses a two finger gesture is what makes it complicated on the smaller phones. On the bigger ones, the phone didn't have enough weight and already had bending issues. They didn't want to introduce a feature where people will most likely apply extra force on the bottom half of their device.
The iPads are much bigger and sturdier.
And the new screens are probably stronger, hence the added weight.
Never said it was a general use trackpad, I only said that it is a silly feature because it provides the exact same functionality we've had since they introduced cut, copy and paste. The only difference is that you can now do it straight from the keyboard and thus keep your hands at the same position. The bigger the device the more useful this becomes because the bigger the device, the further you have to travel. That's why this is somewhat useful on the iPad when you do (a lot of) typing and why it is almost necessary on the really large iPad Pro. On smaller devices like the iPhone it is of no use due to the already existing feature and the small screen size.
We've had it on ordinary iPhones during the first betas so this is purely a marketing feature. It is too silly to have on the iPhone. Especially considering they've added a feature to allow you to use the iPhone one handed (double tap the home button aka Reachability). I guess they simply needed one more feature to make the 6s and 6s+ more interesting.
Funny you mention that as in general the larger an object becomes the less sturdier and the less stable it becomes. With the Air 2 we've seen similar complaints as with the iPhone 6 and 6+ when it comes to bending. My Air 2 bends more in the middle than my iPhone 6 does.
So did you just choose to ignore the part where I said I tried it and it was easier to place the cursor? Your opinion that it's silly is just your opinion, and several of us here would have found it genuinely useful. Anyway. Internet debates.
Edit:
Also, my point about it not being a general trackpad was in response to your implication that a touch screen device doesn't need a trackpad function since you can already directly manipulate content (am I interpreting your point correctly?). I'm just saying this would be another tool, like the loupe, to assist in manipulating content.
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You made it hostile as you are (still) not reading what it says. What part of the following do you not understand?:
We are not disagreeing, you are not reading. For example, you didn't even notice that the topic title uses the word "trackpad". It is only normal that people are referring to that.
So could you drop the hostility, start reading the posts and actually trying to understand what people are saying? That would help a lot keeping the topic on track.
We are not disagreeing, you are not reading. For example, you didn't even notice that the topic title uses the word "trackpad". It is only normal that people are referring to that.
So could you drop the hostility, start reading the posts and actually trying to understand what people are saying? That would help a lot keeping the topic on track.
I get that you understand what the feature does (I'm sorry if this all spans from me suggesting you didn't). I'm legit not looking to insult or argue here.
I get that you see it's utility as a way to manipulate text without having to reach across a larger screen on the iPad. I get your argument that the iPhone screen is small enough / has reachability, that it shouldn't be necessary as you can easily tap on the text directly.
My only point is that it's not the ease of reaching text that makes the feature useful to me. It's that it avoids having to cover the text with your finger, which in my experience trying it out, makes it easier to navigate.