3D Touch in iOS 10: Respond to Notifications, Share Apps, Adjust Control Center Settings and More

In iOS 10, Apple has focused heavily on making 3D Touch more useful and relevant, so if you have an iPhone 6s or 6s Plus, there are a whole slew of new gestures you can use on the Lock screen, the Home screen, and in certain apps.

Given the expansive new 3D Touch options in iOS 10, we've created a video that shows you everything you can do with one of Apple's newest iPhones. With Apple introducing so many new 3D Touch capabilities, we can expect 3D Touch to be a feature that will show up in all of Apple's future devices, from iPhones to iPads.


Incoming notifications now support 3D Touch Peek and Pop capabilities, allowing users to do things like view photos and videos and respond to incoming messages all without leaving the Lock screen. In the Notification Center itself, there's now an option to use a 3D Touch press to clear all of the notifications for the day.

When downloading an app, you can press on it to pause or cancel the download, and when 3D Touching on any app, there are new options for bringing up the share sheet. Apps that have accompanying widgets, like Weather, will display that widget when using a Quick Action press on the Home screen.

Pressing on a folder now brings up an option for quickly renaming it, and if there are apps with Notification badges inside of a folder, you can easily access them using 3D Touch.

In the Control Center, there are 3D Touch shortcuts for the Flashlight (change intensity), Timer (pre-set intervals), Calculator (copy last result), and Camera (picture options), while Apple Music offers more info when 3D Touching on a song that's playing and Messages brings up Bubble Effects when using a 3D Touch to customize chat bubbles.

For full details on the new features coming in iOS 10, make sure to check out our iOS 10 roundup. Don't miss out on our previous videos, which have covered watchOS 3, macOS Sierra, and other iOS 10 features:

- WWDC 2016 Overview in Seven Minutes
- iOS 10's Overhauled Lockscreen
- The New iOS 10 Photos App
- The New iOS 10 Messages App
- macOS Sierra - Siri
- iOS 10 Hidden Features
- watchOS 3 Overview
- iOS 10's Redesigned Apple Music Experience

We've also got roundups for all of the upcoming operating systems, including watchOS 3, macOS Sierra, and tvOS 10.

Related Forum: iOS 10

Popular Stories

iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Coming Next Week With These New Features for Your iPhone

Friday February 14, 2025 6:18 am PST by
The first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner, and the update is expected to include many new features and changes. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the iOS 18.4 beta to be released by next week. Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far. Apple Intelligence for Siri Siri is expected to get several enhancements powered by Apple Intelligence on iOS...
iPhone 17 Roundup Feature 2

iPhone Design to Change 'Significantly' This Year

Monday February 17, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple is set to "significantly change" the iPhone's design language later this year, according to a Weibo leaker. In a new post, the user known "Digital Chat Station" said that the iPhone's design is "starting to change significantly" this year. The "iPhone 17 Air" reportedly features a "horizontal, bar-shaped" design on the rear, likely referring to an elongated camera bump. On the other...
apple launch feb 2025 alt

What to Expect From the 'Apple Launch' Next Week

Thursday February 13, 2025 11:48 am PST by
Apple has yet to announce any new devices this year, but that could change starting next week. Apple CEO Tim Cook today said to "get ready" for a "launch" on Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," said Cook, in a social media post. The post includes an #AppleLaunch hashtag, along with a short video featuring an animated Apple logo inside of a circle....
Apple Maps 2024

Apple Maps Might Start Showing Ads

Sunday February 16, 2025 7:22 am PST by
Apple is "exploring" the idea of showing search ads in the Apple Maps app, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Back in 2022, Gurman said software engineering was "already underway" to display ads in the Apple Maps app, but Apple did not move forward with the idea at the time. Today, he said Apple is "giving this notion more thought" again. This time around, he said Apple has yet to...
Tim Cook Apple Park

10+ Announcements Apple Could Have Rolled Into a February Event

Saturday February 15, 2025 8:00 am PST by
Apple appears to have enough upcoming product announcements to justify a full event this month, yet all signs indicate these reveals will be handled through a series of press releases instead. There are a multitude of rumors from reliable sources about specific announcements in the coming weeks, so here's everything that Apple could have feasibly included in a hypothetical February event: ...
iPhone 17 Pro Render Front Page Tech

iPhone 17 Pro With All-New Camera Bar Design Allegedly Revealed

Thursday February 13, 2025 5:49 pm PST by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro will feature three rear cameras arranged in a familiar triangular layout, but the cameras will be housed in an all-new rectangular camera bar with rounded corners, according to YouTube channel Front Page Tech. iPhone 17 Pro camera design render created by Asher for Front Page Tech In a video uploaded today, Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser said the camera ...
m2 pro mac mini

Apple is Now Selling a Refurbished Mac Mini for Just $319 (!)

Saturday February 15, 2025 9:58 am PST by
A few days ago, we reported that Apple's refurbished Mac mini pricing had a problem, and it appears that Apple has taken note. Apple was offering a refurbished Mac mini with the M2 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage for $559, which was $50 more than a refurbished Mac mini with the M4 chip, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. All other key specifications were equal. That's no longer...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: Apple Teases Its Next Major Product Launch

Friday February 14, 2025 9:38 am PST by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we discuss the imminent Apple product "launch" that is widely expected to be the fourth-generation iPhone SE. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos In a social media post on Thursday, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an upcoming "launch" of some kind scheduled for Wednesday, February 19. "Get ready to meet the newest member of...

Top Rated Comments

Mac Fly (film) Avatar
113 months ago
Year 1: 3D Touch? Apple marketing crap. iPhone 6s is a rebranded iPhone 6. Apple can no longer innovate. Steve wouldn't have shipped this. Fire Tim Cook. I'm switching to Samsung.

Year 2: I have no use for this feature. It is handy to have, I'm just so glad you can switch it off.

Year 6: How did we ever live without 3D Whiz? It's such an integral part of my tech experience. Wasn't it Samsung who had this first? If it was, Apple should fire Tim. If it wasn't, then it doesn't matter, when you think about it there was no invention here because it was such an obvious feature. Apple trying to patent touching things again!
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Corrode Avatar
113 months ago
I can't wait for the public beta!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Peepo Avatar
113 months ago
They are focusing so much on 3D Touch yet recently introduced the SE which lacks this feature!
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JPLC Avatar
113 months ago
If I could make one wish for iOS... It would be for some kind of "naked" or "light" version of iOS. I would be so happy to find one main switch in the settings menu that gives me the choice to turn off everything that makes iOS far from intuitive. No more 3D touch, no menu's popping out of the side, top or bottom. No more hidden functionality. A simple version of the settings menu, a music App that that doesn't look like a website etc etc. Short: No more UI noise.

Don't get me wrong. I love my iPhone but what I love more is my good o'll iPod touch with the very first iOS. It does what it should do, basic functionality, easy and fast and most important, it feels like an Apple product.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Zmmyt Avatar
113 months ago
Glad to see Apple expanding 3D Touch functionality. Since so many iOS devices still lack this feature I thought they might ditch it in the near future.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iPad Air Avatar
113 months ago
I have to say, I thought 3D Touch was a minor gimmicky thing at first, even though it was announced as a big feature...that was before I got my hands on it. After recently moving to iPhone 6S Plus, using this feature has changed my mind. I think 3D Touch is great and useful. Just wait especially down the road - in hindsight we will wonder how we got along navigating iOS without 3D Touch. I think its great they are expanding it and making it more innovative.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)