iPhone XR May Get Improved Haptic Touch Feature to Expand Notifications With iOS 12.1.1

While the iPhone XR lacks pressure-sensing 3D Touch technology that is available on all the recent iPhone models including the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, Apple provided Haptic Touch as an alternative. The feature originally offered an ability to instantly launch the camera or flashlight with a long-press gesture. But with iOS 12.1.1, the Haptic Touch feature on the iPhone XR appears set to get one-step even closer to 3D Touch by enabling the option to expand notifications by long pressing them. This is notably a part of iPad models for a long time - despite having the absence of 3D Touch and Haptic Touch.

As 9to5Mac reports, iOS 12.1.1 beta 2 brings the option to expand notifications and see their rich content by long pressing them on the iPhone XR. A haptic feedback emerges upon the long-press gesture to confirm the section. Models using 3D Touch offers the same experience by slightly hard pressing notifications. Moreover, the latest development is notably an expansion of Haptic Touch that was previously offering the option to launch the camera or flashlight from the lock screen or adjust various settings on Control Center.

It is worth noting here that while the iPhone XR is finally getting the ability to expand notifications by long pressing on them, Apple isn't bringing an identical experience on older iPhone models. This means users on a dated iPhone will still have to swipe notifications to the left and then press the View option to see their rich content. Having said that, the long-press gesture to expand notifications has been available on the iPad family for a long time, though iPad models don't have 3D Touch or Haptic Touch.

iPhone XR First Impressions

The addition of the long-press gesture to expand notifications is certainly a welcome move for iPhone XR users. However, the latest affordable iPhone model still lacks features such as Peek and Pop that require 3D Touch. This makes some distinction with the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max that both have 3D Touch to support all the pressure-sensing features that debuted with the launch of the iPhone 6s back in September 2015.

That being said, you need to wait for the final release of iOS 12.1.1 to get the upgraded experience on your iPhone XR. The new iOS version is initially available in developer beta, though it could reach its public debut stage sometime before the end of the year. The new version also includes an improved card interface for FaceTime to highlight the flip camera button and restores Live Photo feature that silently got removed in iOS 12.0. Also, there are new complications for Apple Watch Series 4. Note that the improved Haptic Touch feature was spotted in the iOS 12.1.1 beta, there is a chance Apple may decide not to bring the feature to the public release of the new iOS version.