Force 3D Touch is arguably the best reason to get one of the new iPhones. But it turns out you don’t actually need pressure sensitivity for some of 3D Touch’s navigational tricks, so Instagram has updated its Android app to imitate its new functionality on iOS.
That is, you can now use a long press to preview images while browsing your explore feed, and get quick access to some other options throughout the app. Android police demoed the functionality in the video below:
Though it’s called a long-press, it only takes a very brief amount of time to get the pop up to show up, probably no longer than the average ‘peek’ function on iOS takes.
It’s not quite as efficient as the Apple implementation if you’re something of an Instagram power user (is there really such a thing?) – and you don’t get any extra functionality on the homescreen – but it’s a nice trick to have, especially considering it uses Android’s extant native features.
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The update is rolling out on the Play Store now (v7.13.0) ( it doesn’t work for me, so the feature might be enabled server-side) . We wouldn’t be surprised to see other Android apps start adopting similar functionality, because why not.
➤ Instagram Now Lets You “3D Touch” Photos On Android [Android Police via Engadget]
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