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Last month, we broke word of 3D Touch-like support in the documentation for Android N. It appeared Google was finally gearing up to bring the feature to Android, with our developer friend — Kevin Barry, who makes Nova Launcher — bringing us a tangible proof of concept. We have an update today thanks to Re/Code.
The outlet seems to confirm that Google is, in fact, working on a feature similar to 3D Touch. Unfortunately, the more damning news here is that it won’t be available in time for Android N’s initial launch.
No reason was given aside from the general feeling that it’s simply not ready. The report suggests Google will look to add the feature in a future maintenance-like upgrade, such as Android 7.1 (if the base version is, in fact, Android 7.0).
Google doesn’t have to feel rushed to bring support for pressure sensitive displays to Android. There are a few phones out there which have one, sure, but they’re not widely available. Should some of the more popular flagships begin to use the displays then we imagine Google won’t want to be far behind in supporting them.
Of course, the same goes for manufacturers — if Google doesn’t natively support pressure sensitive displays, then why should the OEMs use them? They could always enable their own apps with functionality like Huawei does in the Huawei P9 Plus, but it makes for an inconsistent user experience and that’s probably the biggest things software engineers like to avoid.
So, what we have here is another classic chicken or egg situation, though the answer about which has to come first seems quite clear. Google will have to be the frontrunner in making pressure sensitivity a mainstream feature in flagship Android phones if they want to inspire OEMs to use them going forward. And with rumors of the next Nexus device having one, it sure seems like that’s bound to happen.
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