Google’s Next ‘Android N’ Build Could Come With Apple iPhone 6S-Like Force Touch Support: Report

The next Android N build will reportedly include “Force Touch” features similar to Apple’s 3D Touch capabilities seen in the current-generation Apple iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus.

It is worth noting that the Marshmallow successor — “Android N (7.0)” — will be released at the annual Google I/O event scheduled to take place between May 18 and May 20. Meanwhile, folks at Phandroid stumbled on to some wording in Android N’s new Launcher shortcuts feature that talks about support for “pressure sensitive displays” in the upcoming Android devices.

Going by the wording, the launcher shortcuts could be gesture-based. Therefore, it is safe to assume that the 3D Touch-like gestures will be supported by the upcoming Android N version of OS. In any case, the devices running Android N should have the hardware components to take advantage of this feature.

This also suggests that the upcoming Google Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X successors could come equipped with the required internal hardware components to make good use of the 3D Touch-like capabilities of Android N.

According to recent rumors, HTC has been roped in to make two stock Android handsets tied to the codenames T50 and T55. While the T50 is believed to come with a 5.0-inch display, the T55 will be the bigger sibling featuring a 5.5-inch screen.

Phone Arena pointed out that tech enthusiasts and social media users in general were not very excited at the news of HTC getting the contract to build the next-generation Nexus devices. But then, the Taiwanese tech giant recently launched the power-packed 2016 flagship HTC 10, which once again brought the “wow factor” back to the company.

From getting the design and price right to cramming the HTC 10 with top-of-the-shelf configurations, the tech giant has taken care of every minute detail to make the flagship stand out. This has definitely changed the dynamics of how customers look at HTC devices.

However, at this point, it is not clear why LG and Huawei, which made the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, respectively, are not in the fray to make the next-generation Google Nexus handsets.

Also, readers should note that Google has not confirmed the aforementioned information related to Android N features thus far.