Safari for OS X 10.11 supports custom Force Touch interactions for the web
Darrell Etherington / TechCrunch :
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple introduced Force Touch earlier this year as a hardware feature — first on Watch, then on the MacBook's pressure-sensitive trackpad. With Safari on OS X 10.11, it is now exposing that hardware to web developers, letting sites define their own pressure-based interactions instead of leaving Force Touch confined to native apps.
The timing matters because Apple is about to carry the technology across its lineup: reporting points to a three-level '3D Touch' interface on the iPhone 6s and hints that it will work alongside the rumored 12.9-inch iPad stylus. A browser-level API is what makes those gestures portable across devices rather than an app-only trick.
First-order effects
- Web developers gain a new input dimension — pressure — but only for visitors on Safari running OS X 10.11 with a Force Touch trackpad, making it an enhancement layered on top of standard pointer handling rather than a replacement.
Second-order effects
- As Force Touch spreads from MacBooks to the iPhone 6s per the reported hardware differences, sites that adopt the interaction get it on mobile too — while Chrome and Firefox face pressure to expose equivalent trackpad data or watch pressure-sensitive experiences ship as Safari-only features.
Third-order effects
- This fits a recurring Apple pattern visible elsewhere in WebKit's history — from bringing WebRTC into Safari to supporting WebAuthn in Technology Preview builds — where Safari adopts APIs tied closely to Apple hardware and platform priorities; whether custom Force Touch becomes a shared web capability or another engine-specific extension depends on other browsers implementing comparable pressure APIs.
The trend: Browsers are increasingly exposing device-specific hardware — pressure sensing, security keys, cameras — as web APIs, with each engine vendor deciding which capabilities make the cut.