Don’t you love how Apple manages to capture so much creativity and imagination in their labels and terms? The Force Technology is a new feature launched with the Apple Watch. Basically, it senses force through tiny electrodes strategically placed on the Retina display. These electrodes are able to tell if you are pressing lightly or applying a deeper force and this give you quicker access to specific pressure-sensitive controls.

The Force Technology also brings specific firm touch sensitive apps like Music, Messages, and Calendar; access to features that will allow you to change watch face, search for information, and end or pause your workout timer.

Difference Between Multi-Touch and Force Technology

Multi-touch technology first came out in 1977 as and developed in CERN, a particle physics research lab in Switzerland but was developed into a functional multi-touch, human-input system  in 1982 by the University of Toronto in Canada. Multi-touch allows a user to use more than one pressure point on a screen to accomplish certain moves like the “pinch to zoom.”

Apple uses the multi-touch technology in its iPad and iPhone and also owns a few patents on the technology as far as implementation on user interfaces. These patents are currently being challenged after Apple tried to register the term “Multi-Touch” as part of their trademark and was denied.

While there is a “long tap” gesture used with multi-touch technology, it is not the same as the Force Technology. Here’s why:

• The Force Technology has a feature that allows you customize the sensitivity level.
• It can tell which finger you are using and will adjust to the corresponding programmed sensitivity level.
• The force sensors or electrodes can detect your click and also move laterally to mimic the motions of a trackpad.
• It works in synch with haptic feedback technology so you get the sensations of clicks, vibrations, or other motions
• It has Taptic Engine which is a tiny device found at the back of the trackpad

There is talk that Apple is planning to make Force Technology exclusive to the iPhone 6 Plus even though it is already part of the Apple Watch, MacBook and MacBook Pro, 13 inch. There are still conflicting reports but one thing is for sure, the iPhone 6 Plus will have exclusive features like the landscape mode for homescreen and the optical image stabilization camera.

Some ways you can use the Force Technology are to create pressure sensitive drawings, customize a Force Click, and customize your zoom and accelerator just like a fast forward on a DVD movie.