iOS 10 Will Finally Allow You to Prioritize App Downloads Using 3D Touch

When iOS 10 was shown off on stage by Apple executives at the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) earlier this month, we saw how a slew of exciting new features and system-wide enhancements would soon be coming to the Silicon Valley tech-giant’s 10th installment of mobile goodness.

And one of those iOS 10 features poised to receive a much-needed improvement, as we learned, is 3D Touch — which, as a hallmark feature of the iPhone 6s handsets, allows for a totally new, even deeper means of interacting with Apple’s latest iPhones.

Yet, when 3D Touch was originally launched, the feature was inherently limited — insofar as what it could do, and how deeply it was integrated with iOS 9. Sure, you have your Quick Actions, your Peek and Pop, and the long-press, pressure-sensitive gestures employed for several different apps — but there’s no question that 3D Touch on iOS 10 will bring a whole new dimension to the Cupertino-company’s beloved mobile operating system.

For starters, on iOS 10, 3D Touch is simply more integrated into different parts of the system. Now, as opposed to just a few, select apps, ALL system (and most 3rd party) apps will feature 3D Touch integration — giving you quick access to app-specific shortcuts and menu options with the mere press of a finger.

One particular aspect of 3D Touch functionality in iOS 10 that users are bound to fall in love with, is that each app now features the ability of its download updates to be prioritized. For argument sake, if you currently have multiple apps lined up in the Apple App Store requiring an update — (as many of us do), utilizing 3D Touch, you can now select the ‘Prioritize Download’ option from the 3D Touch sub-menu under any app, which will ensure that the particular app downloads first when updates are available for it.

Of course, most of us are likely to hold off on downloading any app updates — especially large ones — until we’re connected to a reliable Wi-Fi network; however, by initiating the ‘Prioritized Download’ of a specific app, you can ensure that, once you are connected to Wi-Fi, that app will automatically be shuffled to the top of your download queue — or even downloaded automatically, depending on your configured App Store settings.

The current iOS 10 Developer beta doesn’t appear to allow this feature to be tested out on older, non iPhone 6s/6s Plus handsets — perhaps because they simply don’t feature 3D Touch. However, it’s possible, albeit unconfirmed, that Apple could release the functionality to older handsets in future beta releases.

And, after all, iOS 10 — which is widely expected to be released to the general public alongside Apple’s ‘iPhone 7’ handsets — will be touching down later on this fall; so it won’t be too long until we can get our hands on this pretty nifty feature.

Also, don’t forget, if you simply can’t wait until iOS 10 is released to give the new mobile powerhouse a test drive, you can always register for Apple’s Public Beta Testing Program, which is slated to kick-off next month!

What do you think about 3D Touch’s new ‘Prioritize Download’ feature? Let us know in the comments!