Microsoft OneDrive latest iOS update gives it full power of 3D Touch

3D Touch was first introduced last year at the 2015 keynote, “Hey Siri”, which was dubbed by many as simply the “iPad Pro” event. With that said, Apple did not integrate 3D Touch in its brand new 12.9 inch iPad, but rather in the iPhone 6S and 6S Pro. 3D Touch takes the technology behind Apple’s taptic engine, and uses it to enhance gesture controls on the iPhone’s touch screen, by allowing additional “dimensions” to the traditional tap, such as long presses and short presses, capable of triggering custom actions and events.

Since its inception, 3D Touch has been adopted by many apps developers, including major software companies like Adobe, and of course, Microsoft, which has fully embraced not only 3D Touch in its latest iOS update for OneDrive, but also support for Apple Pencil on the iPad Pro.

Similarly to many native iOS apps like Mail and Calendar, Microsoft OneDrive now lets users to “peek” and “pop up” OneDrive content and folders, using short and long presses.

Microsoft has every interest in catering to iOS users, especially business customers relying on Office 365, which is why it’s making sure that its software delivers the best possible experience, no matter the platform it runs on. One of the recurrent points reiterated by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, was to offer Microsoft’s software as a service, regardless of the host operating system. This has been proven, time and time again, a smart strategy that has netter Microsoft a respectable market share. With that said, Microsoft has yet to present a serious threat to Apple’s own apps from its IBM partnership, as well as Google’s free cloud services.

One hot-button issue has been the reduction of OneDrive free storage, from 15GB to 5GB, which didn’t sit well with some users. The free storage reduction of OneDrive, however, has not been criticized by everyone, with some suggesting it was the right decision, to make a determination of how much value users see in OneDrive.