Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Apple’s 3D Touch displays on the iPhone 6S or 6S Plus can be used to weigh objects

Weighing Plums on an iPhone
Apple’s 3D Touch on the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus opens up a number of nifty use cases, including the ability to peek at emails without opening them, draw dynamic pictures with your finger, and weigh plums. That last one is made possible thanks to a developer who lives in Paris.

In a playfully written blog post, Simon Gladman talks about his newest app, which is called the Plum-O-Meter. As its name implies, the app leverages the 3D Touch technology in his iPhone 6S to act as a scale of sorts that tells the user which of the objects placed on the smartphone’s screen is heavier.

Recommended Videos

Gladman’s video example shows three plums lined up and placed two at a time onto the screen of his iPhone 6S. The Plum-O-Meter app displays the normalized force of each object on the screen as a percentage and uses a yellow highlight to indicate which object is heaviest.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

The app is open source and can be sideloaded onto an iPhone 6S or 6S Plus without any jailbreaking.

Technically, the iPhone’s multitouch display can simultaneously sense up to five objects at a time, iDownloadBlog points out.

“I did originally build this app for grapes, but they’re too light to activate the 3D Touch,” Gladman writes in his blog post.

Whatever you may decide to weigh on an iPhone 6S or 6S Plus screen, it may be a good idea to properly clean the screen beforehand or remember to clean those objects afterward.

AT&T  Sprint  T-Mobile Verizon

 AT&T  Sprint  T-Mobile Verizon

Jason Hahn
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Jason Hahn is a part-time freelance writer based in New Jersey. He earned his master's degree in journalism at Northwestern…
5 phones you should buy instead of the iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone 15 Pro Max lying on the ground surrounded by leaves.

Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro Max is one of the top choices for a premium smartphone. It offers the latest and greatest from Apple, including the new A17 Pro chip, a fantastic camera system, a lightweight titanium body, the Action button, and USB-C charging. It's a great package.

But there’s no doubt about it — the iPhone 15 Pro Max is also quite expensive, with a starting price of $1,200. It’s also not the only option out there if you want the best smartphone on the market, especially if you aren’t particularly invested in the Apple ecosystem.

Read more
UPS worker accused of nabbing $1.3M worth of iPhones and other Apple gear
A MacBook and iPhone in dark red light.

The desirability and high value of iPhones and other Apple devices make the gear a popular target for criminals looking to make a fast buck.

In the latest such case, a now former UPS employee is accused of stealing more than $1.3 million worth of Apple iPhones and laptops from the shipping company’s warehouse in Winnipeg, Canada, before selling them in an operation that continued for seven months, the Winnipeg Free Press reported this week.

Read more
5 phones you should buy instead of the iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro in Natural Titanium held in hand in front of a wooden gate.

Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro is what we consider one of the best iPhones that you can buy right now. It offers most of the latest cutting-edge tech from Apple, including the powerful new A17 Pro chip, an improved camera system, a beautiful ProMotion display, a titanium body, the new Action button, and USB-C. It’s Apple’s most premium phone but in a compact size.

But if you’re in the market for a new phone, you should know there are other options, too. You don’t necessarily need the latest and greatest from Apple, especially if you’re not truly vested in its ecosystem.

Read more