3D Touch tips: Using Launch Center Pro as a media controller

While some apps haven’t quite figured out best use cases for 3D Touch just yet, there are a handful of apps that have gotten it right. One of those apps is Launch Center Pro, which lets you choose what apps you get access to through 3D Touch actions. I’ve chosen to take advantage of this by using it as a way to launch my most used media apps; Rdio (RIP), Sonos, Music.app, and Pandora. By doing this, I’ve freed up 4 additional spaces on my first Home screen for other apps.

First things first, if you don’t already have Launch Center Pro, you can download it at the following link:

• $4.99 – Download

Create Launch Center Pro actions

The first thing you’ll want to do is create the actions for the apps you want to appear in the 3D Touch menu, if you don’t already have them created. You can have up to four at a time in the 3D Touch menu. I’ve chosen the ones mentioned above but you can of course choose different ones like Spotify or SoundCloud.

In case you don’t know how to create an action in Launch Center Pro, just follow these steps to set up a simple one:

1. Open the Launch Center Pro app and tap the pencil icon at the top right.
2. Tap on a blank icon space to add an action there.
3. Tap on Action Composer.
4. Select All Supported Apps — you can use other categories but this one ensures you are searching all apps that Launch Center Pro supports.
5. Search for the app you want to create an action for, such as Sonos or Pandora.
6. Tap Done at the top.

You can of course get fancy and use URL schemes to trigger more in-depth actions. For example, it’s possible to automatically stream a specific Pandora playlist if you’d like. A simple web search should bring up URL schemes for most of your favorite apps. You’ll just want to place these under the URL section of the Action Composer.

Before moving on, repeat this process for up to four apps you want to access via 3D Touch.

Set up your actions for 3D Touch

Now that you’ve set up your actions, you’ll need to add them to the 3D Touch menu of Launch Center Pro. To do so, just follow these steps:

1. Open Launch Center Pro and tap on the Settings icon in the upper left hand corner.
2. Tap on Quick Actions.
3. Tap the plus sign in the upper right.
4. Choose up to four actions you want to appear in the 3D Touch menu and order them however you’d like.

That’s it. Firmly pressing on the Launch Center Pro option will now call up the actions you’ve specified. While I use this to control my most common audio and media apps, you could implement this for many things. For instance, if you spend a ton of time in Google Drive, you could add access to your most used spreadsheets. The combinations of options are endless with Launch Center Pro, that’s what I love about it.

Your favorite 3D Touch tips?

This is just one of the ways I’ve found 3D Touch to be immensely useful on my iPhone 6s Plus. There are tons of others, including a list I’ve already shared. If you’ve found an app that makes particularly good use of 3D Touch, or you’ve set up Launch Center Pro quick actions a different way, let me know in the comments!