How to detect whether haptic event playback is supported

Swift version: 5.1

Paul Hudson    @twostraws    October 22nd 2019

Modern iPhones have extremely sensitive haptic engines inside, allowing us precise control over taps and vibrations, and even mixing effects – see “How to play custom vibrations using Core Haptics” and “How to modify haptic events over time using CHHapticParameterCurve” for more information on that.

However, not all devices support Core Haptics, which is why you should always check for supported hardware before trying to spin up any haptic feedback. Once you added an import for CoreHaptics, you can detect haptic availability like this:

if CHHapticEngine.capabilitiesForHardware().supportsHaptics {
    // your haptics code here
}

For easier access you could also make the check a computed property, like this:

var hapticsAvailable: Bool {
    CHHapticEngine.capabilitiesForHardware().supportsHaptics
}

Available from iOS 13.0

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