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Pen haptic (tactile) feedback

Learn how to use haptic feedback from pen devices to provide more natural and tactile interactions in your Windows App SDK app.

Windows 11 introduced haptic feedback for digital pens, letting users feel their pen interacting with the app's UI. When referring to this feature, haptic is used in developer APIs and documentation, while tactile is the user-facing name shown in Windows Settings.

Key APIs

Haptic feedback types

Two types of haptic feedback are available:

  • Inking feedback — Simulates the feel of writing or drawing tools (pen, marker, pencil, highlighter) through continuous vibrations while the pen touches the screen.
  • Interaction feedback — Short tactile signals for user actions such as hovering over a button, clicking, or confirming a completed action.

Detect pen input

Register for the PointerEntered event and check whether the pointer device type is a pen:

private void InputObserver_PointerEntered(object sender, PointerRoutedEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.Pointer.PointerDeviceType != Microsoft.UI.Input.PointerDeviceType.Pen)
    {
        return;
    }

    // Pen detected — check for haptic support.
}

Get the PenDevice in the Windows App SDK

In a Windows App SDK app, use PenDeviceInterop — a Windows App SDK interop class — to get the WinRT PenDevice object from a pointer point. PenDevice, SimpleHapticsController, and KnownSimpleHapticsControllerWaveforms are WinRT types from the Windows.Devices.Input and Windows.Devices.Haptics namespaces; only the interop call itself comes from the Windows App SDK's Microsoft.UI.Input.Interop namespace:

using Microsoft.UI.Input.Interop;
using Windows.Devices.Haptics;
using Windows.Devices.Input;
using Windows.Foundation.Metadata;

private void InputObserver_PointerEntered(object sender, PointerRoutedEventArgs e)
{
    if (e.Pointer.PointerDeviceType != Microsoft.UI.Input.PointerDeviceType.Pen)
    {
        return;
    }

    var penDevice = PenDeviceInterop.FromPointerPoint(e.GetCurrentPoint(null));

    if (penDevice == null)
    {
        return; // Pen does not support advanced features.
    }

    // SimpleHapticsController requires Windows 11. Check for API presence
    // before accessing it so the app doesn't throw on Windows 10.
    if (!ApiInformation.IsPropertyPresent(
        "Windows.Devices.Input.PenDevice", "SimpleHapticsController"))
    {
        return; // Haptic feedback requires Windows 11.
    }

    var hapticsController = penDevice.SimpleHapticsController;
    if (hapticsController == null)
    {
        return; // Pen does not support haptic feedback.
    }

    // Configure haptic feedback (see examples below).
}

Note

In UWP apps, use PenDevice.GetFromPointerId instead. The PenDeviceInterop class is specific to the Windows App SDK.

Inking waveforms

Inking waveforms play continuously while the pen contacts the screen. Required waveforms are guaranteed to be supported by any haptic pen.

Waveform Description Required
InkContinuous Default ball-point pen feel. Fallback for unsupported waveforms. Yes
BrushContinuous Brush tool No
PencilContinuous Pencil tool No
MarkerContinuous Marker tool No
ChiselMarkerContinuous Chisel marker / highlighter No
EraserContinuous Eraser tool No
GalaxyPenContinuous Special ink (multi-colored brush) No

Interaction waveforms

Interaction waveforms provide short, direct feedback for UI actions.

Waveform Description Required
Click Default short click. Fallback for unsupported interactions. Yes
Error Action failed or error occurred No
Hover Started hovering over an interactive element No
Press Pressed an interactive element No
Release Released an interactive element No
Success Action succeeded No
BuzzContinuous Continuous buzzing No
RumbleContinuous Continuous rumbling No

Send haptic feedback

Iterate through SupportedFeedback to find the desired waveform, then call SendHapticFeedback:

SimpleHapticsControllerFeedback currentWaveform = null;

// Try to use BrushContinuous, fall back to InkContinuous.
foreach (var waveform in hapticsController.SupportedFeedback)
{
    if (waveform.Waveform == KnownSimpleHapticsControllerWaveforms.BrushContinuous)
    {
        currentWaveform = waveform;
        break;
    }
}

if (currentWaveform == null)
{
    foreach (var waveform in hapticsController.SupportedFeedback)
    {
        if (waveform.Waveform == KnownSimpleHapticsControllerWaveforms.InkContinuous)
        {
            currentWaveform = waveform;
            break;
        }
    }
}

if (currentWaveform != null)
{
    hapticsController.SendHapticFeedback(currentWaveform);
}

Stop haptic feedback

Always stop haptic feedback when the pointer exits the element. Register for PointerExited on the same element:

private void Canvas_PointerExited(object sender, PointerRoutedEventArgs e)
{
    hapticsController?.StopFeedback();
}

Note

Some pens stop haptics automatically when the pen leaves the screen. However, not all pens do this, so always call StopFeedback explicitly.

Customize haptic feedback

Some pens support additional customizations. Check support before using them:

Property Check support with
Intensity IsIntensitySupported
Play count IsPlayCountSupported
Play duration IsPlayDurationSupported
Replay pause interval IsReplayPauseIntervalSupported 
if (hapticsController.IsIntensitySupported)
{
    hapticsController.SendHapticFeedback(currentWaveform, 0.75); // 75% intensity
}
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