Tap and hold is a hidden functionality. There is nothing on the screen that indicates tap and hold triggers an action. Even if one is aware that "tap and hold" exists, there is nothing that communicates to the user what it does in a particular context.
Therefore, if you make something solely accessible through tap and hold, some users will never discover it. Or they will disover it only after a frustrating search for how to perform the action.
Just to give a concrete example: I am a longtime Android user, and I never knew that Android used the tap and hold paradigm until reading this discussion! I just checked, and sure enough, I can do things with tap and hold in all of the apps that I use daily, including email, web browser, and maps. But I never discovered that, even after years of use, since the interface offered no cues pointing me to this functionality.
So my overall conclusion is:
Beware of using tap-and-hold (or other hidden functionality paradigms) as the primary way of accomplishing a task. It can be useful as a complimentary, shortcut method for an action, but it shouldn't be the only way to do something.
For your question:
- It's not a "more intuitive" way of initiating an action (destructive or otherwise), since it's hidden.
- The paradigm isn't exclusively used for destructive actions, so users won't necessarily associate it with the same.
- Tap and hold does not work well as confirmation that the user definitely intended the action. While the requirement to hold your finger down does distinguish it from some accidental taps, you can still hold something down accidentally (when not looking at the phone, for example). And since the user may not be aware of what action a tap-and-hold initiates, you don't have confirmation of the user's intent.
