Gestures for iOS

You’ll use gestures to navigate your touchscreen device. Gestures are the way you touch or move your fingertips on the screen. Gestures include a touch or tap with one finger or a pinch with two or more fingers.

Gestures

Your device responds to taps, swipes, and pinches

• Tap. A tap is a brief touch of a fingertip to an app button or another object on the screen. Some functions require a double tap—two quick taps in a row—or even a triple tap.
• Touch and hold. Touch and hold means to touch the screen, an app button, text, or other object and pause until something happens. Also called a long press.
• Swipe and scroll. A swipe (or scroll) is to touch the screen and then, without lifting the finger, move up or down, left or right. Generally speaking, a swipe is just a quick scroll. You’ll swipe up or down to read long pages and swipe side-to-side to flip through a series of pictures, move around on a map, and more.
• Zoom. Zoom in and out by placing two fingers on the screen and moving them closer together or further apart (pinching). You can zoom in and out of pictures, maps, and more. You can rotate some items by rotating your two fingers. You can also zoom by double-tapping the screen.

Motion sensors

The iPhone detects tilting and movement of the handset with built-in accelerometers. The accelerometers detect acceleration, movement, and tilting in multiple directions. Motion sensors detect the device’s orientation (landscape or portrait) and are used in games, videos, and apps. Some games use the device as a steering wheel. Other useful apps turn the device into a level or a measuring tool. There is even an app to detect how high you can throw your device. Not recommended!