iOS Gestures and Animation at a Glance

Types of Gestures Used Mostly

Gestures literally are movement of fingers, hands, or other body parts. However, touch gestures happen only with the touch of a screen and mainly through fingers or thumb. There are numbers of gestures in use across various mobile devices, but iOS devices have some unique and popular gestures. A gesture is considered as platform gesture (P) or core gesture (C), or both depending upon its behavior.

The following is the list of the popular gestures being used on the mobile phones:

• Tap (P + C) – this action is used to select or press a link or control. Here a user touches the screen at any place for the smallest of time.
• Double Tap (P + C) – this action is frequently useed to zoom in further or zoom out of an image or content.
• Flick (P + C) – this action is highly used to pan or scroll rapidly. Here, users are placing their fingers on the touch screen and rapidly swiping them in the desired directions.
• Drag (P + C) – this action used to move, pan, or scroll the viewport. Here, app users are placing their fingers on the touch screens and move them further in the desired directions (even without lifting them up from the screen).
• Pinch Open (P) and Spread (C) – this action is using mostly to zoom in activities. Here, users are placing their thumbs and finger/s just, in close together manners on the touch screen and move them apart (even without lifting them).
• Pinch Close (P) and Pinch (C) – used to zoom out and opposite to Pinch Open.
• Touch and Hold (P) and Press (C) – this action found occurring while displaying an information bubble, further magnify the content residing under the finger/s. Here, the esteemed users are touching the screen, or leaving their finger standstill/motionless until the information is displayed or the action happens.
• Two Finger Scroll (P) and Drag (C) – this action is using in order to scroll the content on the screen in an element with somewhat overflow capabilities. Here a drag performed with two fingers moving together in the same direction.

Some Awesome Animation and Gesture Examples

If we look at the real world examples of gestures and animations in iOS applications, Gmail and Facebook are pioneer apps. Their ‘side-swiping’ menu is an excellent example of sweep gesture. Belgium’s Public Radio app has used simple drag gesture for a creative contextual dimension in the application that let users to balance their choice without switching to other UI.

Instapaper has introduced iBook like animation and page swiping through simple finger gestures as we do with print editions. You can close an article with simple two-finger sweep.