Other than when you just ate fried chicken, touch screens are one of mankind’s better inventions. However, like all good things, the touch screen also requires some basic knowledge to use it to its full potential. So, stretch your fingers and let’s get into some intense touch screen gestures. Just kidding, these are super simple. But do keep those fingers clean!
The Basic Ones
These are your everyday essentials. If you don’t know some of these already, chances are what you’re holding isn’t a phone.
Tap: Tap items to select or launch them.
Double-Tap: Double-tap an image or webpage to zoom in or out.
• Touch and Hold: Touch and hold a widget on a home screen to move it.
• Touch and hold to display a popup menu of options.
Zoom: To Zoom, pinch the screen using your thumb and forefinger or spread by moving your fingers apart.
Palm Swipe to capture: Capture a screen shot by swiping your palm across the screen.
To turn on this feature, from Settings, touch Advanced Features and then swipe to and touch the slider next to Palm swipe to capture. You can secretly take screen shots while pretending to clean your screen.
The Not So Basic Ones
Now you might want to warm up those fingers because these are a bit more advanced.
Swipe down from the top of the screen with two fingers: Open your Quick Settings even faster. There’s Airplane Mode! You turned it on just in the nick of time.
Zoom in and out with One Finger in Maps: Double tap and hold on the second tap, and then slide your finger up and down to zoom in and out. Ah, so that’s where your new company is located.
Chrome Tab Switch: From Chrome, swipe down from the address bar at the top to reveal open tabs. We all have too many open tabs, amirite?
Customize Home screen: Touch and hold or pinch the Home screen to open the Home screen menu. Here you can add widgets, change themes, and more. It was about time you changed that wallpaper.
Realistically, it’s unlikely you’ll remember all these gestures, but even adding one new gesture to your arsenal is a step towards mastery. In the meantime, keep this guide handy for all your navigation needs.
