Introduction
While the concept of swipe gestures for navigating devices, such as the iPhone are not new, some people may struggle with them anyway.
What are swipe gestures for navigation?
Swipe gestures for navigation are what you use to go home, use the app switcher, open notification center, or open control center.
these gestures are important, because they ar necessary for basic device operation.
Basic concepts of swipe navigation gestures
- Swipe navigation gestures always start at the edge of your screen (unlike gestures you already use with voiceover that can be done anywhere onscreen).
- by default, both sound and haptic feedback are turned on for VoiceOver, and these gestures will provide that feedback just like other gestures. However, I will only describe the sound feedback, because these gestures can be used on iPads, which don’t have haptic engines.
- If you prefer, you can still place focus on the status bar, and swipe down with three fingers for notification center or up with three fingers for control center.
How to use swipe navigation gesturesHow to use these gestures
As explained earlier, you need to start at the edge of your screen in order for the intended functionality to work correctly..
NOTE: while you can practice these gestures on an iPad, I found it easier to practice on an iPhone if you have one available.
So, to go home, first place your finger at the very bottom edge of your screen.
Then, move your finger up until you hear a second click and release your finger.
It is important to perform the gesture in a timely manner, otherwise I have found that VoiceOver focus will move around the screen instead of the actual swipe navigation gesture.
To use the app switcher, repeat the same steps from above only, instead of releasing on the second click, release on the third click.
To use the control center, start at the top edge of your screen and move your finger down until you hear a second click then release.
To use the notification center, use the same steps as described above, but this time release on the third click.
Conclusion
Now that you’ve learned how to use the swipe navigation gestures on newer iPhones and iPads, you’ll be able to not only use your device more effectively, but you’ll be able to use features that are exclusive to this new form of navigation such as the app switcher, which can’t be accessed in an alternative way like you can with the control center