Do you use Apple gestures, have you even heard of them?
I was first introduced to them in January of 2008, when I became hipster #1 and bought the first MacBook Air. Now, three years and eight months later I am still barely using them.
Of the available fourteen there are only three I regularly use but those three are absolutely time-saving-revolutionary.
- Scroll with two fingers – just move two fingers up/down, instead of turning a mouse wheel or dragging the sidebar.
- Forward/Back with two fingers – browse the web by “swiping” left or right with two fingers, no more back button.
- Double-tap with two fingers – instead of the right mouse click (called a “secondary click”), tap two fingers to engage a secondary click.
When Apple says they are “fluid, natural, and intuitive,” I wholeheartedly agree. I don’t think about using them anymore and it hurts to use a computer without them. Which is when you know it’s a true innovation, “when you can’t live without it.”
Of the other fourteen, I have three more just barely in my memory. Six out of fourteen?
It does take a while to break the old habits, especially for former Windows users. No more mouse and an almost entirely new language with my fingers. Yeah, it’s tough but I can’t complain about clicking less buttons and gaining agility.
It’s part of the reason why I like Apple products. Their agressive forward pace, while offensive to some, keeps me on my toes and ever-improving. I can only imagine the day when I am able to handle all fourteen:
[one_half]
- Single click
- Dictionary look-up
- Directional scroll
- Smart zoom
- Rotate
- Scroll between screens
- Open Expose
- Secondary click
- Window drag
- Zoom in/out
- Scroll forward/back
- Open Mission Control
- Open Launchpad
- Show desktop
[/one_half]
Watch out too because these gestures are growing exponentially. On my last computer there were only 6-7 and now fourteen. It won’t be long before there are 72 gestures encompassing every feature on a computer.
We may even begin to skip the keyboard…have you seen the Swype text-input on Android?