Overview
Maps in a mobile environment should be interactive whenever possible. There are a range of gestures which can be used to interact with the map
Common Gestures
- One-finger Single Tap
- One-finger Double Tap
- Two-finger Double Tap
- One-finger Press & Hold
- One-finger Panning
- Two-finger Rotate
- Two-finger Zoom-in (Spread)
- Two-finger Zoom-out (Pinch)
- Two-finger Tilt (2D/3D)
Common Gestures
One Finger Tap
A one-finger single tap is often used to trigger a single event and may vary based on use case. Common uses are but may not be limited to, making a selection, dropping a pin, displaying a map popup, displaying geolocation.
One Finger Double Tap
A one-finger double tap is commonly used to zoom-in one level.
Two Finger Double Tap
A two-finger double tap is commonly used to zoom-out one level.
One-finger Press & Hold
A one-finger press & hold gesture can also be used to trigger a single event such displaying a popup or other information. This should only be used when the one-finger tap interaction is assigned to a different event.
One-finger Panning
Panning is typically a single-finger interaction. To pan, tap & hold the map with one finger and drag in any direction. A similar two-finger interaction can also be used when “tilt” is not part of the map interaction.
Two-finger Rotate
To rotate a map, tap & hold 2 fingers on map and use a rotation gesture.
Two-finger Zoom-In (Spread)
Zooming in can also be done by using two-fingers and a “spread” gesture.
Zoom-Out (Pinch)
To zoom out, using two-fingers, use a pinch gesture.
Tilt (2D/3D)
Some map applications can render their maps in both 2D & 3D view. To transition between 2D & 3D, with two-fingers use a push gesture to tilt map forward for 3D. To return to 2D, use two-fingers and a pull gesture.
