Home and Android basics 19
AUG-3.0-100 Android User’s Guide
Using the touchscreen
The main way to control Android features is by using your finger to manipulate
icons, buttons, menu items, the onscreen keyboard, and other items on the
touchscreen. You can also change the screen’s orientation.
Touch To act on items on the screen, such as app and settings icons, to type
letters and symbols using the onscreen keyboard, or to pres onscreen buttons, you
simply touch them with your finger.
Touch & hold Touch & hold an item on the screen by touching it and not lifting
your finger until an action occurs.
Drag Touch & hold an item for a moment and then, without lifting your finger,
move your finger on the screen until you reach the target position. For example,
you drag items on the Home screen to reposition them, as described in
“Customizing Home screens” on page 31.
Swipe or slide To swipe or slide, you quickly move your finger across the surface
of the screen, without pausing when you first touch it (so you don’t drag an item
instead). For example, you slide the Home screen left or right to view the other
parts, and in some Calendar views you slide to view earlier or later periods.
Double-tap Tap quickly twice on a webpage, map, or other screen to zoom. For
example, you double-tap a section of a webpage in Browser to zoom that section to
fit the width of the screen. Double-tapping after pinching to zoom in some apps
reflows a column of text to fit the width of the screen.
Pinch In some apps (such as Maps, Browser, and Gallery), you can zoom in and
out by placing two fingers on the screen at once and pinching them together (to
zoom out) or spreading them apart (to zoom in).
Rotate the screen On most screens, the orientation of the screen rotates with
the tablet as you turn it. You can turn this feature on and off, as described in
“Screen settings” on page 126.
