Swipe is a common gesture on mobile operating systems used when interacting with smartphones or tablets with touch screens. You have to swipe almost constantly on iOS and Android - such “touches” allow you to scroll through pages, unlock, move sliders in Settings, or even draw. The system is almost obvious, but still sometimes raises questions. So let's talk about everything in order.
It's worth starting with etymology. The word “swipe” translated into Russian means “touch” (and in some translators also “swipe”) and quite obviously hints at the way of interacting with the touch screen. And again, no discoveries, but in fact, the word has given rise to a whole series of similar Anglicisms - on the Internet they constantly “swipe”, “swipe” and “tap”, and therefore, before moving on to further instructions, a short excursion into the dictionary of modern abbreviations:
- Tap – any “touch” of the screen or touchpad. Press on the screen, respectively, “tap”.
- “Pinch” is a gesture associated with “spreading” or “squeezing” fingers touching the touch screen. It is often used when scaling illustrations or when rotating the camera on the same maps from Apple or Google.
- “Multi Touch” is a technology for recognizing several simultaneous taps on the screen.
What devices is it used on?
The swipe concept is implemented on mobile operating systems (iOS, Android, Windows Mobile and even Symbian) and on computers with Windows and MacOS. The same “touches,” “swipes,” and “machinations” associated with “zooming” and “scrolling” have long appeared on laptops with touch screens or touchpads (and trackpads and even Apple’s Magic Mouse work in a similar scenario) . Despite similar ideas, gestures on PC and mobile devices work slightly differently.
The key difference is the number of fingers used: on iOS and Android, 99% of the time, one or two are enough, but on computers, to call Mission Control on MacOS or list desktops on Windows, you will need a combination of three or even four. Not quite familiar, but quite comfortable if you only have a touchpad, trackpad or mouse with a touchpad instead of buttons at hand.
Difficulties and problems
The procedure for adding a swipe is as simple as possible and does not cause difficulties. If, while editing a publication, you notice that there is no paperclip icon, this means that you do not have access to this function. In this case, you need to contact technical support and try to resolve the issue with professionals.
The article looked at how to make a swipe in a story on Instagram. This function expanded the capabilities of the social network and turned it into a platform for conducting commercial and advertising activities, as well as for promoting your page.
How to swipe correctly
If we consider the classic “swipe”, then there is practically no need to understand the details. The gesture works according to an extremely predictable scenario - just use your finger (or stylus) and quickly swipe the touch screen of a smartphone or tablet (or the touchpad on a laptop) in any direction: as an option - from bottom to top or from right to left.
How the operating system reacts to a gesture depends on the software running, available tools, or the specific situation. A trivial example: an iPhone with Face ID on a locked screen, swiping left will open the camera, swiping to the right will show a set of pinned widgets, and up will unlock it and display the contents of the desktop.
↑ Features of Swype
- Understands the meaning of the gesture and enters what the person wanted to type. Swype depends on its built-in vocabulary. Fortunately, you can expand your vocabulary on your own.
- You can enter punctuation marks. To do this, you need to swipe from the punctuation mark to the space. Let's say that to add a comma after entering a word, you need to click on it, go to the spacebar and raise it. This automatically inserts a punctuation mark followed by a space to continue swiping.
- Makes big words at the beginning of a sentence, but you can also use a special movement for capital letters.
If you need to type "What" with a capital letter, start with H and slide up and down the keyboard, swipe down on the keyboard, and swipe across other letters as normal.
Using Swype is possible thanks to the versatility of Android - developers can replace the system keyboard, providing additional text input options. Fans of Apple devices are out of luck in this regard.
Swipe commands
“Swipes” and gestures on the iOS and Android mobile operating systems are in many ways similar – especially after the advent of the iPhone with Face ID, when Apple developers completely got rid of the Home button and reorganized the principle of interaction with iOS. Instead of “clicks,” swipes appeared (“swipes” in the Apple “universe”), which returned to the desktop or opened a quick access panel with docked controls.
Along with the basic gestures, slightly more advanced ones also appeared - a quick swipe along the bottom edge of the iPhone (we’re talking about a special white strip attached to the bottom of the interface) allowed you to switch between running software, and swiping and holding your finger in the central part of the desktop opened a menu with additional details.
Specialists from Google did not immediately copy the gesture system and for some time expected to replace the swipe system with touch buttons attached to the bottom of the interface. But a little later they added ideas from iOS to the settings, leaving the final choice to the users.
If we don’t consider the ways of interacting with the operating system, the swipe commands in launched applications are also largely similar. Swiping left on Instagram instantly opens Direct, and swiping right either opens the camera for preparing a post or Stories, or allows you to go back a few steps.
Browsers on iOS and Android support gestures no less diversely - they allow you to “swipe” to scroll through web pages, “tap” to select and copy text, and “pinch” to scale content. “Swipe” also works - the same Google Chrome or Safari even allows you to switch between tabs if you swipe your finger or stylus to the right or left in the address bar.
Slightly more unpredictable swipe commands are rare: mobile software developers try to adhere to an almost unchanged guideline, special rules that bring the software to uniformity. Well, if some specialists decide to experiment, then users will definitely be shown the appropriate instructions.
↑ Second meaning
This term has another concept.
Swype (via "Y") is an Android keyboard app that launched on the Play Store in 2013. It replaces pressing letters with sliding your fingers along them. At the moment, this program, responsible for popularizing scrolling virtual keyboards, no longer works, but there are many analogues. Swype was one of the best third-party keyboards for Android, focusing on swipe text entry and voice dictation. Nowadays there are a huge number of keyboard applications on the Play Market. You can download and use them for free. Also, many Android gadgets are initially released with this program, but by default it is not activated and in this case it must be launched.
Additional features
The keyboard also has a number of additional features:
- Creating and maintaining your own dictionary . It can be replenished and expanded not only from the actions of a specific user, but also from the actions of people around the world.
- Personal dictionary . For personal phrases.
- Using voice input . An additional feature that allows you to enter words by speaking them into the microphone.
- Dictionaries are synchronized not with a specific device, but with an account.
- Ability to download additional modules, such as languages.
- Different types of keyboards for different devices and their types.
Other online dating slang
Besides swiping left and right, there are several other terms from online dating culture that have become popular memes and slang words on the Internet. Here are some you should know:
- Match: A couple of people who have expressed mutual interest in each other on a dating app. Matches are allowed to send messages to each other.
- Super Like/Swipe Up:
This is a term derived from Tinder's "super like" feature, which allows you to highlight your profile to a user you're very interested in. When used outside of Tinder, it means you really like something. - Ghost: It means to stop responding to someone altogether. This is a fairly popular term even outside of dating and can apply to all scenarios.
- Catfishing: A term established in the early days of online dating, it means using fake photos of yourself to get more matches and meet more people.
- Breadcrumbs: This means talking to someone in an evasive manner, which may cause them to hang around and wait for confirmation.
If you want to learn more about popular online slang, you can check out our breakdown of NSFW and AMA acronyms.
How does Tinder work?
Every newbie wants to understand how Tinder works. The main principle of using the application is very simple - rating photos . Tinder users view other people's photos and accounts and then:
- Swipe right . Such a gesture means the user wants to continue getting to know the person, after which another Tinder user receives a notification . If he likes the profile of a potential partner, he sends a mutual swipe to the right - as a result, users can start communicating in a personal chat.
- Swipe left - this will mean refusal of further acquaintance. If a swipe to the left was made accidentally, the user will not be able to return the profile back.
That’s why you need to know the nuances of how Tinder works so that you don’t miss out on an interesting acquaintance in the future.
Tinder app
Requirements for using swipe up
There are requirements and conditions for using the swipe function. You need to set up your account as a business profile. And one more important condition - you must have at least 10,000 subscribers.
Or you need to confirm your account. A blue checkmark next to a profile means Instagram has verified that the account is that of a famous person, celebrity, or brand. Pay attention to the accounts of famous people - everyone has a blue tick next to their avatar.
Some business accounts do not have such restrictions. If you redirect to IGTV, then there are no requirements for the size of the audience. The only negative is that the shows will be available only to subscribers. For business, this strategy is not very successful.
Where can I download
The program is available for free download from our catalog.
Other keyboards also support the continuous input function: Gboard - Google Keyboard, Ginger Keyboard Emoji and Chrooma Keyboard + Proofreader.
SwiftKey keyboard interface.
Why Swipe Up is useful
You can add swipe yourself. It is usually used in History to go to an advertisement or to a site with its own products. To use Swipe Up, you need to run an advertisement in Stories or add a link to the Internet portal.
When viewing a story, a subscriber can swipe up from the bottom and follow a pre-assigned link. When setting up, you can add a picture with an arrow or a signature. Companies often use an unusual technique: they add a drawn hair to a publication, and when the user tries to swipe it, he instantly clicks on the link.
Important. Using advertising in Stories is a paid option. To add links to your posts, you must have at least 10,000 subscribers.
Definition
The word "Swype" is taken from the English language. It is a combination of two other words - “swipe” , which means “to slide” , and “type” , which means “to enter text” .
At one time, and to be precise, in 2010-2011, the developers of Nuance Communications combined these two words.
They needed this in order to use the resulting term to refer to the method of entering characters that they had invented.
Rice. 1. Nuance Communications
To be precise, Swype is a text input method in which your finger or stylus does not leave the keyboard on the screen.
This is exactly what Nuance Communications specialists had in mind when they created their creation.
The main inventor of the swipe is Cliff Kushler, who also invented T9, the well-known text input system with hints (in layman's terms).
The first release of the character typing method we are considering is dated April 24, 2013, when users of the Android 2.2 operating system around the world were able to try entering text in this way.
This is interesting: The latest version of Swype (1.6.5.23769) was released in the same 2013, only in December. Since that time, Nuance Communications has not engaged in new developments in this area. In addition, the company only nominally supports its product, since there is simply no point in making any changes.
Today there is a trademark Swype Inc., created by Nuance Communications. She owns all rights to use, as well as profits from this product.
Any user can visit swype.com to find out more information.
Examples of successful swipes on Instagram
Most users follow links in stories every day, be it a product advertisement or someone’s blog. This can be done simply with a link, but there are examples in which advertising is presented in such a way that the user himself follows the link thanks to the tricks of the post or at will:
- Example No. 1. One of the Chinese shoe factories created stories with images of sneakers and shoes, but drew rather realistic hair. The user who was viewing the ad wanted to remove it, thereby swiping on Instagram and following the link.
- Example No. 2. A more direct, but no less effective way is to apply various arrows or patterns. This method is more often used when holding any competitions to encourage the user to swipe.
Instagram is one of the most effective platforms for doing business thanks to the millions of users who visit the social network every day. The engine of trade is advertising, so popular bloggers regularly publish stories with links using one of the above methods.
