Apple Inc

How the iPhone's Slide-to-Unlock Gesture Worked

Apple's 2010 patent on unlocking a device by dragging a specific graphical image along a predefined path on a touchscreen, a gesture iconic with early iPhones.

How Touchscreens Tell the Difference Between Your Finger Gestures

Apple's 2009 patent describes how a touchscreen device uses clever rules, called heuristics, to figure out whether your finger movement means you want to scroll, pan, or switch items, often by looking at the very start of your touch.

How Touchscreens Make Documents Bounce When You Scroll Too Far

Apple's 2008 patent describes how a touchscreen device can make a document or list appear to stretch and then snap back when a user scrolls past its natural edge, creating a satisfying elastic feel.

Multipoint touchscreen

Unlocking a device by performing gestures on an unlock image

Application programming interfaces for scrolling operations

Ellipse fitting for multi-touch surfaces

Scrolling techniques for user interfaces

Individual channel phase delay scheme

Device, method, and graphical user interface for manipulating soft keyboards

How Apple Detects Hand Gestures in Spatial Computing

A 2024 test patent covering pinch-to-confirm gesture detection used in Apple Vision Pro.