- Tapping is the most basic gesture for the iPhone. A tap is similar to clicking your mouse or hitting a key on your computer: it can select an item, open an item or enter a command, such as "Continue" or "Done." To open an app, you must tap it. To send an email, you must tap "Send." Tapping in a text box will move the cursor to that point, and double-tapping will bring up a menu of options such as "Select" or "Paste."
- If you hold down a tap for several seconds, it can indicate a different command depending on the type of screen you are in. For example, if you press and hold an app in the home screen, you enter Edit Mode, which allows you to delete or move your apps. If you press and hold text in a text-edit screen, such as the Notes app, a magnifying bubble appears, allowing you to better see where the cursor is. When you release, you can opt to select the text.
- To scroll up and down or left and right, flick or swipe your finger across the screen. The faster you flick, the faster you scroll. When you want to move to the next page of apps, swipe your finger from right to left. Swiping from left to right on the homepage will bring you to the Search page. To browse your iPod songs, emails or other lists of information, swipe from bottom to top to move down the list and top to bottom to move back up.
- To make the iPhone's screen easier to read, you may want to zoom in or out on an image or text. Although you cannot perform this operation on every screen, you can do it on most images and in most text areas, such as on Web pages in Safari. To zoom in, press two fingers to the screen and pull them apart, touching the screen the whole time. To zoom out, pinch two fingers together. You can use any two fingers, but most people find it easiest to use their thumb and index fingers.
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