WOLFRAM

Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center

GestureHandler[expr,{"gesture1"fun1,"gesture2"fun2,…}]

displays as expr, evaluating funi[value,velocity] whenever "gesturei" occurs within the screen space occupied by expr.

GestureHandler[expr,{"gesture"{fun,funend},…}]

evaluates fun as updates are received for "gesture", followed by funend[value,velocity] when the gesture ends.

GestureHandler[expr,{"gesture"{funstart,fun,funend},…}]

also evaluates fstart[value,velocity] when "gesture" begins.

Details
Details and Options Details and Options
Examples  
Basic Examples  
Scope  
Types of Gestures  
Combining Gesture Handlers  
See Also
Related Guides
History
Cite this Page

GestureHandler

GestureHandler[expr,{"gesture1"fun1,"gesture2"fun2,…}]

displays as expr, evaluating funi[value,velocity] whenever "gesturei" occurs within the screen space occupied by expr.

GestureHandler[expr,{"gesture"{fun,funend},…}]

evaluates fun as updates are received for "gesture", followed by funend[value,velocity] when the gesture ends.

GestureHandler[expr,{"gesture"{funstart,fun,funend},…}]

also evaluates fstart[value,velocity] when "gesture" begins.

Details

  • GestureHandler is only active on touchscreen devices. Otherwise, it acts as an inert wrapper.
  • Functions take arguments that are associated with the specific gesture. Typically, the argument is a value in scaled coordinates that represents the magnitude of the gesture.
  • Standard gestures include:
  • "Pinch"two-fingered gesture where the fingers pinch together or apart; typically used for resizing
    "Drag"one-fingered dragging gesture
    {"Drag",n}dragging gesture using touches
  • GestureHandler passes two arguments to funi. The first argument represents the magnitude of the gesture, while the second represents the velocity of the gesture.
  • "Pinch"valuescale of the pinch as a fraction of the starting distance between the touches
    "Drag"{valx,valy}drag distance as a fraction of the horizontal and vertical sizes of expr
  • When GestureHandler expressions are nested, events are by default shared by all the expressions, with the innermost expression operating first on a particular event.

Examples

open all close all

Basic Examples  (2)

Print when a pinch gesture happens:

Wolfram Language code: GestureHandler[Graphics[{}, Background -> Gray], "Pinch" :> Print["Pinched!"]]

Dynamically print the distance of the last drag gesture:

Wolfram Language code: DynamicModule[{drag = {0, 0}}, Row[{GestureHandler[Graphics[{}, Background -> Gray], "Drag" :> ((drag = #)&)], Dynamic[drag]}]]

Scope  (6)

Types of Gestures  (5)

Drag gesture:

Wolfram Language code: DynamicModule[{pos = {0, 0}}, Graphics[{GestureHandler[Disk[Dynamic[pos]], "Drag" :> (pos += #&)]}, PlotRange -> {{-5, 5}, {-5, 5}}]]

Pinch gesture:

Wolfram Language code: DynamicModule[{scale = 1.}, GestureHandler[Graphics[{Circle[]}, Axes -> True, PlotRange -> Dynamic[scale * {-1, 1}]], "Pinch" :> (scale *= #&)]]

Tap gesture:

Wolfram Language code: DynamicModule[{col = RGBColor[Table[RandomReal[], {3}]]}, Graphics[GestureHandler[{Dynamic[col], Disk[]}, "Tap" :> (col = RGBColor[Table[RandomReal[], {3}]]&)]]]

Spin gesture:

Wolfram Language code: DynamicModule[{th = 0}, GestureHandler[Graphics[{Circle[], Disk[{0, 0}, 1, Dynamic[{th, th + Pi / 4}]]}], "Spin" :> (th += #&)]]

Long press gesture:

Wolfram Language code: DynamicModule[{col = RGBColor[Table[RandomReal[], {3}]]}, Graphics[GestureHandler[{Dynamic[col], Disk[]}, "LongPress" :> (col = RGBColor[Table[RandomReal[], {3}]]&)]]]

Combining Gesture Handlers  (1)

A single gesture may be simultaneously recognized by multiple gesture handlers:

Wolfram Language code: GestureHandler[Graphics[{}, Background -> Gray], {"Tap" :> Print["Tap"], {"Tap", 2} :> Print["DoubleTap"]}]
Wolfram Research (2012), GestureHandler, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/GestureHandler.html.

Text

Wolfram Research (2012), GestureHandler, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/GestureHandler.html.

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2012. "GestureHandler." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/GestureHandler.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2012). GestureHandler. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/GestureHandler.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2026_gesturehandler, author="Wolfram Research", title="{GestureHandler}", year="2012", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/GestureHandler.html}", note=[Accessed: 12-June-2026]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2026_gesturehandler, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={GestureHandler}, year={2012}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/GestureHandler.html}, note=[Accessed: 12-June-2026]}