21 Gesture Hysteresis. 21 of 95.
21/GESTURE PHYSICS/21 of 95
Gesture Hysteresis
Entering a state and leaving it need not use the same threshold.
Best experienced with a pointer.
The problem
A single threshold at a boundary — swipe arming or drop-target edges — makes modes flicker as the value jitters around the line.
The solution
Separate enter and exit thresholds keep mode changes (and sticky drop targets) stable.
Experiment
Play with the values
72px
40px
How it works
- Gesture distance is measured against two thresholds, not one.
- Crossing the enter threshold is what arms the mode.
- The mode stays armed even if the pointer drifts slightly back.
- Leaving requires a farther exit threshold.
- The gap between the two thresholds stops the mode from flickering on the boundary.
Seen in
Swipe-to-action
Armed archive stays lit until drag falls below a lower release band.
Pull-to-refresh
Commit band enters high and exits lower so the spinner does not flicker.
Edge peek panels
Side drawers open past enter and only dismiss below exit.
Zoom mode switch
Pinch enters zoom mode at one spread and leaves at a tighter exit.