15 Long Press Threshold. 15 of 95.
15/GESTURE PHYSICS/15 of 95
Long Press Threshold
Holding is a different intention than tapping.
The problem
Without a dwell threshold, the system can't tell a quick tap from a deliberate press-and-hold.
The solution
A press must be held past the dwell time (without moving) to count; drag requires distance or delay before activation.
Experiment
Play with the values
500ms
10px
8px
How it works
- Pointer down starts a possible long press, which is a different intention from a tap.
- A dwell timer measures how long the contact is held.
- Moving past a small slop, or releasing early, cancels the long press.
- If the hold reaches the threshold, the long-press action fires.
- Progress feedback during the hold shows that the gesture is accumulating.
- A drag can instead require distance or a short delay before it activates, so a tap does not pick the item up.
Seen in
Context menus
Press-and-hold opens actions on touch without hijacking normal taps.
Reaction pickers
Holding a message reveals reactions while a tap just opens it.
Reorder handles
A long press or distance threshold picks up an item for dragging, separate from scrolling.
Selection mode
Holding an item enters multi-select without an explicit toggle.