Too Epic Tumblelog // Expanding browsing in Mobile Safari with Multitouch

Mar 2 8:23 pm

Expanding browsing in Mobile Safari with Multitouch

I use tabs a lot when I’m browsing on my computer. In fact, I probably command+click links more frequently than I click them. After hundreds of hours of using Mobile Safari on my iPhone since the device’s original launch back in June of 2007, I’ve noticed I always feel boxed in when browsing on the device. It’s not because of the tiny screen. It’s because browsing on iPhone is too linear. I’m accustomed to switching between content at will. iPhone doesn’t offer me this flexibility, and it definitely could with the addition of a simple, unobtrusive multitouch gesture.

First, let me better explain my frustration: Say I’m reading an article online, and halfway through the article, there’s an interesting link. With a conventional desktop browser, I’d just open the link in a new tab and continue reading the first article. On iPhone this is impossible. I have to either: 1. ignore the link, continue reading, then find the link again once I’m finished with the original article, or 2. click the link, browse the new site, then go back to the original page and finish reading the original article.

Now, the solution: allow me to press on a link with one finger and, using the other finger, click on the “window” button on the right of the bottom toolbar to open the link in a new window. That’s it. It’s effectively translating the command+click gesture to multitouch. It’s technically more of a combination of two presses than it is a “gesture,” but it’s logical in my eyes, albeit slightly hidden (then again, a lot of things in the iPhone interface are, eg: tapping the top bar to scroll up to the top a list).