Developed By
Gautam Kumar - Full stack developer
DEEP DIVE INTO
A "touch swipe event" in JavaScript refers to the action of quickly moving a finger or fingers across the touchscreen of a touch-enabled device in a specific direction.
Swiping is a common gesture used in mobile and web applications for various purposes, such as scrolling, navigating between pages or images, or triggering actions like deleting or archiving items.
To handle a touch swipe event in JavaScript, you can use the touchstart
, touchmove
, and touchend
events to detect and track the direction and distance of the swipe.
javascriptvar initialX; // Initialize a variable to store the initial touch position
var initialY;
var isSwiping = false; // Initialize a variable to track if a swipe is in progress
element.addEventListener("touchstart", function(event) {
initialX = event.touches[0].pageX; // Store the initial touch position
initialY = event.touches[0].pageY;
isSwiping = true; // Indicate that a swipe has started
});
element.addEventListener("touchmove", function(event) {
if (!isSwiping) return; // Ignore touchmove events if a swipe hasn't started
var currentX = event.touches[0].pageX;
var currentY = event.touches[0].pageY;
var deltaX = currentX - initialX; // Calculate the horizontal distance moved
var deltaY = currentY - initialY; // Calculate the vertical distance moved
// Determine the direction of the swipe based on the distance
if (Math.abs(deltaX) > Math.abs(deltaY)) {
if (deltaX > 0) {
// Right swipe
} else {
// Left swipe
}
} else {
if (deltaY > 0) {
// Down swipe
} else {
// Up swipe
}
}
// You can also update the user interface or perform other actions during the swipe.
});
element.addEventListener("touchend", function(event) {
isSwiping = false; // Reset the swipe state when the touch ends
});
We start tracking a swipe when the touchstart
event occurs, storing the initial touch position (both pageX
and pageY
) and indicating that a swipe is in progress.
During the touchmove
event, we calculate the change in touch position (deltaX
and deltaY
) to determine the direction of the swipe. We compare the horizontal and vertical distances to decide whether it's a left, right, up, or down swipe.
Depending on the detected direction, you can take action or update the user interface as needed.
After the swipe is complete and the touchend
event occurs, we reset the isSwiping
flag to indicate that the swipe has ended.
By implementing touch swipe events in this manner, you can create responsive and interactive user experiences for touch-enabled devices in your mobile and web applications.
Depending on your use case, you can customize the response to different swipe directions and distances.