• Poison Maps

• The Ultimate Maps App

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Poison Maps includes two unique (and patent pending) gestures to help zoom or pan around a large document on a smaller touchscreen. We call these gestures "Context Zoom" and "Context Pan", although they are arguably the same gesture but with two separate uses.

• "Context Zooming" allows you to quickly see what is beyond the map edges. Simply tap and hold the map and it will zoom out, showing you what is around your current location, whilst identifying the original area with a red box. The longer you hold, the further it will zoom out. Lift your finger and it will zoom back in to the original area.


• "Context Panning" extends this to enable rapid panning. If you move your finger whilst the map is zoomed out then the red box moves with you (leaving a grey box over the original area). Position the red box over the area that you wish to pan to and lift your finger and the map zooms back in to the scale you were at, but showing the area you want. If you position the box at the edge of the screen then it will automatically pan across in that direction.

On devices with 3D Touch functionality, the force of the touch can be used to control how far you zoom out. This is more immediate than a long touch, and also allows the zoom factor to be controlled at any time, even after the pan has started.

These gestures are not designed to replace the traditional "pinching" type gestures but instead to complement them. In some situations the traditional approach is still best, but in other situations these new gestures are more suitable:

• When the screen is very small

  The new gestures only require one touch of one finger, unlike the multi-finger gymnastics required by pinching. This makes them particularly useful for very small screens without much room for pinching (e.g. watches).

• When the user wishes to stay at the same zoom level but move long distances

  The new pan gesture is simpler than pinching to zoom out, panning across and then pinching to zoom in again. This is a common operation, for example when editing a large image or reading a large document or web page.

• When the just wishes to see what is around the current area

  The new zoom gesture is much simpler than pinching to zoom out and then pinching to zoom in again.

© CCS Ltd 2015.  Email us or click here for the Press Kit