Abstract: A mobile device enables refined selections of displayed virtual objects by responding to a user's tapping actions on the sides of the device. The device can move the object by a small increment in a direction opposite the tapped surface, as though the tapping were gently nudging the object away from that surface. For example, if the user taps on the right side of the device, then the device can responsively move a currently selected object leftward by one pixel. Conversely, if the user taps on the left side of the device, then the device can responsively move the currently selected object rightward by one pixel. Similar movements of similar magnitude and in expected directions can be achieved by tapping the top or bottom of the device. Thus, a currently selected object can be moved in a more refined and precise manner than might be possible using a touchscreen alone.

Abstract: A mobile device enables the performance of an operation, which can be performed with only coarse granularity using a touchscreen, to be performed with finer granularity in response to detection of stimulus via mechanisms other than the touchscreen. For example, the mobile device can use its sensors (e.g., accelerometer, gyroscope, etc.) to detect a tapping motion against a non-touchscreen surface of that mobile device. In response to detecting such physical interaction, the mobile device can perform the operation with a level of precision that cannot be achieved when the performance of the operation is attempted via interaction with the touchscreen. The level of granularity of performance can vary with the interaction's force. For example, a tap performed with lesser force can cause a displayed object to move one pixel, while a tap performed with greater force can cause that displayed object to move five pixels.

Abstract: A mobile device enables refined adjustments of selections shown on its display by detecting and responding to a user's tapping actions relative to the sides of the mobile device. In response such tapping, the mobile device can finely alter the scope of the selection in an expected direction. For example, if the user has selected text having leftmost and right-most selection boundaries, then the mobile device can respond to the user's touching of one of those boundaries by making that boundary the currently “active” boundary, and then respond to the user's tapping on a side of the mobile device by moving the currently active boundary one text character away from the tapped side, thereby causing different text characters to be contained within the selected text. Using this technique, the mobile device's user can more easily refine the scope of the selected items to include slightly more or slightly fewer items.

Abstract: A mobile device enables refined selections of displayed virtual objects by responding to a user's tapping actions on the sides of the device. The device can move the object by a small increment in a direction opposite the tapped surface, as though the tapping were gently nudging the object away from that surface. For example, if the user taps on the right side of the device, then the device can responsively move a currently selected object leftward by one pixel. Conversely, if the user taps on the left side of the device, then the device can responsively move the currently selected object rightward by one pixel. Similar movements of similar magnitude and in expected directions can be achieved by tapping the top or bottom of the device. Thus, a currently selected object can be moved in a more refined and precise manner than might be possible using a touchscreen alone.

Abstract: A mobile device enables the performance of an operation, which can be performed with only coarse granularity using a touchscreen, to be performed with finer granularity in response to detection of stimulus via mechanisms other than the touchscreen. For example, the mobile device can use its sensors (e.g., accelerometer, gyroscope, etc.) to detect a tapping motion against a non-touchscreen surface of that mobile device. In response to detecting such physical interaction, the mobile device can perform the operation with a level of precision that cannot be achieved when the performance of the operation is attempted via interaction with the touchscreen. The level of granularity of performance can vary with the interaction's force. For example, a tap performed with lesser force can cause a displayed object to move one pixel, while a tap performed with greater force can cause that displayed object to move five pixels.

Abstract: A mobile device can execute an operating system that presents icons on a touchscreen. The mobile device can detect a single-tap or a double-tap made by the user relative to an icon. In response to a single-tap relative to an icon, the operating system can send a first type of signal to an application. In response to a double-tap relative to the icon, the operating system can send a second type of signal to the application. The application can react to the receipt of the first type of signal in a manner that is different from the manner in which the application reacts to the receipt of the second type of signal. In response to first type of signal, the application can present an item list. In response to the second type of signal, the application can enable new item creation.