Gestures and buttons
Your phone is the controller. What a gesture does depends on what you are pointing at in the glasses. At the bottom of the trackpad, the controller shows the name of what is in front of you (for example Browser or Gallery) and its most useful gestures. This page lists all of them.
The gestures are the same on iPhone and Android. Where something only exists on one phone, the table says so.
iPhoneAndroidThe basic gestures
Section titled "The basic gestures"These work in most places with the Trackpad pointer.
| Gesture on the phone | What it does |
|---|---|
| Slide one finger | Moves the cursor. Slow moves are precise; fast moves cover more distance. |
| tap | Clicks what the cursor is on. |
| Touch and hold about half a second, then move | Grabs and moves. On the bar of a window: moves the window. On a corner: resizes it. On an icon of the Deck: moves the icon. In an Android app: drags inside the app. Keep the finger still while you wait: if it moves first, it just moves the cursor. |
| Two fingers up or down | Scrolls what is under the cursor. |
| Two fingers, a quick flick up or down | Scrolls a long way at once, handy in feeds of short videos. |
| Three fingers up | enter the HUD |
| Three fingers down | leave the HUD |
| Three fingers left or right | In Theater: moves between the Deck and your open windows. |
| pinch | Zooms a photo, or the map in the HUD. Web pages don't zoom with a pinch: use Zoom in the window menu. |
If you hold over something that can't be grabbed, letting go still counts as a click.
Gestures for what is in front of you
Section titled "Gestures for what is in front of you"The Deck
Section titled "The Deck"| Gesture | What it does |
|---|---|
| point | move the cursor |
| tap | opens the app |
| Two fingers left or right | Changes the page of the Deck. |
| Touch and hold an icon, then move | Moves the icon. Pull it away from the Deck and let go to remove it. For a few seconds, the phone shows Undo to bring it back. |
| Three fingers up | enter the HUD |
A web page
Section titled "A web page"The controller shows Browser.
| Gesture | What it does |
|---|---|
| tap | click on the page |
| Two fingers up or down | scroll |
| Tap a text field | opens keyboard, in the glasses or on the phone. See Type text. |
| Touch and hold the window's bar, then move | Moves the window. In Spatial and in the HUD. |
| Touch and hold a corner, then move | Resizes the window. In Spatial and in the HUD. |
To go back a page, use the back button on the window's bar, or Back on the phone. When a video on a website is in full screen, the phone shows Exit full screen to take it out.
An Android app Android
Section titled "An Android app "On the phone, the hints at the bottom are the same as for a web page. These are the gestures that reach the app:
| Gesture | What it does |
|---|---|
| tap | Taps in the app. |
| Touch and hold about half a second, then move | Drags inside the app, like a finger on the screen: a map, a slider, an item in a list. |
| Two fingers in any direction | Scrolls or drags inside the app. A quick swipe keeps going, like with a finger. |
| Pinch, or turn two fingers | Not passed to Android apps: the app only sees one finger. Use the app's own zoom buttons if it has them. |
To go back inside the app, use the back button on the window's bar when it appears, or Back on the phone. The phone's own back gesture does the same. More in Use Android apps.
The Gallery
Section titled "The Gallery"The controller shows Gallery.
| Gesture | What it does |
|---|---|
| tap | opens photo or video |
| Two fingers up or down | browse the grid |
| Three fingers up | enter the HUD |
A photo
Section titled "A photo"The controller shows Viewer.
| Gesture | What it does |
|---|---|
| Two fingers left or right | Next or previous photo. |
| pinch | zoom |
| Two fingers, while zoomed in | Moves around the photo. |
| Tap the close button | close |
A video
Section titled "A video"The controller shows Player. You use the buttons of the player in the glasses.
| Gesture | What it does |
|---|---|
| Tap the play button | pause / play |
| Tap the 10-second buttons | 10 s jumps, back or forward |
| Tap the progress bar | Jumps to that point. |
| Tap Subtitles or Audio | Chooses the subtitles or the audio track, when the video has them. |
| Tap the close button | close |
More in Watch your videos and photos.
The HUD
Section titled "The HUD"The controller shows HUD.
| Gesture | What it does |
|---|---|
| point | at a window |
| tap | Uses the widget or window under the cursor. |
| Touch and hold a widget's bar, then move | Moves it. When you let go, it settles into place. |
| Touch and hold a corner, then move | Resizes it. |
| Two fingers up or down | Scrolls a web window in the HUD. |
| pinch over the map | Zooms the map. |
| Three fingers down | leave the HUD |
More in HUD and widgets.
With the Laser or Gaze pointer
Section titled "With the Laser or Gaze pointer"At the top right of the controller you choose the pointer. With Laser or Gaze, you aim without sliding a finger, so one finger scrolls instead. The gestures are the same for everything you look at.
Laser
| Gesture | What it does |
|---|---|
| Turn the phone | Moves the cursor: point the phone at what you want. |
| tap | select |
| One finger up or down | scroll |
| Touch and hold, then turn the phone | Moves what you grabbed. |
| Center laser button | Brings the cursor back to the middle of the view. |
Needs glasses with head tracking.
| Gesture | What it does |
|---|---|
| Move your head | Move your head (glasses in Anchor mode) |
| tap | select |
| One finger up or down | scroll |
In a VR game Android
Section titled "In a VR game "During a game the controller changes, and the pointer choice goes away.
| How you play | What the phone does |
|---|---|
| With the phone as the controller | The whole phone screen is the controller. Hold the phone sideways. Tap the house for the menu, hold it to recenter. |
| With a game controller | The phone shows which controller the game uses. Tap the phone screen to show the strip in the glasses, with Center and the exit button. |
More in Play a VR game and Controllers for VR games.
Buttons on the controller
Section titled "Buttons on the controller"| Button | What it does | Phone |
|---|---|---|
| Sliders icon, top left | Opens Settings. See All settings. | Both |
| Screen icon with a red dot | Starts and stops recording what you see in the glasses. See Record the glasses view. | Both |
| Moon icon | Turn off phone screen. The glasses keep going. To turn the screen back on, lock and unlock the phone. | Android |
| Pointer choice, top right | Trackpad, Laser or Gaze. Only the one in use shows its name. | Both |
| Back | Goes back one step in the glasses: a panel, the keyboard, the Deck, a Gallery photo or video, a page, an Android app, and then home. On iPhone, back in the web. On Android, only when there is somewhere to go back to. | Both |
| Center | The same as Center on the strip. On Android, only in the free Space and in 360 or immersive videos. | Both |
| Keyboard | Opens the phone keyboard to type in the glasses. On Android, only with a web page or an Android app in front. | Both |
| Center laser | Brings the laser cursor back to the middle. Only with the Laser pointer. | Both |
| Exit full screen | Takes a web video out of full screen. Only appears while one is in full screen. | Both |
On Android, the back gesture works like Back: a swipe from the edge of the phone goes back one step in the glasses and does not close MiruXR. To leave MiruXR, use the phone's home gesture or button.
Other ways to control
Section titled "Other ways to control"- A Bluetooth mouse or a game controller: see Mouse and gamepads.
- An Apple Watch as a trackpad: see Apple Watch.