Facebook introduces VoiceOver gestures for iOS Messenger app

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Wednesday, 29 October 2014 16:54pm

Facebook has recently announced the addition of gesture-based accessibility features in the latest version of its Messenger app for iOS8.

Facebook Messenger app logo

As outlined in a recent Facebook Accessibility post, the new VoiceOver gestures are available for the Delete, Mute and More actions in the latest version of Facebook’s Messenger app (version 13) for iOS8 only.

The actions are available from the messages list view ('Recent' tab) by using gestures to swipe up or down, following a similar interaction model found in Apple’s Mail app.

To access the actions:

  1. Navigate to any conversation from the ‘Recent’ tab
  2. Swipe up/down to access the custom actions (swipe left/right will move through the conversations)
  3. Double-tap to activate the action you desire

VoiceOver will announce a hint for the gestures if a message is selected in the messages list view. There is no word on an Android or Windows mobile alternative at present.

More information on using VoiceOver gestures for iOS is available on the accessibility section of Apple’s website.


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