Why oes WP8/8.1 not support multi-touch?

[himmatsj]

Sometimes, on my large Lumia 1320, a bit of my finger on the left hand is on the screen, and I won't be able to use the phone. Early on, I thought it was a issue with the screen until I realized WP8 DOES NOT support multi-touch.

Now with 8.1, this is more jarring as I cannot swipe down notification center with one hand and then tap a quick toggle with the other (while still holding the notification centre down halfway).

 

[anon(7900571)]

I believe that's due to touch rejection (reject accidental touches on the phone).

 

[GB330033]

I don't recall if it worked this way in WP8, but I'm certain that WP8.1 supports some form of multi-touch, though it may be hardware dependent (I'm on a Lumia 1020). Pop into the maps app and scroll around with one finger. Then, with that finger still on the map, use a second finger to spin the map around.

You can also see multi-touch functionality on the Start screen by scrolling all the way down, then put a finger in the middle of the screen and scroll back up. The device senses that you have a second finger down and will scroll slower.

Edit: For what it's worth, I can't pull down the notification center partway and toggle something either. I think that's by design. It seems to work much like the lock screen, in that you can't interact with your Start screen until the lock screen is swiped all the way up.

 

[himmatsj]

Nope. If I hold one thumb down in the middle of the screen, I cannot use another finger to tap on something. Very weak. We should get an option to enable multitouch.

 

[anon(7900571)]

Nope. If I hold one thumb down in the middle of the screen, I cannot use another finger to tap on something. Very weak. We should get an option to enable multitouch.

your phone does have multi touch , a good example is pinch to zoom in photos\web pages.

 

[GB330033]

I can't tap to open anything while one finger is sliding the Start screen around, but that doesn't mean that WP8/8.1 doesn't support multi-touch. It just means that the OS rejects selection inputs while scrolling. Multi-touch is fully supported, just not in the way that you want to use it.

 

[anon(7900571)]

I can't tap to open anything while one finger is sliding the Start screen around, but that doesn't mean that WP8/8.1 doesn't support multi-touch. It just means that the OS rejects selection inputs while scrolling. Multi-touch is fully supported, just not in the way that you want to use it.

true , I don't get the point why some phones have 10 multi touch (I wonder how will I use 10 finger on a phone )
I can understand multi touch works great on tablets (for instance iPad :- fingers to close apps and 4 fingers to swipe between apps ).

 

[neo158]

Sometimes, on my large Lumia 1320, a bit of my finger on the left hand is on the screen, and I won't be able to use the phone. Early on, I thought it was a issue with the screen until I realized WP8 DOES NOT support multi-touch.

Now with 8.1, this is more jarring as I cannot swipe down notification center with one hand and then tap a quick toggle with the other (while still holding the notification centre down halfway).

If it doesn't have multi touch then what is it using instead?

 

[kevynpm]

It has multi-touch but those UIs are designed to prevent accidentally toggling or selecting something until the UI is fully displayed. Luckily the notification center pulls down really quickly so you don't have to wait long before you toggle that button.

 

[himmatsj]

Ok yes, I should have been clearer. This was mostly in the homesreen where I saw an issue. Like I said, why can't we have an option to turn it off? Some apps also reject more than one touch. But I am mostly taking about the OS/UI.

 

[foxbat121]

I believe multi-touch is only useful in certain situations like pinch zoom and on-screen keyboard. WP8/8.1 works well in that aspect. Most Android keyboard I used don't' support multi-touch.

As for use it in general UI navigation, it's a design decision and possible will be too difficult or confusing to user. If you touch two tiles, will it launch two apps at the same time?

It doesn't mean WP doesn't support multi-touch.

 

[gkrew]

check out Multi-touch Test from the Store

Multi Touch Test | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States)