Samsung Galaxy S6 touchscreen responses to your finger input. It understands your finger input through gestures.

These touchscreen gestures are actually almost universal on all Android devices. So this guide applies not only to Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge, but also many other Android devices.

This guide also shows you how to properly use and maintain your Galaxy S6 touchscreen.

Galaxy S6 touchscreen gesture 1: tapping

Tapping gesture means you tap the screen with one finger, and you tap it once  (as shown below).  This is the basic gesture on almost all smartphones and tablets.

You will use this Galaxy S6 touchscreen tapping gesture, when you want to to open an app, to select a menu item, to press an on-screen button, or to enter a character using the keyboard on the screen.

Of course, sometimes, you may accidentally tap the screen.

Galaxy S6 touchscreen gesture 2: dragging

Dragging gesture means you tap an object with one finger, without releasing your finger, then move the finger to another location on the screen as shown above.

For example, when you want to move an item, tap, hold and drag it to the target position.

Do not confuse the dragging gesture with swiping. Dragging gesture always has an object and the target location.

Galaxy S6 touchscreen gesture 3: tapping and holding

Tapping and holding gesture means you tapping an object or just the screen with one finger, without releasing your finger for more than 2 seconds (as shown below).

In Galaxy S6 touchscreen, tapping and holding gesture is mainly for you to access available options of the object or the screen.

For example, in Chrome browser, tapping and holding a link should give you some options to open the link or copy the link.

Galaxy S6 touchscreen gesture 4: double tapping

Double tapping gesture means you tap the object twice quickly, usually within 2 seconds as shown above.

In Galaxy S6 touchscreen, you can use double tapping gesture to zoom in a picture or a webpage. Use the double tapping gesture again to return,

Galaxy S6 touchscreen gesture 5: spreading

Spreading gesture means you put two fingers in the screen, then moving them apart as shown below.

Spreading gesture for Galaxy S6 touchscreen is mainly zoom in the screen.  The support of spreading gesture depends on the app. Maps, browser and gallery apps app support this gesture.

Galaxy S6 touchscreen gesture 6: pinching

Pinching gesture is the opposite of spreading as shown above. You move your two fingers closer.

Normally, pinching on Galaxy S6 touchscreen is for zooming out webpages, images or maps.

Any apps support spreading gesture should support pinching, and vice versa.

Galaxy S6 touchscreen gesture 7: swiping

Swiping gesture means you put your finger on the screen, then without releasing your finger from the screen, move the finger to another location as shown above.

Swiping gesture is different from the dragging gesture  mentioned earlier. The difference is that the swiping does not need a target location. Also, its object is usually just the screen or sides of the screen.

On Galaxy S6 touchscreen, you can swipe to the left or right on the Home screen or the Apps screen to view other panels. Swipe upwards or downwards to scroll through a webpage or a list of items, such as contacts.

When a call is coming on Galaxy S6, you need swipe to certain direction to answer or reject the call.

How to properly maintain Galaxy S6 touchscreen?

  • Do not allow Galaxy S6 touchscreen to come into contact with other electrical devices. Electrostatic discharges can cause the touchscreen to malfunction.
  • To avoid damaging Galaxy S6 touchscreen, do not tap it with anything sharp or apply excessive pressure to it with your fingertips.
  • Galaxy S6  may not recognize touch inputs close to the edges of the screen, which are outside of the touch input area. This is normal.
  • Turn off the touchscreen when you do not use Galaxy S6. Leaving the touchscreen idle for extended periods may result in afterimages (screen burn-in) or ghosting.
  • It is recommended to use fingers when you use Galaxy S6 touchscreen.

Can you use Galaxy S6 touchscreen now? Can you use the touchscreen gestures?

If you have any questions or encounter any problems on how to use Galaxy S6 touchscreen, Galaxy S6 edge touchscreen, or the touchscreen gestures, please let us know in the comment box below. We will try to help you.

For other features of Galaxy S6, please check Galaxy S6 online manual page.

For detailed guides on how to use Samsung Galaxy S6, please check Galaxy S6 how-to guidespage.

View Comments

  • Can i turn off the double tap zoom, it's not good with a lot of games it's just frustrating.

  • My sy seems really basic ? Cannot do a lot of the featues that people are talkibg about for some reason.
    My s planner is basic does not have half the options in the manual plus i cant find where to evem turn on the stuff your talking about in this article?

  • I'm looking for info on how to set my GS6 camera to be able to take a pic by touching anywhere on screen like my GS5 did. Is there an app or setting for this?
    Thanks.

  • On my phone, touchscreen gesture spreading work on my email but not on Facebook and other apps. How do I fix this?

  • Only had the S6 two weeks and the touchscreen is crap!! Have to click on each icon or app about 5 times before it responds/registers, especially if the phone is flat. Is factory re-set the only option??? Not happy!!

    • If it's a faulty units, you have to get it repaired or return it if possible.

      You can try to reset it. If problem persists, it means you probably get a faulty unit.

      If you know what you are doing, you can also dial the dignostics code: *#0*# to test the phone.

  • Can anyone tell me how to get this thing to stop doing it's own thing while it is in my pocket. Even your pants activate the touch scree in your po let and can constantly hear it bleeping. So annoying!

    • Did you set a screen lock?

      The beeping can be due to NFC. Your pocket may have other staff, like some payment cards with NFC.

  • My phone is stuck in zoom mode. I have tried the method but it zooms in and when I try to zoom out it zooms out small and doesn't go to its original screen size

  • I would like to know how I intentionally disable my S6 Edge touch screen. My daughter likes to watch Hulu or YouTube but she always touches the touch screen and I want to lock it so that she can't do anything so she can just watch the movie what do I do?

    • You have to disable edge panels in Settings--edge screen --edge panels.

      Game tools can only lock recent and back buttons, not edge screen handle.

  • Hi. I have a question about s6 edge. When I tap down the quiq settings its going up very fast. I mean immediately. I dont have time to set Wi fi or something else. But its not happen all the time. I dont understand why, how can I fix this? :(

    • It seems you tapped somewhere else. This will close the shade. It's very easy to tap the screen accidently due to tiny bazel and curved screen.

  • I used to be able to pull down email notifications and view all senders. How do I reset to pull down on l9ck screen and quick settings to quickly view the email sender without opening the app?

    • Email app or Gmail app? You need enable notifications in the app, and set show contents for notification on lock screen

    • Samsung removed the multi-user feature and guest mode as well. So, you cannot use guest mode in S6 and (any other Galaxy phones either).