Learn to use the smartphone's 'Swipe' user interface with ease

Oct 31, 2011 20:01 GMT  ·  By

Although Nokia confirmed that the N9 will be its first and last smartphone based on the MeeGo operating system, the Finnish company announced it will support the device with software updates and apps until at least 2015.

Nokia N9 comes with a brand new operating system based on Linux, and features a unique user interface, which seems to be based on a single gesture – 'swipe.'

Even though the 'swipe' gesture has been introduced in Android, iOS and other mobile platforms a long time ago, Nokia N9's 'Swipe' user interface is innovative in the fact that it is almost entirely based on this gesture.

The N9 comes with only three home screens dubbed by Nokia, Applications, Events and Open Applications, which are similar to Android's Launcher, Notifications and Task Manager panes.

The first thing you need to learn is how these home screens are working and how one can make good use of them.

The first home screen displayed when you unlock the phone is the Applications menu, which, obviously, shows all the apps.

This is the place where you can start any apps installed on the phone, as well as install new ones.

You can install apps via Nokia Store or other app stores, but you will need to enable a special setting from Settings / Applications / Installations / Allow installations from non-Store sources.

To close an application and remove it from the screen you need to swipe toward the center of the screen from any edge.

The application will be automatically sent on the next home screen, dubbed Open Applications, which acts as a Task Manager.

All applications 'closed' this way can be found on the Open Applications pane, so you can continue working with them when you need them. While on this home screen tap and hold your finger to close all or any of the applications that are still running in the background.

In addition, you can set the phone to automatically close all apps instead of sending them to the Open Applications screen by going to Settings / Device / Display / Swipe down to close app.

Feel free to suggest your own Nokia N9 tips and tricks, especially if you're an advanced user.