Using Press and Hold in Macintosh Applications

Using Press and Hold in Macintosh Applications

The design guidelines for the Macintosh user interface (UI) define a metaphor that uses a "hold" to open menus in applications. This conflicts with the press and hold gesture for right-click that is supported with the pen. To address this conflict, in applications that follow the design guidelines for Macintosh user interface, you need to make a choice between whether you want left-click or right-click functionality in a user interface or a specific UI control. Adhering to the Macintosh guidelines for "hold" makes it extremely difficult to have both left-click and right-click functionalities work on the same UI in an application.