Touch-based gesture recognition and application navigation

1. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which, when executed by an electronic device with a display, a touch-sensitive surface, and one or more processors, cause the device to:

display a user interface of a social networking application, wherein the user interface includes a plurality of displayed user-interface elements;

detect a first gesture on the touch-sensitive surface while displaying the first user interface;

determine an initial direction of movement for the first gesture;

recognize that the initial direction corresponds to one of a first predefined direction on the touch-sensitive surface or a second predefined direction on the touch-sensitive surface, wherein the first predefined direction is distinct from the second predefined direction; and

manipulate display of one or more user-interface elements of the plurality of displayed user-interface elements in accordance with the corresponding one of the first or second predefined direction.

2. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions include:

instructions for a first gesture recognizer to recognize gestures in the first predefined direction; and

instructions for a second gesture recognizer to recognize gestures in the second predefined direction.

3. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 2 , wherein the social networking application includes the instructions for the first gesture recognizer and the instructions for the second gesture recognizer.

4. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 2 , wherein an operating system of the electronic device includes the instructions for the first gesture recognizer and the instructions for the second gesture recognizer.

5. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 2 , wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions, which, when executed by the electronic device, cause the electronic device to:

based on the corresponding one of the first or second predefined direction, send a message from a corresponding one of the first gesture recognizer or the second gesture recognizer to a view controller, wherein the message indicates that the corresponding one of the first or second predefined direction has been recognized for the first gesture.

6. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 5 , wherein:

the message includes information specifying a location of the detected first gesture with respect to the user interface; and

the specified location corresponds to the one or more user-interface elements.

7. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein manipulating display of the one or more user-interface elements comprises moving the one or more user-interface elements in the corresponding one of the first or second predefined direction on the display.

8. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the displayed user interface is a first user interface, and the one or more programs further comprise instructions, which, when executed by the electronic device, cause the electronic device to:

in response to detecting the first gesture on a first user-interface element of the one or more user-interface elements and recognizing that the initial direction of the first gesture corresponds to the first direction, display a second user interface distinct from the first user interface; and

in response to detecting the first gesture on the first user-interface element and recognizing that the initial direction of the first gesture corresponds to the second direction, display a third user interface distinct from the first user interface and the second user interface.

9. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions that cause the electronic device to recognize that the initial direction corresponds to one of the first predefined direction or the second predefined directions comprise instructions that cause the electronic device to determine whether a component of the initial direction of the first gesture satisfies a threshold value.

10. An electronic device, comprising:

a display;

a touch-sensitive surface;

one or more processors; and

memory storing one or more programs that are configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for:

displaying a user interface of a social networking application, wherein the user interface includes a plurality of displayed user-interface elements;

detecting a first gesture on the touch-sensitive surface while displaying the first user interface;

determining an initial direction of movement for the first gesture;

recognizing that the initial direction corresponds to one of a first predefined direction on the touch-sensitive surface or a second predefined direction on the touch-sensitive surface, wherein the first predefined direction is distinct from the second predefined direction; and

manipulating display of one or more user-interface elements of the plurality of displayed user-interface elements in accordance with the corresponding one of the first or second predefined direction.

11. The device of claim 10 , wherein the instructions include:

instructions for a first gesture recognizer to recognize gestures in the first predefined direction; and

instructions for a second gesture recognizer to recognize gestures in the second predefined direction.

12. The device of claim 11 , wherein the social networking application includes the instructions for the first gesture recognizer and the instructions for the second gesture recognizer.

13. The device of claim 11 , wherein an operating system of the electronic device includes the instructions for the first gesture recognizer and the instructions for the second gesture recognizer.

14. The device of claim 11 , wherein the one or more programs further comprise instructions for:

based on the corresponding one of the first or second predefined direction, sending a message from a corresponding one of the first gesture recognizer or the second gesture recognizer to a view controller, wherein the message indicates that the corresponding one of the first or second predefined direction has been recognized for the first gesture.

15. The device of claim 14 , wherein:

the message includes information specifying a location of the detected first gesture with respect to the user interface, and

the specified location corresponds to the one or more user-interface elements.

16. A method, comprising:

at an electronic device having a display, a touch-sensitive surface, one or more processors, and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors:

displaying a user interface of a social networking application, wherein the user interface includes a plurality of displayed user-interface elements;

detecting a first gesture on the touch-sensitive surface while displaying the first user interface;

determining an initial direction of movement for the first gesture;

recognizing that the initial direction corresponds to one of a first predefined direction on the touch-sensitive surface or a second predefined direction on the touch-sensitive surface, wherein the first predefined direction is distinct from the second predefined direction; and

manipulating display of one or more user-interface elements of the plurality of displayed user-interface elements in accordance with the corresponding one of the first or second predefined direction.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the one or more programs comprise instructions for a first gesture recognizer and instructions for a second gesture recognizer, the method further comprising:

using the first gesture recognizer to recognize gestures in the first predefined direction; and

using the second gesture recognizer to recognize gestures in the second predefined direction.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein manipulating display of the one or more user-interface elements comprises moving the one or more user-interface elements in the corresponding one of the first or second predefined direction on the display.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein the displayed user interface is a first user interface, the method further comprising:

in response to detecting the first gesture on a first user-interface element of the one or more user-interface elements and recognizing that the initial direction of the first gesture corresponds to the first direction, displaying a second user interface distinct from the first user interface; and

in response to detecting the first gesture on the first user-interface element and recognizing that the initial direction of the first gesture corresponds to the second direction, displaying a third user interface distinct from the first user interface and the second user interface.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein recognizing that the initial direction corresponds to one of the first predefined direction or the second predefined directions comprises determining whether a component of the initial direction of the first gesture satisfies a threshold value.