Threefoldan interaction experiment

A Small Weird Things experiment

Three fingers.
A different
conversation.

What if your recent chats were a stack you could hold?

Try the gesture Run it on your iPhone

Swipe with three fingers to move between conversations. Slow down, let go, and browse the stack. Come back to the same draft and the same place.

Two native demos. Fictional chats. One new way back.

Your turn. Try the gesture.
Maya · 8 / 8

Drag down with one finger or your mouse here.
The native experiment uses three fingers.

01

Switch.

Fingers down brings an older chat from above. Fingers up returns to a newer one below.

02

Hold the thought.

The chat shrinks as you drag. Release gently while it is small and the stack stays open.

03

Find your way back.

Browse the cards with one finger. Tap a conversation to return without losing your place.

The question behind it

Less visiting the list.
More staying in
the conversation.

I kept moving between chats and wondering why returning had to mean navigating back to a list.

Threefold is a way to try another answer. It puts the movement on the conversation itself: pull it aside, glimpse where you are going, or stop and see the whole stack.

It is an experiment to feel on a phone. The distance, shrinking, spring, activity markers and haptics are all adjustable. The point is to find out whether this feels easier.

The sketch above uses real prototype screenshots. Its motion runs in the browser; native touch recognition and haptics need the iPhone builds.

Take it out of the browser

Try it on your iPhone.

A Mac with Xcode 26+.
An iPhone with iOS 17+.
Your own Apple Account for signing.

  1. Get the project.

    Download the source ZIP and unzip it, or clone the public repository.

  2. Open it in Xcode.

    Open native/SessionSwipe.xcodeproj. Choose WhatsAppSwipe for the chat demo or SessionSwipe for Codex.

  3. Sign it and run.

    Choose your connected iPhone, select your team in Signing & Capabilities, then press Run. Xcode handles the development signing.

  4. Start with a downward swipe.

    Use three fingers to reveal an older chat. Tap the right-edge indicator whenever you want to open the stack directly.

Full install guide

No TestFlight build yet. These are standalone prototypes;
they do not change your installed WhatsApp or ChatGPT app.

A few useful details.

Can I try it without a Mac?

Yes: use the browser sketch above to explore the idea. Installing the native builds currently needs Xcode on a Mac. There is no ready-to-install public iPhone package yet.

Does it use my real chats?

No. Both demos contain fictional conversations. Messages you enter, drafts, reading position and settings stay in each app’s local storage. No account or server is involved.

How do I open the stack?

In the native app, drag about a finger-length with three fingers, slow down while the chat is shrunk, then lift gently. A quick flick switches directly. You can also tap the indicator on the right. In the open stack, browse with one finger and tap a card.

What can I change?

Hold the conversation title or tap the stack’s sliders. Seventeen saved controls let you tune card size, spacing, corners, spring, speed, gesture thresholds, indicators, activity, haptics and fingertip dots.

What about accessibility gestures?

With VoiceOver enabled, the native custom three-finger recognizer is disabled. The visible indicator, menus and accessibility actions still offer navigation. iOS Zoom also uses three-finger gestures. The browser sketch has buttons and keyboard controls: Arrow Down for older, Arrow Up for newer, and Escape to leave the stack.