What is the best way to transition between chapters using a dragging/swipe motion?

Question

My team and I are developing a book reading/Bible app, and we want the user will be able to switch chapters.

We are considering implementing it in one of two ways:

• By dragging past the end of the chapter at the top/bottom and then releasing, with a hint that it will load the next/previous chapter.
• By swiping left or right across the screen.

Which of these is best for switching chapters/sections in a book or document? And would it be a good idea to implement both for users who like one way or the other? It seems to me that there should only be one way to access a feature in an app so as not to confuse users.

Answer 1

Changing chapter is a major operation, which should be handled with care. A swiping motion changing chapter is in a way careless, since users who accidentally makes the swiping action will be completely lost. Therefore I thing your best option is to use a standard hamburger menu containing the chapters and possibly subchapters as well.

^{download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq Mockups}

While reading you could make the menu toggle show/hide with a simple tap on the text. This makes it possible to use the whole screen while reading.

Answer 2

And if your app has a chapter name appeared anywhere you may use it for navigation too:

^{download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq Mockups}

It will be more convenient since it allows user to jump to any desired chapter and not the next or previous only.

Swipe is good for go to next/previous page so I don't think it's a good idea to use it for chapter switching, but if you're still considering chapter switching using swiping, you may think about two finger swipes.

Answer 3

The bible is a book, so I would go with the skeuomorphism of that. Left & right swipe to "flip" the chapters.

Also if your mental model of your reader is that every chapter is a new "page" and the content of the chapter will be scrolled / read vertically. Then the swiping to the next chapter is the solution for your problem.

Because these days there is so many reading apps out there and quite a few different patterns exist, you should definitely test it if your users understand your mental model.