If you believe tapping buttons is so last century, you'll definitely want to try out Dijit's custom gestures for your finger-swiping control pleasure. With a simple swipe of two or three fingers, Dijit and your Beacon can control various functions on a specific device, or even the device you're currently using.

Here's everything you need to know to set up and use gestures with Dijit. Note: in order to use gestures with IR controlled devices, the Griffin Beacon is required.

What is a gesture and why do I want to use them?

Anyone with an iOS device or Apple computer should be pretty familiar with gestures, but for those new to them, a gesture correlates a uniquely identifiable action you perform on the screen to a command. For example, swiping up with two fingers on the screen simultaneously would be a gesture the device can uniquely identify.

Gestures can help speed up performing specific common actions, like volume and mute. A gesture can be programmed to work on the specific device in use, or be assigned to perform an action on a specific device all the time. In the case of volume, those with a surround system can program the volume gesture to always control the audio system's volume, regardless of what device is currently selected on the screen. This saves a trip switching devices to find the correct button.

Dijit can uniquely identify eight different gestures: up, down, left, and right with either two or three fingers. Any device's command can be tied to a gesture, although you cannot currently set up gestures on a per device basis.  The one exception is that by using the "active device" setting, the same gesture can control the same function on different devices. For example, if the "power on" command is tied to a gesture set to active device, that gesture will power on the currently selected device.

How To Set Up a Gesture

As you set up and add devices, Dijit may automatically configure a few gestures for you. Don't worry. If they're not what you would prefer, you can edit them at any time.

To add a new gesture, click the settings icon at the bottom of the screen. Tap "General", and then tap "Gestures." Any currently configured gestures will appear here. To edit a gesture already configured, select that gesture from the list. To add a new gesture, click the + sign in the upper right.

Whether editing or creating a new gesture, the process is the same. You'll see three wheels on the screen. The first wheel selects the gesture you wish to configure, the second configures which device the gesture should control,  and the third wheel configures which specific command is performed.  Rotate the wheel to create your gesture, and press save when complete.

As mentioned above, choose "active device" in the second wheel if you wish to use a command common to lots of devices, like channel up/down, power, etc.  This will allow that gesture to change the channel on a cable box when selected, and also on a TV if selected.

Removing Gestures

UPDATE: Thanks to community member Steven J, it turns out that you can easily remove gestures after they're created. On the main gestures screen, simply swipe from right to left over the gesture you wish to remove and a delete button will appear! Thanks to Steven for pointing out this handy tip!

BONUS TIP: Gestures can also be used with commands that use long presses, like volume. After performing the gesture, hold your fingers on the screen!

How do you use gestures? Share your experience in the comments below.