Pull to refresh

A gesture: drag a list down when it’s already scrolled to the very top. A loading icon appears and the content refreshes.

Also called: pull to refresh, pull down to refresh, pull down, drag down, refresh, reload, update, swipe down to refresh, spinner at the top, refresh gesture, pull the feed

What it is for

Mobile apps usually have no separate refresh button. Instead, you pull the feed down from the very top, and the app fetches new posts, emails or messages.

Where you see it

• Social feeds — pull down to see new posts
• Email apps — check whether new emails have arrived
• Messengers — refresh the chat list

What it is called in code

• touch events + overscroll
• pull to refresh

See also

• Swipe actions — A swipe is a finger sliding across the screen. Swipe a list row left or right to delete or archive it, an email for example.
• Loading indicators — Anything that shows the site is busy: a progress bar, a spinning icon, or gray placeholders where content will appear.
• Bottom navigation — A navigation bar fixed to the bottom of a phone screen, with 3–5 icons for the main sections.