Why a Gloved Finger Won’t Work with Some Touchscreens

With the winter season fast approaching, many people will be pulling their gloves and mittens out of storage. But depending on the type of smartphone you own, wearing gloves may prevent you from using it. Certain touchscreen devices are not compatible with a gloved finger, forcing users to switch to a bare finger. So, why exactly do some touchscreen devices support gloves while others don’t?

The reason for this phenomenon is attributed to the devices’ capacitive sensing technology. Most touchscreen devices, including smartphones, use either resistive or capacitive sensing technology, the latter of which relies on electrical charge. When you touch a capacitive touchscreen device, a small but noticeable electrical charge is transferred from finger to the device. The device then identifies the location of this charge to determine where exactly you touched. If you touched an icon in the top-right corner of the screen, for instance, an electrical charge is transferred here; thus, the device can pinpoint when and where you touched.

The human body is conductive, so touching a capacitive touchscreen device with your bare finger distorts its electrical field. If you were wearing gloves, which typically are not conductive, it wouldn’t cause this distortion. And therefore, the device wouldn’t be able to register your touch.

Of course, some companies have developed special gloves to overcome this phenomenon. These “touchscreen gloves” work by mimicking the electrical charge produced by the operator, sending this charge through the fingertips. So even if you are wearing them, the electrical charge will still transfer over to the touchscreen device; thus, allowing it to function as intended. Unfortunately, these touchscreen gloves rarely function as intended. They often fail to produce a touch, making them anything but effective. By removing them and using your bare finger, though, you can use the capacitive device.

Having to use a touchscreen device with your bare finger may turn some people away, but there are several key benefits associated with capacitive devices. For starters, they generally offer a higher-quality display than their resistive counterpart. Capacitive touchscreens are also more durable, making them an excellent choice for commercial applications.

To recap, the reason why some touchscreen devices won’t work with gloves is because they use capacitive sensing technology. In these devices, you’ll have to use either a bare finger or special conductive gloves. Hopefully, this will give you a better understanding of capacitive touchscreen devices and how they work.