[Feature] Add Support for Pinch-to-Zoom and Mouse Scroll Zoom in Apps and Games

[alice8180]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

Dear Waydroid Team,
First of all, thank you for your great work on Waydroid. It’s an amazing project and really helpful for many users like me who love running Android apps on Linux.

However, I’ve noticed that zoom-in and zoom-out gestures (like pinch-to-zoom) do not work inside some apps, especially games and image viewers. It would be really helpful if this feature could be supported, as it affects usability in many common scenarios.

I kindly request you to consider adding support for zoom functionality in future updates. It would greatly improve the overall user experience.

Thanks again for your hard work and for considering this feature request.

Describe the solution you'd like.

I would like Waydroid to support zoom functionality inside Android apps. Specifically:

Pinch-to-zoom gestures should work using touch input (like in games or image viewers).

Mouse scroll wheel zooming should be supported — for example, scrolling up to zoom in, and scrolling down to zoom out — especially useful when running Waydroid on a desktop.

These features are common in many Android apps, and their absence affects usability. I hope this can be added in future updates.

Describe alternatives you've considered.

I tried using the keyboard or mouse to simulate zooming, but there seems to be no native support in Waydroid for zooming in or out within Android apps or games. I also looked for third-party tools or custom gestures, but they don’t seem to work properly inside Waydroid. None of these alternatives provided a smooth or usable zoom experience, especially in image viewers and games where zooming is essential.

Additional context

No response

[aleasto]

Do you mean that you have a touchscreen and pinch-to-zoom doesn't work? That's certainly unexpected.

[alice8180]

Hi,

Thanks for your response.

To clarify, I am using a laptop without a touchscreen. I have tried using the laptop’s touchpad for pinch-to-zoom gestures, but it does not work inside Waydroid. Additionally, I have tested with an external mouse’s scroll wheel, but zooming in or out still does not function within apps or games.

Therefore, it seems that Waydroid currently lacks support for both pinch-to-zoom via touchpad and mouse scroll zooming, which are essential for a smooth user experience.

I hope this helps clarify the issue. Thanks again for your time and for considering this feature request.

[skshagar]

I couldn't make it work as well, tried with laptop touchpad, ctrl + mouse scroll, ctrl + + - etc, nothing works

[alice8180]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for bringing this up. I just wanted to add that I completely agree with @skshagar — I’ve also tried various methods like Ctrl + mouse scroll, Ctrl + + / -, and touchpad gestures, but unfortunately, none of them seem to work inside Waydroid apps or games.

In my case, this issue becomes especially problematic while playing Clash of Clans, where zooming in and out is a crucial part of the gameplay. The game starts in a fully zoomed-in state, and without the ability to zoom out, it becomes really difficult to plan attacks or navigate around the village. It significantly impacts the user experience.

I've made multiple attempts to find workarounds, but nothing has worked so far.

So I would sincerely like to request the Waydroid developers to kindly consider adding support for:

Pinch-to-zoom gestures via touchpad/touchscreen

Mouse scroll zooming as an alternative on desktop

This would make a huge difference for users like us who rely on zoom functionality in everyday apps and games.

Thank you again for your great work on Waydroid, and for taking user feedback into account!

[brunosantoos]

I'm having the same problem.

I can't zoom in games.

If anyone has any solution

[taksan]

Hold both mouse buttons and move to zoom in and out. It's not smooth, but it works

[jreoka]

Hold both mouse buttons and move to zoom in and out. It's not smooth, but it works

Thats not working for me

[igneu]

Same issue. But it works on a touchscreen on my surface pro 5.
On my normal PC i have no workaround so far.

We need this feature

[supechicken]

Hello, I have just implemented touchpad pinch-to-zoom support using pointer-gestures-unstable-v1, see my comment in #905 (comment) for more information

[CogumeloNoGIT]

maybe a fix for #1087 is near? :3

[DumbledorBoB]

I know I'm late to the game, but also a newbie at this stuff. (DOS, Windows @ 40 years). BUT, how about also with a keyboard for desktop users? You know, us without a Trackpad?
e.g. I've been playing a game named Townsmen (1.14.x) in Windows via Bluestacks (5). Pinch and Zoom are handled with the keyboard's Up and Down directional arrow keys. I've tried other Mapper, Helper apps with Waydroid and though they take care of game controller buttons, not Pinch & Zoom. (Thanks!)