Texting gloves allow people to operate a touch screen on a tablet PC or mobile phone without having to take their gloves off. One might reasonably ask, “Why can’t any pair of gloves be compatible with touch screens?” The answer lies in something that many touch screens use: capacitive touch. Capacitive touch screens register movement by picking up on fluctuations in the screen’s electrical field, which means that something applying pressure to the screen is only registered it if too has an electrical current. Our skin works wonderfully on most touch screens because we give off electrical impulses. Most cloth, however, doesn't hold an electrical current, rendering it useless on most touch screens. Texting gloves solve that problem by using conductive material, or fabric that’s able to transmit an electrical current.
A texting glove generally only uses conductive cloth on the fingertips that one is most likely to use on a touch screen, primarily the thumb and pointer finger. The rest of the glove is then made with warmer material. When they first hit the market, many were quite thin, and offered only light protection against truly frigid conditions. Over time, however, more insulated versions have been designed by dominant winter gear manufacturers. Nevertheless, no matter how much insulation a texting glove might offer, it seems that the pointer finger and thumb must remain scantily clad, as too much cloth over the fingertips would likely make it too difficult to operate a touch screen with any accuracy.
Some texting gloves don't use conductive cloth, but are designed so that the thumb and pointer finger are exposed. This is convenient in that one doesn't have to learn how to effectively tap a touch screen with a cloth fingertip; however, that means that, while one is using a touch screen, the thumb and pointer finger are left completely exposed and unprotected against freezing elements. That's one reason why gloves that use conductive material on the fingertips are often marketed as frostbite-free texting gloves.
Some find texting gloves convenient not just for protection against the elements, but because they find it annoying to have to completely remove their gloves to operate a phone or tablet PC. Gloves are, after all, worn not just for winter protection but also as fashion accessories. Texting gloves may thus allow a person to wear their preferred fashion style without having to remove them for every text and phone call.
