Touch application programming interfaces

A method of operating a touch computing apparatus having an interaction service positioned logically between an operating system and an application, the method comprising:

• in the interaction service, receiving a call from the application referencing a subset of Application Interface (API) calls from a set of API calls, wherein the application selects the subset of API calls from the set of API calls based on a touch intent determined from a touch down event;
• in the interaction service, attaching the subset of APIs calls to a layer in a user interface used for the application;
• in the interaction service, listening to the operating system for touch input occurring with respect to the layer;
• and
• in the interaction service, determining per the subset of APIs calls what actions to perform in response to the touch input.

An apparatus comprising:

• one or more computer readable storage media;
• program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media that, when executed by a processing system, direct the processing system to at least:
• receive a call into a subset of API calls from a set of API calls, wherein the the subset of API calls are selected from the set of API calls based on a touch intent determined from a touch down event;
• load the subset of APIs calls;
• attach the subset of APIs calls to a layer;
• listen for pointer input with respect to the layer;
• determine per the subset of APIs calls what actions to perform in response to the pointer input.