Typing indicator
/TY-ping IN-dih-kay-ter/ · noun · FEEDBACK pattern · #112
The bubble with three animated dots that appears in a chat while the other person is writing a reply. It means they have started typing, not that a message is on its way: if they stop or delete the draft, the bubble goes away. Some apps show “typing…” text instead.
Also called: typing bubble, typing dots, is typing indicator, dot dot dot bubble.
You might call it
- “the three dots when someone is typing”
- “the three dots when texting”
- “the typing bubble on iMessage”
- “the dot dot dot when someone is writing back”
- “the bubbles when someone is typing”
…its name is Typing indicator.
Common questions
What are the three dots when someone is typing called?
A typing indicator, sometimes called the typing bubble. iMessage, Messenger, Slack and most chat apps show it while the other person is typing a reply. It goes away if they stop for a while, delete what they wrote or close the chat, so the dots can come and go without any message arriving.
What do the dots mean when texting?
That the other person has the reply box open and is typing. The indicator follows their draft, not a sent message: if they pause, delete the text or switch away, their app stops sending the typing signal and the dots disappear shortly after. Whatever they started writing was never sent.
In code
| Web (ARIA) | role="status" aria-live="polite" |
|---|---|
| Matrix | m.typing |
| XMPP (XEP-0085) | <composing/> <paused/> |
| iOS / Android | No system component: chat SDKs ship one, or draw three dots that fade in turn |
Prompt for your AI coding tool
Add a typing indicator to this chat: while the other person types, send a typing event no more than every few seconds and show a small bubble on their side with three dots that pulse in turn; hide it a few seconds after the last keystroke, when the message arrives, or when they leave. Announce “Ada is typing” once to screen readers in a polite live region, and replace the animation with static dots under reduced motion.
More UI words to use when vibe coding →