Patent ID: 8253695

Claim:
A method, comprising: at a portable communications device with a touch screen display: in a first area of the touch screen display, displaying a first portion of a list of entries, wherein a respective entry displays subject information for a corresponding electronic message; detecting a first gesture on the touch screen display; in response to detecting the first gesture: creating a preview area in a second area of the touch screen display that is separate from the first area, displaying a first portion of an electronic message that corresponds to an entry in the list of entries in the preview area, maintaining display of at least a portion of the list of entries, and ceasing to display subject information for entries in the list of entries; in response to detecting a second gesture by a user in the first area of the touch screen display, scrolling the list of entries to display a second portion of the list of entries; and in response to detecting a third gesture by the user, the third gesture including simultaneous movement of the user's finger in two dimensions, in the second area of the touch screen display, simultaneously moving the electronic message in two dimensions to display a second portion of the electronic message in accordance with the movement of the user's finger.