Disclosed are various embodiments for hover activation based on movement by an input device pointer. A first panel in a user interface is rendered for display, the first panel comprising a plurality of elements. A second panel in the user interface is rendered for display according to the input device pointer hovering over an element among the plurality of elements in the first panel. A triangular region is identified according to a distance traversed by the input device pointer. The user interface is modified according to a delay and a current position of the input device pointer, wherein the current position is determined from the distance traversed by the input device pointer.