An electronic device with a hover sensor is described where the electronic device has an orientation sensor configured to detect an orientation of the electronic device. The electronic device has a hover pattern recognition component configured to use data sensed by the hover sensor to recognize a hover pattern of one or more objects in a hover space extending from the hover sensor. The electronic device has a processor configured to select an action from a plurality of possible actions in dependence on the sensed orientation and the recognized hover pattern and to trigger the selected action.