A finger gesture user interface for an electronic device including a housing for an electronic device including a front opening in a front outer surface of the housing, a rear opening in a rear outer surface of the housing, and inner sidewalls extending from the front opening to the rear opening to form a cavity, a display mounted in the housing, wherein the whole cavity is disposed along a side of the display, separate from the display, a detector mounted in the inner sidewalls, operable to detect a translation gesture of a finger inserted in the cavity, and a processor connected to the detector and to the display for interpreting the detected gesture as a user interface input command to modify a graphic rendered on the display.