diff --git a/frontend/js/lib/schedule-grid.js b/frontend/js/lib/schedule-grid.js
index 5d6cb9f..3d02c13 100644
--- a/frontend/js/lib/schedule-grid.js
+++ b/frontend/js/lib/schedule-grid.js
@@ -82,6 +82,22 @@ export function formatRange(startMin, endMin) {
   return `${fmt(startMin)} – ${fmt(endMin)}`;
 }
 
+// How long a touch must be held before it becomes a drag. A touchscreen cannot use the mouse
+// rule: the browser decides at touch-START whether the gesture is a page scroll, so a drag that
+// only declares itself after the finger moves has already lost — the page scrolls and the pointer
+// stream is cancelled. Holding still first is the signal that this is a drag and not a scroll.
+export const LONG_PRESS_MS = 350;
+
+// Touch arms by holding; a mouse or pen arms as soon as it has travelled. Returning the mode
+// rather than branching on pointerType at each site keeps the two paths from drifting apart.
+export function dragArmMode(pointerType) {
+  return pointerType === 'touch' ? 'longpress' : 'immediate';
+}
+
+// A default slot for "I tapped a time" rather than dragging one out — the whole gesture on a
+// phone, where dragging out a range is awkward.
+export const DEFAULT_NEW_MIN = 60;
+
 // Has the pointer moved far enough to mean "drag" rather than "click"?
 export function isDrag(dx, dy, threshold = DRAG_THRESHOLD_PX) {
   return Math.hypot(dx, dy) >= threshold;
diff --git a/frontend/js/views/schedule.js b/frontend/js/views/schedule.js
index 4e25553..224b53c 100644
--- a/frontend/js/views/schedule.js
+++ b/frontend/js/views/schedule.js
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { t } from '../i18n.js';
 import {
   HOUR_PX, pxToMinutes, minutesToPx, rangeFromDrag, moveRange, resizeRange,
   toLocalStamp, formatRange, canMoveAcrossDays, editsWholeSeries, isDrag,
+  dragArmMode, LONG_PRESS_MS, DEFAULT_NEW_MIN,
 } from '../lib/schedule-grid.js';
 
 const API = (url, opts = {}) => fetch('/api' + url, { headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json', Authorization: `Bearer ${localStorage.getItem('token')}`, ...opts.headers }, ...opts }).then(r => r.json());
@@ -370,6 +371,24 @@ export async function render(container) {
       } else {
         dragState = { kind: 'create', anchorMin: startMin, refCell: cell, moved: false, origin, dayIdx: dayColumnOf(cell) };
       }
+      // A touchscreen cannot arm the way a mouse does. The browser decides at touch-START
+      // whether this gesture scrolls the page; by the time a finger has moved far enough to look
+      // like a drag, scrolling has already begun and the pointer stream is cancelled. So on touch
+      // we wait for a HOLD, and only then take the gesture over. Everything else still scrolls
+      // normally, which is what a phone user expects a calendar to do.
+      dragState.armMode = dragArmMode(e.pointerType);
+      if (dragState.armMode === 'longpress') {
+        dragState.armed = false;
+        dragState.longPressTimer = setTimeout(() => {
+          if (!dragState) return;
+          dragState.armed = true;
+          cal.style.touchAction = 'none';       // taken over — now the page must NOT scroll
+          if (dragState.block) dragState.block.style.opacity = '0.35';
+          if (navigator.vibrate) { try { navigator.vibrate(10); } catch (_) { /* optional */ } }
+        }, LONG_PRESS_MS);
+      } else {
+        dragState.armed = true;
+      }
       cal.setPointerCapture?.(e.pointerId);
     });
 
@@ -377,8 +396,15 @@ export async function render(container) {
       if (!dragState) return;
       // Ignore the jitter of an ordinary click. Until the pointer has actually travelled, this
       // is still a click and must stay one, or click-to-edit never fires.
+      const travelled = isDrag(e.clientX - dragState.origin.x, e.clientY - dragState.origin.y);
+      // Touch that moves BEFORE the hold completes is the user scrolling. Let go of it entirely
+      // rather than fighting the browser for the gesture.
+      if (dragState.armMode === 'longpress' && !dragState.armed) {
+        if (travelled) { clearTimeout(dragState.longPressTimer); dragState = null; clearGhost(); }
+        return;
+      }
       if (!dragState.moved) {
-        if (!isDrag(e.clientX - dragState.origin.x, e.clientY - dragState.origin.y)) return;
+        if (!travelled) return;
         dragState.moved = true;
         cal.style.touchAction = 'none';                 // stop a touch drag scrolling the page
         cal.style.cursor = dragState.kind === 'resize' ? 'ns-resize' : 'grabbing';
@@ -412,9 +438,20 @@ export async function render(container) {
       const st = dragState;
       dragState = null;
       clearGhost();
+      if (st) clearTimeout(st.longPressTimer);
       resetDragChrome(st);
       try { cal.releasePointerCapture?.(e.pointerId); } catch (_) { /* already released */ }
-      if (!st || !st.pending || !st.moved) { setTimeout(() => { if (!dragState) { /* let click through */ } }, 0); return; }
+      if (!st) return;
+      // A tap or click on empty space with no drag still means "put something here" — and on a
+      // phone it is the ONLY create gesture, since dragging out a range with a finger is awkward.
+      if (!st.moved && st.kind === 'create' && st.anchorMin != null) {
+        const d0 = new Date(currentWeekStart);
+        d0.setDate(d0.getDate() + (st.dayIdx || 0));
+        const start = Math.floor(st.anchorMin / 15) * 15;
+        openCreateAt(d0, start, Math.min(start + DEFAULT_NEW_MIN, 24 * 60));
+        return;
+      }
+      if (!st.pending || !st.moved) return;   // a tap on a block: let the click handler edit it
       const { range, day } = st.pending;
       const dayDate = new Date(currentWeekStart);
       dayDate.setDate(dayDate.getDate() + day);
diff --git a/server/test/schedule-grid-math.test.js b/server/test/schedule-grid-math.test.js
index cdee415..b3d066d 100644
--- a/server/test/schedule-grid-math.test.js
+++ b/server/test/schedule-grid-math.test.js
@@ -127,6 +127,34 @@ test('a whole day still fits a laptop screen', async () => {
   assert.ok(24 * G.HOUR_PX <= 1100, `full day is ${24 * G.HOUR_PX}px`);
 });
 
+test('MOBILE: touch arms by HOLDING, a mouse arms by moving', async () => {
+  // The two cannot share a rule. A browser decides at touch-start whether a gesture scrolls the
+  // page, so a touch drag that only declares itself after the finger moves has already lost — the
+  // page scrolls and the pointer stream is cancelled. That is exactly why the first version did
+  // nothing on a phone: it set touch-action only AFTER the move threshold.
+  assert.equal(G.dragArmMode('touch'), 'longpress');
+  assert.equal(G.dragArmMode('mouse'), 'immediate');
+  assert.equal(G.dragArmMode('pen'), 'immediate');
+  assert.equal(G.dragArmMode(undefined), 'immediate', 'unknown input behaves like a mouse');
+});
+
+test('the hold is long enough to mean intent, short enough not to feel stuck', async () => {
+  assert.ok(G.LONG_PRESS_MS >= 250 && G.LONG_PRESS_MS <= 600, `${G.LONG_PRESS_MS}ms`);
+});
+
+test('a tap with no drag still yields a sensible slot', async () => {
+  // On a phone this is the only create gesture — dragging a range with a finger is awkward.
+  assert.equal(G.DEFAULT_NEW_MIN, 60);
+  const r = G.clampRange(9 * 60, 9 * 60 + G.DEFAULT_NEW_MIN);
+  assert.equal(r.endMin - r.startMin, 60);
+});
+
+test('a tap late in the day does not produce an invalid slot', async () => {
+  const start = 23 * 60 + 30;
+  const r = G.clampRange(start, Math.min(start + G.DEFAULT_NEW_MIN, G.DAY_MIN));
+  assert.ok(r.endMin <= G.DAY_MIN && r.endMin > r.startMin);
+});
+
 test('the drag readout is human, not 24h minutes', async () => {
   assert.equal(G.formatRange(540, 630), '9:00 AM – 10:30 AM');
   assert.equal(G.formatRange(0, 45), '12:00 AM – 12:45 AM');