In iOS 13.4+ you can now preventDefault on touchstart

Let's say we have a <div class=block-swipe-nav> on the page that spans the entire width of the viewport and we want to prevent swipe navigation on that element.

const element = document.querySelector('.block-swipe-nav');



element.addEventListener('touchstart', (e) => {



    // is not near edge of view, exit

    if (e.pageX > 10 && e.pageX < window.innerWidth - 10) return;



    // prevent swipe to navigate gesture

    e.preventDefault();

});

I've written a short article on blocking swipe with some additional information.