Before rolling out Android Q to the masses, technology giant Google is experimenting with its gesture-based navigation continuously so that it can be improved as much as possible. Lately, the company has been inching towards the approach that Apple adopted with its iPhone X. However, for this, Google had to redesign the back button on its Android platform. Going forward, the company will not be keeping an on-screen button. Instead, it will be using a swiping motion to go back. So basically, the users will have to swipe inwards from either side of the display to go back on their Android devices.
We should mention that this change clashes with the slide-out menus of a number of smartphone apps. Most apps have their hamburger icons placed on the side that lets users access various settings. This has been the case for so many years now that users now almost intuitively slide their finger to access the drawer menu settings. But now, this does not work in the same way anymore and one has to slide their finger diagonally to access the menu.
🚧 The drawer behavior is changing. Users will be able to open the drawer by peeking the drawer, and then swiping. Big benefit is that this works with existing apps with "old" DrawerLayout versions. pic.twitter.com/WVyOzQFzHO
— Chris Banes (@chrisbanes) July 2, 2019
If this is a change that you don’t really like, then we have some good news for you. The company is working to improve this in its upcoming Android Q beta 5. The search giant has said that in order to access slide-out menus, people would now only have to tap and hold near the edge of the display. This obviously only implies to those who are using fully gestural navigation on their device.
With this solution, Google’s new feature that allows users to go back with just a swipe from either side of the screen will continue to work as well. But that’s not all. According to a report in 9to5Google, a user who got the next beat of Android Q a little early says that a new setting has been added to his device called ‘Back Sensitivity.’ The user has also said that the new setting has led to a “marked improvement to navigation” on his handset.
In case you don’t like the new gesture system on Android Q, there will also be an option of returning to the older three-button navigation. So, if you are more comfortable with that and don’t want to try something new, you can still opt for that. The option is there in the beta releases of Android Q and it is also expected to be a part of the stable release.
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