Android Pie: Google Pixel 3 Will Have Gesture Control Navigation By Default

Google has introduced its own gesture-based navigation on Android 9.0 Pie, which is currently being rolled out to the Pixel phones and the Essential PH-1. Now it looks like the company is going all-in on gesture controls moving forward as the system is expected to become the default way to navigate on future Pixel smartphones.

In an interview with Android Central, Android Mobile OS and Pixel software experience manager E.K. Chung discussed Google’s plans for gesture controls. Android Pie currently offers the option of using gestures or the traditional navigation bar with the back button, home button and recent apps button.

“They thought it was super-useful, super-fast, easy to use and powerful — all of the goals we wanted to hit. We were pleasantly surprised by that,” Chung said when asked about users’ feedback on the gesture navigation in Android Pie. Chung then confirmed that Google is making this the primary navigation system on its future devices, including the upcoming Pixel 3. This means that gesture navigation will be turned on by default instead of the traditional navigation bar.

“[Android users] are all familiar with what those buttons do, but people who are new to Android are puzzled by it,” Chung said about the navigation bar.

What does this mean for other smartphone manufacturers? Third-party companies will still have the option to do the same with their own respective handsets. The problem here is that Google’s gesture system isn’t universal. Manufacturers will still have the freedom to ship their smartphones with the navigation bar as the default mode, or they could develop their own gesture control system. Smartphone makers like OnePlus and Motorola already have their own systems in place as optional features.

Gesture controls on Android aren’t just for removing the navigation bar and simplifying the UI. They are also there to make it easier to switch from one app to another. “When we look at the whole operating system, being able to switch between multiple tasks or apps is the fundamental function,” Chung said. “This new design essentially merged the launcher functionality and switching functionality together into one swipe up ... we intentionally detached the bottom layer from the launcher to make it accessible from anywhere, even within an app.”

For users who aren’t too keen on using the new gesture controls, they can still turn the mode off and go back to using the traditional navigation buttons on Android Pie. Users will simply have to go to Settings>System>Gestures, as pointed out by Digital Trends.