Over the past few years, Google has significantly altered the Android navigation experience. The three-button layout was replaced by a somewhat awkward early gesture model in Android 9, followed by a completely new gesture system in Android 10, and then some slightly improved iterations of the same gesture model with Android 11, Android 12, Android 13, and later.
You could probably do more to maximize Android’s current gesture arrangement, regardless of whether you’re a card-carrying Android nerd (hiya!) or someone who is grudgingly attempting to learn the ins and outs of your phone’s constantly changing navigation system.
During the about 642 years that I have been avidly experimenting with Android gestures, I have discovered several really useful tips for using its many layers and untapped potential. Thus, extend your thumbs gently and warm up your tentacles: You can navigate your phone like an expert with these 13 Android gesture techniques.
It should be noted that these pointers are only applicable to Google’s current Android gesture system, which comes with Android 10 and subsequent Android versions. It is distinguished by its thin line (not a button in the form of a pill!) and the absence of any further symbols at the bottom of the screen. To upgrade to this more recent standard, you may need to change your device’s system settings. To locate the option, search for “navigation” in your settings; on smartphones running a version of Android that is similar to Google’s, it will be named “System Navigation,” and on Samsung phones, it will probably be called “Navigation Type.”
Another option to keep in mind is that you can always launch an app’s menu by swiping in from the left side of the screen with two fingers together. Instead of swiping at all, you can, of course, just touch the three-line menu symbol in the upper-left corner of the app.
The second Android gesture technique is an additional Back option.
The Android Back gesture is often thought of as existing on the left side of your screen if you’re like me, but keep in mind that you can also swipe your finger in from the right side of the screen to do the same thing.
The purpose of this redundancy, as odd as it may appear at first, is to make the Back gesture easy to use and comfortable, whatever of how you choose to hold your smart phone. For a simpler and more natural-feeling experience, if you’re a right-hand-holder, consider swiping in from the right side of the screen instead of reaching across the whole device.
The third Android gesture method is to invoke the Advanced Assistant.
The Assistant-opening command is one of the most often disregarded choices in Google’s Android gesture setup. It can be used from anywhere in the operating system, whether you’re in an app or on your home screen.
This motion also works in two ways: either from the lower-left corner of the screen, you swipe upward diagonally, or from the lower-right corner, you do the same thing. I tend to go toward the lower-left corner by default, but I’ve discovered that the lower-right corner swipe-up choice really makes the Assistant-opening command more reliable and accessible.
The right-dwelling Assistant gesture is almost guaranteed to function on your first attempt every time, unlike its left-living counterpart. It also doesn’t conflict with other typical system operations, such as that annoying app-menu opening command.
Additionally, try looking for the term “swipe” in your system settings if you’re having trouble using the corner-swipe-up motion to call Assistant. It may be necessary to flip the toggle next to the “Swipe to invoke Assistant” option on certain Android devices on in order for the gesture to function.
The fourth Android gesture technique is the best overview opening
The Overview screen, which shows all of your recently used applications and allows you to switch between them fast, is a bit less apparent than it was in the past due to Android’s gestures. However, if you take the effort to learn the corresponding motion, it’s still quite simple to access the Overview section of Android.
As seen above using Google’s standard Android implementation, the idea is to use one finger to swipe up in a straight line from the bottom of the screen, then stop and swiftly raise your finger after approximately an inch:
Not that difficult, isn’t it? You will be able to open your Overview area fast and reliably, without fail (or flail), if you practice it enough. You will also have a sense of just where you need to stop.
The fifth Android gesture technique is the invisible option in the overview.
Remember this: To launch any app, press on its card once you’re in the Android Overview section. Alternatively, you may swipe down on the card to perform the same thing, which I think is quicker and more natural. In this manner, you may do a fast swipe up to access Overview, followed by a quick swipe over to locate the desired card, and then a similar swiping motion.
The sixth Android gesture gimmick is the fast dismiss
You may swipe up on any Overview card to completely remove it from display, in addition to swiping down on an app to launch it from Overview. Although there isn’t any actual performance advantage to doing that—this isn’t Windows, after all—it can still be a fulfilling way to reduce clutter and boost productivity, particularly if you come across an app in your list that you know you won’t be using again for a while.
The Overview speed-through is the seventh Android gesture technique.
At least on Pixel phones and other devices that use Google’s standard Android implementation, there is another hidden Overview trick: When viewing your list of recently used apps, you can swipe along the bottom navigation bar to navigate through your apps and find the one you want in addition to swiping along the cards themselves. A harsher, longer swipe (ooh, baby) will swiftly transport you from the beginning to the end of the list, while a soft, short swipe will move you left or right one app at a time.
It should work on any Android phone, even those obstinate Galaxy models. If you’d like, you can also get a similar super-speed fly-through effect by swiping hard on the cards themselves in that context.
No. 8 Android gesture trick: A shortcut to the home
There is a secret shortcut for quickly returning to your home screen if you access your Overview screen and then decide not to go to another app: You may touch the empty space outside the card, either to its right or below it, on Android versions 12 and above.
For what I believe are clear reasons, just make sure that you place your cursor on a real blank space and refrain from pressing any additional instructions in the space between the bottom of the card and the bottom of your screen.
Android gesture techniques number nine, ten, and eleven: magic for multitasking
For those of us who use Samsung devices, here are three excellent Android gestures: In its Android 13 implementation, Samsung has included three quite useful advanced commands for switching between multitasking modes for your applications as part of a series of experimental shortcuts.
To access Android’s split-screen mode and see two applications simultaneously, you may use two fingers to slide up from the bottom of your screen.
Any app may be moved into a floating pop-up window that sits on top of everything else on your screen by swiping down diagonally from the top corner of your screen.
Additionally, you can drag an app to the top or bottom of the screen to zip it straight into split screen mode and view it alongside any other app you choose, or you can press and hold your finger on the card of any app in the Overview section of a Samsung phone running Android 13 and drop it in the center of the screen to place it in a pop-up window.
The 12th Android gesture trick: More intelligent swiping
The ability to swipe in either way on the bottom-of-screen bar and go ahead or backward in some kind of fictitious “app continuum” is, in my opinion, one of Android’s most perplexing motions. It is one of the worst aspects of Google’s gesture system and was taken straight from iOS, as is often the case with such overt Apple stealing.
Most of the time, you wind up flicking aimlessly in the hopes that you will eventually find the app you want since no rational person will ever recall precisely what order their recently launched applications show in. It just isn’t a good method to navigate about, and you normally have to go through a number of recent procedures before you find the correct one.
This is a more intelligent method to make the gesture: Swipe and slide your finger up simultaneously on that bottom bar rather than simply left or right. Similar to a cross between the fast-swipe and the full Overview interface, it will allow you to examine app previews in either direction and then decide intelligently if the desired app is there before starting it automatically.
The thirteenth Android gesture technique is the app-toggle fast-flip
In relation to that bottom bar, the Android gesture interface’s similar section may be really useful when you want to return straight to the last app you used. This is something that, in contrast to that absurd continuous idea, is actually rather simple to remember.
To access your most recently used app, just flip the bottom-of-screen bar to the right. It will function regardless whether you are on your home screen or in another app.
However, here is where things start to get a little weird: You would suppose that you could return to your starting point by flicking the bar to the left. Like a command that goes back and forth? You can, of course, but only for a very short period. You may flick the bottom-of-screen bar to the left to return to your previous app if you fast-flip to it and then wish to go back to it in five or six seconds.
However, after a few seconds, that app will shift from the right of your current app to the left of it, moving along that confusing-as-hell continuum (there it is again!). This means that if more than five or six seconds have gone by, you will need to flick the bottom-of-screen bar to the right to return (oof).
Without a question, it’s a confusing system, but it’s rather simple to exploit if you understand that little distinction.
Congratulations are in order, my friend: You are now formally an expert in Android gestures. You agile little animal, good job. You are deserving of a pat on the back.
With my totally free Android Shortcut Supercourse, you may learn even more sophisticated shortcut techniques. You’ll discover a ton of time-saving phone tips!