Google Not Forcing New Android Q Navigation Gestures On Manufacturers

Amongst a ton of other updates announced at the Google I/O, Google unveiled a variety of features that are bundled with its upcoming iteration of Android. Google’s new “fully gestural navigation” removes the back button from the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen. As per previous reports, Google made it mandatory that the OEMs ship their Android Q enabled devices with the new navigation gestures. However, latest developments state that Google will not force OEMs to adopt the new gesture navigation. 

The Product Manager for Android clarified the underlying situation by saying that Google is solely encouraging OEMs to use the new navigation gestures. Since Gesture Navigation can be troublesome to incorporate with previously existing gestures, the company does not want this to be a bigger challenge for developers. He further added that Android has always been about choice, hence the company plans to keep it that way. Android Q will still include the original 3-button navigation bar, which was previously removed from Pixel 3 smartphones running Android P. 

Also Read: Google Reveals The Key Details Of Its Upcoming Fuchsia OS

The new gestures introduced in Android Q resemble the gestural navigation of iPhones. Since the bottom section is now comparatively smaller and no longer includes any button. Users can swipe vertically up from the bottom to go to the home screen and swipe horizontally from the left or right to go back to the previous screen. Swiping diagonally from the bottom left or right corner to the middle of the screen will launch the Google Assistant. Whereas swiping left or right on the gesture bar will enable users to quickly switch between applications. Lastly, recent apps can be viewed by swiping up from the bottom of the screen.  

Those on Android Q Beta can see these updates on their phones already.