Android 10 is finally out and it’s just Android 10 and no dessert name is associated with this build. Android 10 got a lot of new features but sadly the UI is the same as found on the Android 9 Pie. With Android 10 you finally get the new native Dark Mode and the new improved gesture controls.
Android’s new Dark theme uses true black to keep your battery alive longer. Plus, it also changes how your Google apps look, like Calendar and Photos.
Gestures are now quicker and more intuitive than ever. Go backward and forwards, pull up the home screen, and swipe up to see your open apps. All super smooth.
By default, the Google Pixel devices welcome the user with three-button navigation. Here’s how you can enable the new gestures navigation purely developed for Android 10.
Enable New Gesture Control on Pixel Devices
- On your Pixel device, head towards the “Settings” panel.
- Inside your settings menu, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on “System”.
- On the resultant menu click on “Gestures”.
- Now click on “System Navigation”. By default, it would be on 3-button navigation. Select “Gesture Navigation”.
- You can also click on the gear icon to adjust the sensitivity of the gestures as per your liking.
Once you activate the new gesture-control you can do the following
- Swipe from the bottom: go home or go to the overview screen.
- Swipe up from the bottom of the home screen: open the app drawer.
- Swipe across the bottom: switch apps.
- Swipe from either side: go back.
- Swipe diagonally up from the bottom corners: Google Assistant.
- Swipe down from the top: open Quick Settings and notifications.
With the new gesture controls, you can do a lot with gestures actions to operate the system with ease. Unfortunately as of now, these gestures controls cannot be modified as per your liking and you have to only go with the default settings available natively. The only option to modify here is the sensitivity of the gestures.
Though these gestures navigation is apparently new for Android there are third-party apps already available which can do more than this with access to root on your device. One such third-party app is called Fluid Navigation Gesture available on the play store for free with basic functionalities.
