It’s that time of year when Google is just about everywhere. The Mountain View giant had announced the Android P Beta on stage today at Google I/O and was made available to download for plenty of devices. While plenty of new additions and changes have been brought forth with Android P, one of the main new additions is the the gesture-based navigation in Android P. Well, if you’re someone who wants to try it out but are not quite sure how to use it, read on, as we show you exactly how to use gesture navigation in Android P:
Use Gesture Navigation in Android P
Note: I tested the following method on my Google Pixel 2 XL running Android P Developer Preview 2. The method should remain the same for all other devices running Android P Developer Preview 2. Additionally, it goes without saying that Gesture Navigation should be enabled on your Android P device. If not, read our guide here on how to enable gesture navigation in Android P.
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Go to Home
The pill on the gesture bar in itself is your home button and behaves in exactly the same way that the home button on the standard navigation bar. Simply tap on the pill icon to go back to your Launcher’s home screen.
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Open App Drawer
In order to open the App Drawer, swipe up on the home button and continue swiping to open the app drawer. Alternatively, you can also tap on the home button and swipe up again to open the app drawer. Do note that this only works on the Pixel Launcher that comes preinstalled on Pixel devices.
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Enter Multitasking View
With Android P, your recent apps screen is now called the Multitasking View. Simply swipe up on the home button to enter the multitasking view. Once here, you can swipe left and right on the screen to move the list, and tap on the screen to select apps. Additionally, you can swipe up to remove apps from the list.
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Switch to Recent Apps
In case you find entering the Multitasking View a bit of a hassle to browse through your recent apps, there’s an alternative method to that as well. Simple swipe right on the home button (pill icon) and hold to scroll slowly between apps and release to open the center app.
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Switch to the Previous App
With the recent button now gone, there is no more double tap to switch to the previous app. With Android P however, switching to the previous app is still quite easy. Simply swipe right on home button quickly and release to just switch to the previous app.
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Back Button
Unlike the normal navigation bar, the back button in the new gesture-based navigation appears when you’re in an app or view that can use a back button. The back button will automatically appear to the left of the home button where you’re used to seeing it.
SEE ALSO: How to Enable Gesture Navigation in Android P
Enjoy the New Gesture-Based Navigation in Android P
Google believes that the new gesture navigation will make it easier to operate the phone, especially as screens are getting taller with each passing day. This is also the reason the recent apps are laid out horizontally now. Thanks to the new pill-like home button, gesture navigation has been implemented in Android P, and my first impressions of it are quite pleasant. But what do you think of gesture navigation in Android P? Share with us your experiences as well as any queries in the comments down below.
Abubakar Mohammed
