Android Q’s third developer preview brought along several new features, one of which is fairly contentious: iPhone-like gestures. Once they’re activated, the home button will disappear. In its place, you’ll swipe up to go home. And, say, where’d that back button go? To navigate back and forth through apps, you can swipe left or right on your screen to get where you need to go.
How to enable the new gestures in the Android Q beta
You’ll have to opt in for iPhone-like gestures
You’ll have to opt in for iPhone-like gestures
Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge
is an editor covering deals and gaming hardware. He joined in 2018, and after a two-year stint at Polygon, he rejoined The Verge in May 2025.
After a few minutes of use, some Verge staffers really like the changes since it makes switching between iOS 12 and Android Q a little less jarring. Others aren’t sold on the gestures, though that’s how it usually goes with new features.
If you want to give these gestures a try, we’ve broken down the steps below to activate them on your phone. But before you get started, you’ll need to install the latest Android Q beta software on your device. It’s available on all Pixels, plus 15 other phones.
- Open the Settings app, then navigate to “System”
- Once you’re here, click “Gestures,” then tap “System navigation”
- You can toggle on the “Fully gestural navigation,” which will replace the navigation buttons with a long, thin line along the bottom of the screen.
Should you decide that you want to revert to either the two- or three-button layout, just follow the same steps again to switch back.
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