Pixel phones could get Galaxy-style navigation according to hidden code
Helpful new feature makes it easier to switch from a Galaxy to a Pixel phone.
Just a few days ago, we told you that by default, Pixel handsets have the gesture navigation enabled as opposed to the three-button navigation that is activated on Samsung Galaxy handsets out of the box. To refresh your memory, the three-button navigation was the first navigation system available on Android phones. There are three buttons: Back, Home, and Recents (open apps).
The update to Android 9 Pie brought gesture navigation to Android. Swiping up from the bottom takes the user home. Swipe up from the bottom and hold to access recent apps. Swipe in from either the left or right edge of the screen to go back. Swipe left or right from the navigation bar (the small handle at the bottom of the display) to switch between apps. Pixel users can switch from the gesture navigation to the three-button navigation by going to Settings > Display & touch > Navigation mode > 3-button navigation.
The latest release of Android Canary, the program that allows Pixel users to see new Android features in advance, contained code spotted by Android expert Mishaal Rahman. The code gives Pixel users the option to flip the order of the three navigation buttons on the phone. While the Pixel's three-button navigation goes, from left-to-right, Back, Home, Recents, the three-button navigation on Samsung phones has Recents first on the left, followed by Home, and Back.
What the Pixel 3-button navigation UI will look like when flipped to match Samsung's version. | Image credit-Android Authority
So if you're switching from a Samsung Galaxy handset to a Pixel, and you use the three-button navigation interface, your muscle memory might mix things up, and you'll go to Recents when you meant to go Back. If Google follows through with this code, Pixel users will have the option of having their three-button navigation interface appear just as it does on a Galaxy phone.
We'd love to tell you when you can expect this feature to appear, but alas, we can't. Since it's only code in Android Canary for now, there is no way to determine when-or even if, Google plans to launch this feature. We're sure that those who have switched from a Galaxy device to a Pixel and had problems using the three-button navigation know exactly how this change could be very useful.
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