Android launchers start working with gestures without access to system navigation

Launchers on Android will never have full access to system navigation again. So say employees of the division of Google that worked on the gesture control, in a podcast from the search giant. Launchers do get access to the gesture control itself.

Gesture Control Activation Notification

Full access to system navigation is no longer desirable due to the APIs and security in use, Chris Banes, Adam Cohen, Dan Sandler and Allen Huang of Google’s navigation division, say in the Android Developers Backstage podcast.

Launchers do get access to the gesture control, which is now not possible on many phones with Android 10. In addition, the swipe to go home, the swipe and hold gesture to access multitasking, and the gestures that replace the back button, work from the sides of the screen.

Full access is undesirable, because the APIs are too deep in the system. “Those APIs are deep in the system and then we have to give access to all kinds of things, like screenshots,” said Cohen. This is mainly due to the integration of multitasking, but it is not clear what exactly the limitations are.

The Google employees emphasize that Android will continue to support third-party launchers. They also say that Google will keep gesture controls roughly the same from now on. Many changes were visible in the past few years, but from now on it will be small tweaks. “Now this is how you navigate Android,” said Cohen. Despite this, the three buttons remain available as an option in Android.