2y ago

Button navigation is objectively better than gesture navigation.

I guess this has been said before but I want to reiterate it here.

The 3 button navigation is simpler, much faster than gestures and less prone to input errors than gessure navigation.

It's easier to use the phone one handed when using 3 buttons especially considering the size of phones nowadays.

The only real downside to the 3 button bar is the space it takes away from the screen. I can't deny you get better immersion due increased screen size and gestures being intuitive (for me at least.

With that said I understand that depending on the brand the feel of gestures and their quality can vary (like between a pixel phone and a xiaomi device), but in terms of efficiency (and maybe slightly improved battery life due to less animations) and simplicity the 3 button navigation is still miles ahead.

64 comments

I don't think you know what objectively means. You meant to use the word subjectively.

I have my navigation buttons turned off for years now, so I couldn't disagree more.
- Same. I recently showed someone my pixel and they asked if it's possible to use buttons instead of gestures, so I showed them and it felt so weird.

You can't say something is "objectively" better than. Then proceed to list "subjective" opinions. Clearly you dislike gesture navigation, which is fine, but that doesn't make it objectively worse.
- I don't dislike gesture navigation I'm currently using it but you can't tell me that it's faster for switching between apps for example.
  edit: I prefer gestures but button navigation (at least on my Poco F3) is waaaaaaay faster.
  edit 2: I just realised I wrote better instead of faster in my title no wonder it's so divisive
  
  Poco
  That's probably the problem
  
  Do you have any data to back any of your claims? If not, that's what makes them subjective. In your opinion, button navigation is faster. Doesn't make it objective by any stretch.

Strong disagree. Gestures are so much quicker and just generally more natural feeling.
- It is physically impossible for gestures to be faster than a single button press. If you prefer them that's 100% cool but c'mon that shit is not faster
  
  Swiping from anywhere on the edge of the screen is faster because your thumb is already there. Having to move all the way down to the bottom of of the screen with your thumb takes longer. Also take into account the chance of missing the button and having to try again, vs a gesture that needs to be much less precise

Once I got used to gestures, I couldn't go back.
I honestly find it very fast and intuitive.
- Yeah, despite having quite a lot of accidental backswipes, it's not annoying enough to go back to buttons over gestures. Especially when browsing and scrolling, my fingers are not down at the bottom of the phone.

On a large phone (so almost all of them) gesturing is much easier than reaching for a button. When I first switched it was slightly awkward because of muscle memory, but after a while gestures felt much better.

Objectively? You're just used to them. I like the extra screen real estate and they're much easier on my hands

It is less prone to input errors. That's true, but all other points I disagree with. Gestures are faster on a larger device, because you don't have to relocate your fingers. Additionally they are easier to use on a larger screen for the same reason.
It's just what you are used to and I don't like that gestures are not as intuitive as buttons (worse UI/feedback), but they do work better overall and that's a fair tradeoff.
It took a few attempts and switching back and forth until it really clicked, but it is so much better on a larger device.

Gestures are faster and more intuitive. You don't have to do hand gymnastics just to get to the recents apps screen or to go back. The gesture bar can be hidden and it will still work, unlike the buttons which you have to swipe up to bring back, and even when shown it doesn't take up much screen real estate. Apple got it right when they brought gestures to the iPhone and I'm glad Google copied.
- None of this makes any sense. How are invisible gestures more intuitive than a button? And aren't gestures literally "hand gymnastics"? Gestures and any "hidden" input are decidedly user unfriendly precisely because they're invisible. I don't recall specifics but there have definitely been apps where a user gets stuck on a screen because the developer unexpectedly opted for a gesture instead of a visible widget.
  Gestures are good for the screen real estate part but that's kinda it, IMO. I stopped fighting the current and (mostly) adapted.
- I would disagree if gestures being faster. Mostly because animations can't be disabled with gestures.
  If I hit the home button I am instantly on my home screen rather than waiting on the zoom and shrink animation. Same issue with recent apps.

That's one hell of a controversial opinion.
I personally prefer gestures. I find them quicker (you don't have to move your fingers as much to do anything, especially back gesture) and more intuitive (like swiping on the navigation pill or whatever it's called to quickly switch apps, much better than double clicking recents button). Gestures also integrate nicely with the rest of os (like swiping from backspace to erase whole words in gboard).
One thing I hate and I can't understand how that's not fixed in stock AOSP is opening left side menus (those hamburger ones) with gestures enabled. Half of the time instead of opening the menu it will just go back, even if sensitivity on left edge is set to minimum.
This is something that custom roms address nicely as most of the time setting sensitivity to minimum would actually disable gestures in this area (take note Google). If this is something that's bugging anyone, you can disable gestures on left edge over adb (without root) with: adb shell settings put secure back_gesture_inset_scale_left 0 or with: su -c "settings put secure back_gesture_inset_scale_left 0" if you have root access (for more info look here).
- Issue is that developers are honestly, kinda of dumb in regards to the menu gesture, and AFAIK there wasn't an actual "canonical" guideline for that gesture in the first place.
  Discord offers the best implemention in my opinion, as it can function on the middle of the screen and not on the edge, so it doesn't interfere with system gestures.
- Pro tip. Press left edge for 0.5 seconds then pull it out. Works every time

I could not disagree more. Gestures are so much more intuitive, easier to access, and faster. The three button nav bar feels like stone age technology to me now.
- I fought it at first, but I'm so glad I finally gave in. It really is so much more intuitive.
  
  It's funny - I used it for such a long time. Then YouTube didn't support it properly (of all things) and it drove me nuts so I went back to 3 buttons.
  The 3 buttons felt so familiar. It was like coming home after being away for a long time.
- I feel like it depends on the device, particularly in terms of ergonomics and how well gestures are implemented.

I prefer gestures, it feels more natural and there is a bigger margin for error, as in I can swipe from anywhere along the bottom to go home or anywhere along the sides to go back. The one downside for me is the left back gesture conflicting with drawer navigation, but apps seem to be moving away from that anyway
- It is also sometimes annoying when you try to crop the margin of a photo and the cropping area overlaps with the back gesture trigger area. But for me gestures win every time because the back gesture, which is the most common of the 3 operations, is available anywhere my thumb currently is, not just on the bottom edge of the screen.
- Pro tip, press left edge amd hold for 0.5 seconds then swipe right. Works every time

I prefer buttons because there's less risk of accidentally highjacking the gestures used by mobile screen-reader users to navigate.
Also buttons theoretically tell you what they do before they do it (when they're not just abstract icons). Gesture relies on cognitive load, which forces me to remember an action mapping. Which I do not. Especially since covid. Or i have to abandon my task to search for documentation, which is worse because it reduces the odds I'll compete the thing I was trying to do.

I like gestures not only because they are faster and feel more natural but mainly because the vertical space you gain in the screen.

I'm glad that Android (still) gives us the option to chose one or the other.
- Exactly my thoughts. I don't mind either navigation option but I'm thrilled I have the choice

The 3 button navigation is simpler, much faster than gestures and less prone to input errors than gessure navigation.
I was constantly backing out of my app when all I wanted to do was turn a page. Therefore I went back to the three buttons. The gestures are nifty, but I was always running into problems with the gesture happening when I didn't want it to.
My tech averse spouse finally wanted a smartphone and I knew he would not understand gestures as he is very literal. So there was a double bonus: the buttons are a lot better for him.

If you meant physical, clickable buttons, then yes, I agree with that and I miss the early days of Android where we still had them, the Galaxy 5/Europa was really fun to use and I miss it.
Never really liked the virtual buttons that much. As phones get bigger and bigger, they started making less and less sense. With gestures you can reach the back function by holding the phone anywhere on the screen. And the home and recents function are available anywhere on the bottom of the screen rather than having dedicated places.
One thing that might be a game changer once developers implement it is the predictive gesture, which would transform the back gesture into something analog, and I can imagine some cool uses for it that can't be done with buttons. It would also help give feedback for more complex apps and stuff like that.
That said, gestures live and die by the feedback, and to this day I think the best one was done by FluidNG, as it felt like you're pulling a black goo from the screen edge. The rest always felt a downgrade in comparison. The Android 14 one looks better than previous ones, but it still doesn't hold a candle to FluidNG

As a Samsung user, One Handed+ is a game changer. Placed on either/both side of the phone, I don't need to veer towards the bottom of the screen. Much faster and ergonomically superior to buttons or stock gestures.
- Yeah, one handed mode+ and gestures is the ultimate combo IMHO
- I would have to try that. I have a Samsung tablet and oneUI's interface and functionalities are really great. My phone is a Poco F3 and even with miui.eu the gestures on those devices have always felt a bit off for me. Most likely where I get most of my opinion from.

With how Liftoff has been doing gesture navigation updates, I'm about to suggest they make it all optional because I keep closing shit or going places I am not intending to when just trying to zoom in on a picture or something.
The ONLY time I prefer gestures to buttons is on the desktop. I use mouse gestures. Which also require holding a button down while moving the mouse, so even then I'm still technically using a button.

I miss physical buttons.

What I dislike personally about the 3 onscreen button thing is most phones are oled now and I'd rather not have anything permanent on my screen because of potential burn in but that goes for the status bar as well.

I installed Samsungs One Hand Operation + and haven't looked back. It's simply perfect.

Screenspace outweighs it for me though. My accuracy is pretty good these days, but my assistant gestures are turned off for unrelated privacy reasons, so there might be less gestures I really need.

I disagree. Gestures are better.
It's subjective. I have no problem one handed and think it's fewer accidents because it takes more than just a tap to trigger.
That said I'm on Samsung where the gestures are amazing. I still don't get the appeal of other brands that all have worse update lifetime, worse UI goodies, etc.

Devastated over two button nav being killed off. I love having a back button but I like the swipe to switch apps and to go home.
I have a magisk mod that puts it back in but it's now extremely broken thanks to Google and it doesn't seem to work on new installs. Stopped working properly around May '23 update. P7 Pro

If this was still the days of small, reasonably size, phones, I'd agree with you. But I can't comfortably reach the bottom of my phone while performing normal interactions so gesture control is far more ergonomic for me

I disagree, with the way I hold my phone one handed it's much more comfortable and natural to use gestures than stretching my thumb all the way to the bottom of the screen (although this is also due to how large screens have become, 3 button was much more manageable with smaller phones)
I do feel like 3 button navigation is as comfortable and as fast as gesture is when using two hands
- Don't you have to stretch your thumb down when going home or switching apps?
  
  Yes, but I do that much less often than navigating "back"

Switching between apps might be bit slower, however going back is much faster and is more used. So I find it faster overall. And feels much easier after the initial learning part.

64 comments