Android Q might finally be adding a gesture to support Screen Pinning, according to a clue spotted by XDA Developers.
Back in May, Google announced that the company would be ditching buttons entirely in Android Q and instead committing to a fully gestural navigation. The feature first made an appearance in Android 9 Pie but until now it has worked alongside buttons rather than without them.
Related: No turning back? Android Q ditches buttons for gesture navigation
Unfortunately there are some features that refuse to work smoothly alongside the gestures – one of which is Screen Pinning.
Screen Pinning is a feature that allows Android Lollipop and beyond users to pin their favourite apps to the foreground of their screens, keeping them quickly and easily accessible. The feature includes entering a specific combination of buttons to close the app. Typically this involves holding both the back and home buttons at the same time.
By removing the option to navigate via buttons, Google has made it significantly more difficult to exit a pinned app.
Related: Android Q Features
In the latest Android Q beta, Google did away with Screen Pinning entirely. It seemed as though there was no real fix in place that would allow Android users to switch to Android Q’s fully gestural navigation without losing the popular Screen Pinning function.
Thankfully, XDA Developers Editor in Chief Mishaal Rahman has shared a string on Twitter that might explain how Google will force the two features to get along after all.
Related: Best Android Phones
The string describes a gestural solution to closing the apps that are pinned to your screen – swipe up and hold.
Though Screen Pinning is still not available in the latest beta, it is a good sign that Google has a solution in mind to a problem that has been plaguing Android Q since full gestural navigation was announced earlier this year at Google I/O.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.