If you have a Google Pixel and like to mess around, download, install and dig into the first beta of Android 14, this is a most interesting idea (although yes, remember it’s not without risks and errors because it is a beta version). We have already had the opportunity to test it thoroughly and, although without revolutionary changes, there are small details that will make the difference. I’ve already talked about the comeback gesture and what it will mean, but there’s another little change in the design of the interface that is in the navigation bar.
While we’ll probably have to wait for Google I/O to dive deep into the latest Android update and see it all in action, these details are noticeable day-to-day, enhancing the experience. In fact, this change in the navigation bar amounts to satisfy and solve a fairly popular request among people who use Android on a daily basis, as you can see on Reddit or Google Issue Tracker.
Because while some apps offer support for a navbar with a transparent background or a color theme that matches its appearance, other apps just choose to leave a black horizontal stripe regardless of whether you’re using dark mode. or dark mode. The combination of the two results in an inconsistent experience. It’s not a drama, but aesthetically it’s annoying and once you see it, it’s hard to stop paying attentionbecause it gives a certain carefree feeling in the design.
The key to this inconsistency currently present in the Android experience is that since Android 5.0, development teams have had the ability to change the background color of the navigation bar, which is black by default. There are those who have opted for creativity, but others have left it as it is. Making it transparent has its own, as they have to deal with overlapping layers and other elements. SO the solution is coming because google makes it transparent by default.
Make the navigation bar transparent
And this is one of the good surprises of Android 14 Beta 1: the navigation bar is transparent by default enable this option… although you won’t be able to do so with the options in view. It’s not easy because you won’t find this option directly in the settings, but you will have to activate the developer mode first, which a Google Pixel can do in ‘Setting‘ > ‘About phone‘ and scroll down and press ‘ repeatedlybuild number‘
We now enter the developer options to find this option, which, by the way, appears in English. When enabled, by default, the background of the navigation bar will be transparent. As specialist journalist Mishaal Rahman details in XDA Developers, UI is not drawn below the navigation barthere will therefore be no overlapping of images.
And what does it look like? An example of the experience when activating the transparent navigation bar can be seen below, with the Gsam Battery Monitor application (a classic for our analyses). We tested with three-button navigation and with gesture navigation, here’s the before and after:
Standard Navigation Bar vs. transparent in navigation with three buttons (on the left) and by gestures (on the right)
As always when we talk about betas, we must not forget that we are talking about non-final test versionsso the final stable version of Android 14 may not integrate this function or do it in a different way than what we see.
Adding this setting in Developer Options means that only part of your audience will activate this possibilitythus striking a balance between having too many options (which can be overwhelming) and more experienced users looking for the most refined and personalized experience.
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