When we use an Android mobile, we normally have two options to navigate the system: through the use of buttons and gestures. I’m referring to the three buttons, or gesture bar, found at the bottom of the screen that allow us to go to the home screen, press “Back” or navigate to the screen recent applications.
In the Samsung Galaxy, however, there is a third alternative. It is a sort of hybrid between the two systems which Get the best of using navigation buttons and gestures. This is a more precise way to navigate the system. Unfortunately, since the latest versions of the One UI system, it is no longer so easy to access this option, but below you will find out how to officially activate this type of gestures, using Samsung tools.
How to enable navigation gestures from the bottom of the screen on Samsung Galaxy
The update to One UI 6.1 brought many changes, including new artificial intelligence features. However, it also caused some casualties: for example, Samsung removed the navigation gestures from the bottom of the screen that we can see in the photo at the beginning of this article.
However, there is a way to bring them back, using the best tool Samsung has created for the personalization of your mobiles and tablets.
If we go to the Settings menu, in the screen configuration section, we only find two options: button navigation and gesture navigation. What we will do is bring back the third optionOne UI alternative gestures.
The first thing to do is install Good Lock, an excellent official application developed by Samsung, which includes many experimental and alternative functions for our devices. Good Lock is available on the Galaxy Store app store and also on Google Play Store.
Once we install this application, We access it and follow these steps:
- Let’s move on to the tab Make up
- We are looking for the module NavStar and download it by clicking on the icon in the shape of an arrow pointing down
- We access the module and select the Swipe Gestures tab at the bottom, and activate NavStar
- Finally, we activate the option ‘Enable additional gesture settings‘ (Enable additional gesture settings)
After following these steps, we can enable navigation gestures from the bottom of the screen. Following, we follow these steps:
- We go to the device settings menu and access the “Display” section
- Next we access the option Navigation bar
- We select the sliding gestures and click More options
- Finally we select ‘Slide from the bottom‘
This type of navigation allows us to slide our finger from the bottom of the screen to perform three actions: go to the home screen, go “Back” or access the multitasking screen (the last applications used). It’s similar to using buttons, but much more comfortable, using finger gestures. So, we avoid accidental gestures This can happen with traditional gesture navigation (like accidental backtracking) and more precise use of gestures. I’ve been using them for a long time and it’s definitely my favorite way to browse on my mobile.
Cover photo | Eduardo Marín for Xataka Android
In Xataka Android | How to personalize your Samsung Galaxy gestures as much as possible to be able to do (almost) everything
In Xataka Android | I’ve been using Android for over twelve years and here are my tips for organizing the home screen