Did you know that Android lets you control many functions with gestures? The best Android gestures make navigating your device easier than ever, including doing everything with just one hand.
Table of Contents
Somehow, phones have gone from being small, lightweight devices to mini tablets, so it's not always easy to control everything with one hand. One of the Android gestures that people use a lot is One-Handed Mode.
By default, this mode is not enabled on most devices. Go to Settings -> System -> Gestures . Depending on your device, this mode may also be under Settings -> Advanced Features -> One-handed mode .
Turn it on and make sure it's in Gesture mode. Swipe down on the home button to shrink the screen. Drag and drop to whatever position feels most comfortable. Double-tap an empty area to restore the screen to its normal size.
It seems impossible to move the cursor on your phone. By far one of the best and most loved Android gestures is moving the cursor with the space bar. You can easily fix typos by holding and sliding your finger across the space bar on your phone keyboard.
If you take screenshots often, try using the gesture method instead of the side buttons or swipe down and select "Take a screenshot" from the Quick Settings panel.
Swipe the edge of your palm across the screen to take a screenshot. It may take a few tries before you get the timing right, but once you do, it'll be a game changer.
If that doesn't work, go to Settings -> Advanced Features -> Motions and gestures and make sure Palm swipe to capture is enabled. Depending on your device, it may also be under Settings -> System -> Gestures .
Tired of swiping down from the top twice to access the Quick Settings menu? Use two fingers instead of one to swipe down from the top. Just swipe once and you'll have instant access to your favorite shortcuts.
When you're in Quick Settings, hold an option instead of tapping it to go to additional settings and options for that particular option. For example, if you hold Location , you'll be taken to the Android settings for Location services . Note that this doesn't work for every Quick Settings option.
On some Android devices, swiping left or right at the bottom of the screen will quickly switch between recently opened apps. If that doesn't work, tap the small square in the bottom right corner or the three-line menu (depending on your device) to see a list of recently opened apps.
From here, swipe up on an app to remove it from the list, essentially closing it. Or, if you want to reopen the app, swipe down.
Don't like having navigation buttons at the bottom of the screen? One of the best Android gestures replaces those buttons with swipes.
Go to Settings -> System -> Gestures and select Gesture Navigation . Full instructions are listed after you enable this feature.
For Samsung devices, go to Settings -> Display -> Navigation bar . Turn on Swipe gestures .
Swiping from side to side lets you switch between previous apps. Swiping up from the bottom opens the home screen, swiping up and holding opens the multitasking view.
Previously, you had to take a screenshot or image and then share it to your favorite search engine to find more information. One of the best Android gestures is Circle to Search. This feature was added in 2024 and allows you to hold down the home button (or a navigation controller) and then circle whatever you want to search for. Sadly, this feature isn’t available on all devices yet.
The biggest advantage is that you can add more details to refine your search. The downside is that it's not as effective at finding people's names, like actors or musicians whose names you don't remember.
You can also search for music by tapping the music note icon that appears. Or just use the search box as normal if you don't have anything to circle.
Depending on whether you're using Google Assistant or Gemini , swiping up from the left or right corner will give you instant access. This is a great alternative to using the physical button, which can then be mapped to do something else.
The best part is that this feature works with any default assistant. If you like Alexa or Samsung Bixby, set it as your default and the gesture will work the same way.
Skip steps when using your favorite apps by pressing and holding the app icon. This is one of the best Android gestures for productivity. If you need to create a new document in Google Docs, press and hold and select New Doc . No need to open the app and then create a new document. If your Google Drive is full, learn how to delete files quickly.
Many Android apps provide app shortcuts, but some don't. For example, the Microsoft Word app doesn't provide any functionality other than selecting and uninstalling apps.
Swiping up on any home screen will open the multitasking view. At the top is the search bar. Use this to search for settings on your device, files, and anything else you want online. This is the easiest way to search using a swipe.
Want to do more with your phone now that you've mastered the best Android gestures? Learn how to add a Chrome webpage directly to your home screen or add the Settings app to your home screen.
TWRP allows users to save, install, backup and restore firmware on their devices without worrying about affecting the state of the device when rooting, flashing or installing new firmware on Android devices.
On the Google Play Store, there are many alternative applications to the default Android gallery. They provide more interesting features than the default gallery such as connecting to Dropbox or Google Photos accounts, etc. Depending on your needs and desires, you can choose the following applications.
It is important to work on the image you are selecting to review on the app. This is why you need to know what your screenshots look like to grab the user's attention and get them to download.
Here are some of the best calorie counting apps on both Android and iOS mobile platforms.
To make your mobile experience easier to navigate, you can change the font size on Android. When text, fonts, and icons are easier to see, you may also want to make your Android keyboard larger.
If you are not tech savvy, it is easy to get confused about different operating systems, manufacturers, device models, and specifications. One such example is people considering Samsung and Android as synonymous, which is not entirely correct.
If you've been using a Samsung phone for a few years now, you'll find the great features the Galaxy line offers hard to beat.
Taking screenshots on Samsung Galaxy phones is also extremely easy.
Setting a default volume level for each application is useful in some cases, such as you are watching a video using the Youtube application and want to reduce the volume of the ringtone and message tone so as not to be disturbed.
Trying to completely delete and uninstall an app on Android isn't always as simple as tapping Uninstall. Instead, files are left behind, cluttering up your system, but there are ways to get rid of them.
The default camera apps on your phone can do a lot, but they still don't have many advanced tools for creative photography. Here are the best phone camera apps.
In the article below, Quantrimang will talk about how Shelter works and how to use this tool.
While Android accessibility features are designed with specific needs in mind, some of them can benefit everyone.
Juggling multiple apps on your phone to get things done can sometimes feel overwhelming. Luckily, Android offers a variety of features that make multitasking a breeze.
Most virtual keyboard apps include a vibration feedback feature — also known as “haptic feedback” — to make typing on a touchscreen more realistic.
Many different issues can cause your iPhone to become unresponsive or even not turn on. The good news is that you can fix most of these problems without having to take your phone to a repair center.
After testing all the photo filters on your iPhone, you will eventually come up with your favorites. These are the best filters to use on your photos.
To limit unwanted application downloads on Android, you should set a password to download applications on Android.
TWRP allows users to save, install, backup and restore firmware on their devices without worrying about affecting the state of the device when rooting, flashing or installing new firmware on Android devices.
On Android phones, there is an option to adjust the screen lock mode when the user is inactive. So how to keep the screen always on?
In Apple's new product launch events, including iPhone, iOS, macOS... the time stamp is always 9:41.
On the Google Play Store, there are many alternative applications to the default Android gallery. They provide more interesting features than the default gallery such as connecting to Dropbox or Google Photos accounts, etc. Depending on your needs and desires, you can choose the following applications.
iOS 18 added a new feature that simplifies this process and lets you access recent notes with just a few taps.
The Google voice assistant feature on the phone helps users a lot in their daily life and work. However, this can affect the privacy of users.
Instead of manually calculating the time difference between cities, you can use your iPhone to view multiple time zones.
Clean Up is a tool in the Photos app in iOS 18 that lets you remove unwanted objects from photos. However, it sometimes has the strange behavior of blurring faces instead of removing them.
The new iPhone update adds a widget that displays nighttime health information in the Health app. When you add the widget to your iPhone home screen, all health indicators are recorded when you use Apple Watch.
Do you often feel annoyed when every time you turn on 3G on your Android Smartphone, applications compete to notify Update while the budget for mobile data network is limited?
As soon as the Passwords app detects an account with a weak, vulnerable, or leaked password, it will notify you of the status of that password.
Are you having a flickering issue with your iPhone camera? There are many factors that can cause this issue, so don't assume it's a hardware issue and take it to the Apple Store right away.
