Android 9 Pie vs Android 8.0 Oreo Walkthrough: What’s New

Gesture Navigation Controls

Starting with Android 9.0 Pie, Google introduced a brand new gesture navigation control system. As our phone screens get bigger, bezels shrink, and the fronts become all screen, buttons are disappearing. Well, except for one pill-shaped button. 

Basically, Google added a way to ditch the on-screen buttons and use gestures to control your Android phone. Similar to the swipes and finger drag controls on the iPhone Xs. 

Here's how to enable gesture controls in Android Pie and how they work. 

Swipe up from the pill button about halfway up the screen to enter your recent apps list. This is how you can easily multitask and switch between running apps or Google Chrome tabs. Drag left or right to pan through them. Swipe up faster (or further up) and you’ll open the application tray just like you do on Android 8.0 Oreo.

You can swipe to the right from the pill to flip back to a recently used app, and do a bunch of other things. This is the new app switcher, which takes some getting used to, and honestly, I hate it.  Our video above has more information for those interested. 

This is optional in Android Pie on devices that receive an update, but it's the ONLY control option on the Pixel 3, and it'll be the only way to control the Pixel 4. At least Samsung's Galaxy S10 will make gesture controls OPTIONAL.