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Latest Android 10 release brings gesture support to third-party launchers, already live on the Pixel 4

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With Android Pie, Google introduced the two-button navigation system. To be absolutely frank, it was quite bad. In contrast, the full-screen navigation gestures from manufacturers like Samsung, OnePlus, Huawei, and other Chinese manufacturers were significantly better. In an attempt to rectify this issue, Google rolled out its own take on navigation gestures with Android 10. However, this new navigation system had its own problems. One of the most annoying things about the new navigation system was the lack of third-party launcher support. Now, with the latest release of Android 10, Google seems to have finally addressed that issue.


Navigation Gestures Third Party Launcher Support
Navigation Gestures Third Party Launcher Support
As reported by Android Police, the fix is already live on Google’s flagship Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL. Third-party launchers like Nova and Action can now use the native navigation gestures on the Pixel 4 series without any issues. Before the fix was released, using Android 10’s gesture navigation system with a third-party launcher would produce an error(shown above). Users were left with no choice but to use Android Pie’s two-button setup or the traditional three-button setup with third-party launchers. This was openly criticized by the community, with Nova Launcher‘s Kevin Barry objecting Google’s decision to go ahead with gesture navigations without third-party launcher support.


Navigation Gestures Third Party Launcher Support


As of now, the third-party launcher support seems to be a Pixel 4 exclusive feature. Older devices from the company running the latest update still don’t let you use navigation gestures with third-party launchers. This is probably because the Pixel 4 series shipped with an updated version of Android 10 that hasn’t been released for other Pixel devices yet. However, we expect the feature to make its way to older devices with Android 10 soon. While Google hasn’t officially revealed a release timeline, it’s quite likely that the third-party launcher support should arrive on older Pixel devices with the Android security patch for November. Following the rollout, you will also be able to use the new Google Assistant, which requires navigation gestures to work, with third-party launchers.