Today, Google officially released its much awaited Android P. Right now, the latest OS will be available for download on the Pixel devices only. Other phones shall start to get the Android P later this year in a phased manner, of course.
Also, the ‘P’ in Android P means Pie, and this OS is heavily based on gesture-based navigation. While this will bring variety to many Android phones in future, it seems that the upcoming Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3 XL will only support the gesture-based navigation while the usual navigation bar (Android function keys) will not be available anymore. This will be specific to the upcoming Pixel 3 smartphones, at the same time, other Android-running phones will have the option to either use the gesture-based navigation or the typical Android function keys.
Gesture-based navigation is possibly the biggest highlight of Android Pie. Instead of the familiar three Android function keys, there’s a small pill-type bar at the bottom of the display which will be used to perform a number of gestures in order to interact with the user interface. These gestures will replace the functionalities of the current Android function keys.
It is not a surprise that Google is making the gesture-based navigation the only way to interact with the Android Pie UI in Pixel handsets given that these are Google devices themselves. However, other phone manufacturers that run the Android OS will be free to choose between the new navigation system and the tried and tested Android function keys.
Nevertheless, the gesture-based navigation system shall be a breath of fresh air along with several other new features Android Pie is bound to bring. It would be interesting to see how the Android Pie will fair against the new generation of iPhones that also heavily rely on gesture-based navigation (since there’s no Home button anymore).
Keep watching this space as we bring more updates on Android Pie or Android 9.
Feature Image Credit: Android Authority