Navigation buttons or gesture navigation

[ssj100]

Im sure some scenarios the 3 button can be faster , for larger devices and one hand mode I can see gestures have the advantage , can come down how fast one can move between gestures and buttons also but it feels more fluid going through the UI with gestures , I know some people who could swipe type faster then typing on andriod keyboard not me thats for sure lol, but it really does come down to personal preference like we have all mentioned.

Just wondering, do you reduce or disable the "Window animation scale", "Transition animation scale", and "Animator duration scale" under Developer options? I disable the first two completely and set "Animator duration scale" to .5x - the phone simply flies and is comparable or possibly faster than stuff like Oxygen OS. In this context, I think you'd definitely notice the difference between using buttons and gestures.

 

[mustang7757]

Just wondering, do you reduce or disable the "Window animation scale", "Transition animation scale", and "Animator duration scale" under Developer options? I disable the first two completely and set "Animator duration scale" to .5x - the phone simply flies and is comparable or possibly faster than stuff like Oxygen OS. In this context, I think you'd definitely notice the difference between using buttons and gestures.

Yeah I use to mess with that in developer settings, been a while but I would leave all 3 at .5 or none, I use to root just to over clock the CPU or use substratum apply different tweaks from other andriod.

I've played with everything available you could tweak but I use Nova launcher and make finer adjustments there I like some animation. I keep close to stock now.

 

[V J]

Google gestures. Used to love the buttons and preferred them over Samsung gestures. The swipe back gesture from Google is definitely quicker than reaching down to the bottom of the screen to hit the back button, not to mention much more comfortable and natural for my usual one-handed mode of operation.

However, my partner who usually operates phones with both hands finds buttons to be quicker and easier. But for one-handed use, the swipe back is priceless. Not to mention the extra screen real estate you get from not having the button bar down the bottom, it just looks much more modern and elegant having a tiny sliver (or nothing at all) for gestures vs 3 buttons taking up way more space.

 

[ssj100]

Another advantage of buttons is when you want to quickly switch between two apps. This is near instant with buttons, as you simply double tap the back button. With gestures, I see no way of doing it anywhere close to that quickly.

Furthermore, if you're frequently bringing up the "recent apps" view, it can get quite tiring one-handed with gestures! The S21 Ultra is pretty heavy already, and doing gestures one-handed over and over can get somewhat tiring. However, I do realise some people here are responding in this thread while using the S21 or S21+, which are both significantly lighter than the S21 Ultra. Personally I have no issues with shifting my hand/fingers/thumb to reach the back button, but perhaps I've trained myself to do that.

I definitely agree that issuing the back command is generally easier with the Google gestures (as you don't need to shift to reach the back button especially on the big S21 Ultra), but this is offset by the above scenarios I've described if you use the home and recent apps button often too.

 

[Kizzy Catwoman]

Gestures. Just prefer them overall

 

[bhatech]

Another advantage of buttons is when you want to quickly switch between two apps. This is near instant with buttons, as you simply double tap the back button. With gestures, I see no way of doing it anywhere close to that quickly.

I had mentioned earlier, just slide on the gesture icon at the bottom from right to left or left to right to switch between apps which is the equivalent functionality of double tap the multi task button to switch apps. It's more the near instant with gestures as well.

 

[V J]

Another advantage of buttons is when you want to quickly switch between two apps. This is near instant with buttons, as you simply double tap the back button. With gestures, I see no way of doing it anywhere close to that quickly.

Furthermore, if you're frequently bringing up the "recent apps" view, it can get quite tiring one-handed with gestures! The S21 Ultra is pretty heavy already, and doing gestures one-handed over and over can get somewhat tiring. However, I do realise some people here are responding in this thread while using the S21 or S21+, which are both significantly lighter than the S21 Ultra. Personally I have no issues with shifting my hand/fingers/thumb to reach the back button, but perhaps I've trained myself to do that.

I definitely agree that issuing the back command is generally easier with the Google gestures (as you don't need to shift to reach the back button especially on the big S21 Ultra), but this is offset by the above scenarios I've described if you use the home and recent apps button often too.

You can swipe the gesture bar sideways to switch open apps.

 

[ssj100]

Yes, it's not quite as fast overall though (and not as reliable especially if you're wanting to do it rapidly and repeatedly) and as I said before, it's pretty tiring doing it one-handed for long periods. I suppose you guys have trained your hand muscles to do gestures for a long time though, so this may not be as much of an issue!

 

[trucksmoveamerica#AC]

I've been using gestures long before google decided to add it. The only native gestures I use is for the bottom buttons. I use nova launcher, that's had gestures and swipe functions for years, and I use edge gestures. Edge gestures is so customizable. It actually confused me at first when google added gestures. I was thinking what's new here, I have been doing this gesture thing for a long time now and able to customize it better, I was trying to figure out what's new, and the only new was google added it, it's not new.

 

[notforhire]

not even a question for me. went back to the buttons because of my work environment...need precision, not slapping at my screen

 

[anon(469638)]

Gestures are better...on iPhone.

Because Android is still plagued by hamburger menus, the back gesture is pretty hit or miss.

What makes the whole situation worse, is that Duarte is the one who lead the best gesture-based UI with Web OS. Somehow, they haven’t been able to replicate that ease of use within Android.

It’s a shame really.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

Buttons are better in my opinion.

But I use gestures

 

[Rickey Shortt]

Definitely gestures.

 

[Smokeaire01]

Yes, it's not quite as fast overall though (and not as reliable especially if you're wanting to do it rapidly and repeatedly) and as I said before, it's pretty tiring doing it one-handed for long periods. I suppose you guys have trained your hand muscles to do gestures for a long time though, so this may not be as much of an issue!

There wasn't any muscle training needed for me. Very simple basic thumb movements...up, left or right and up again to dismiss.

 

[MotorMike2020]

Gestures for sure ! And they actually work on my S7 edge too....

 

[cknobman]

I'm a gesture type of person. Faster for me.

 

[dungoyle]

I have to admit to being surprised that my answer is "Gestures". I didn't think I'd like it or be able to get used to it (at age 60 you become less adaptable dontcha know?), but it turns out that it only took me a couple of days to get used to it, and now when I use my wife's phone, I swipe once or twice before I realize I need to use her buttons. Gestures is easily more efficient in my eyes.

 

[bkdodger2]

Gestures for sure...

 

[j_grouchy]

Here's the thing...I keep a case on my phone. Always a case where the edges are raised above the screen. When I tried using gestures, I found myself constantly catching my finger on the case edge or, if I tried to avoid that, my finger would not engage the edge of the screen enough to capture the gesture. I wanted to use gestures, but just constantly got frustrated by it. So it's buttons for me.

 

[V J]

Here's the thing...I keep a case on my phone. Always a case where the edges are raised above the screen. When I tried using gestures, I found myself constantly catching my finger on the case edge or, if I tried to avoid that, my finger would not engage the edge of the screen enough to capture the gesture. I wanted to use gestures, but just constantly got frustrated by it. So it's buttons for me.

There's a setting to adjust how sensitive (ie how large the area is) to trigger the swipe back gesture.