- This article detailed the steps to switch between navigation bar on any Android devices.
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Ever since Android 9 and subsequent Android releases, Google kept trying to bring a new way to navigate your Android devices. In the past, every Android devices (smartphones, tablets and even TV boxes) were all using the 3-button navigation at the bottom of the screen (or on other part of the screen). But now there are more choices to choose from that you can select one that is more suitable for your needs. Android has officially these 3 choices for the bottom buttons a.k.a the navigation bar: 3-button navigation (the original), 2-button navigation as well as Gesture navigation.
Issue that typically people with Android has is they get used to the traditional old way of navigating the Android using the 3-button navigation, if you are on this group of people, don’t worry there’s a way to bring back that old 3-button navigation back to your Android device. For other group of people, who would like to try something new, there are multiple options when it comes to Android navigation. Find out more below on how to switch between the 3 choices.
Here’s how to change your Android bottom buttons / Navigation Bar
The steps below are based on Android 11 running on Google Pixel, if you are using different Android version and phone, the steps may slightly differs from yours, so please adjust accordingly.
1) On Android device, go to your Settings > System > Gestures.
2) Inside Gestures, tap on “System navigation”.
3) Inside System navigation, there are 3 options: choose which one you like.
Depends on your liking, you can choose between 1) Gesture navigation, 2) 2-button navigation or 3) 3-button navigation.
| System navigation | Description |
|---|---|
| Gesture navigation | First introduced on Android 10, this gesture replaces all buttons at the bottom with just a single white bar. |
| 2-button navigation | First introduced back on Android 9.0 Pie, it uses combination of back-button with gesture navigation. Unfortunately, not all newer phones come with this navigation. |
| 3-button navigation | The traditional Android navigation, with back button, home button and task switcher button. If you can’t get used to the new Android navigation, this is the de-facto choice then. |
4) Tap on the choice that you like. Press back button / go to Home screen to confirm your choice.
Depends on your choice, but now you should see the bottom buttons & navigation changed & reflected your choice.
How to bring back the back button on Android & How to bring back the 3 buttons navigation on Android
The steps below are based on Android 11 running on Google Pixel, if you are using different Android version and phone, the steps may slightly differs from yours, so please adjust accordingly.
1) On Android device, go to your Settings > System > Gestures.
2) Inside Gestures, tap on “System navigation”.
3) Inside System navigation, choose either “2-button navigation” or “3-button navigation” if you prefer the traditional Android navigation.
4) Tap on the choice that you like. Press back button / go to Home screen to confirm your choice.
That will bring bring back the back button to your Android device.
Bring it all together
Be together. Not the same. That’s the message Google was giving back then to embrace differences. So now, with the steps given above, you should be able to choose the best navigation for your Android device that suits you the best. For my case, I love to use the 2-button navigation, the mix of traditional (with back button) and new (with gesture). What about you?
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