Google might do away with the back navigation button on Android Q: Report

Android Q isn’t really around the corner yet but early sets of code from the next version of Android are out already and latest findings suggest that the back button which has been a feature on every version of Android so far, will soon be gone. Google had introduced its new gesture-based navigation with Android Pie and the supported devices. However, users were always allowed to revert to the regular three-button navigation system if gestures weren’t really their thing. A report by XDADevelopers now states that Google may remove the back button for good and along with it, even the ability to revert to a traditional three-button navigation system.

What this means is that similar to iOS users who are on iPhone X and later, Android users will most likely end up with a single button/home button on their respective smartphones after the Android Q update. The home button now becomes fully gesture-based on top of retaining all the gestures introduced with Android Pie, but also adds a new gesture – sliding the home button to the left to act as a back button. This is a pre-release version and we’re certainly not certain if the final build of Android Q will have a gesture which works the same way. This method of going back still comes across as a little messy, so there is a possibility that things might change by the time we the developer previews roll out around the time Google’s annual developer conference gets underway.