15 advanced Android gesture actions

Ah, gestures. Whether we’re waltzin’ around the world or working on a touch-enabled tech toy, don’t you just love how much you can convey with a simple swish of a single finger?

While our single-fingered movements in the physical world may be more, let’s say, communicative in nature, here in the land o’ Android, a gesture is a powerful action initiator. Deploying the right finger motion at the right moment can save you time and help you accomplish all sorts of interesting things on whatever device you’re using.

The only problem is that by their very nature, gestures are invisible. You don’t see ’em or have any real signs of their existence — which means it’s up to you to remember they exist and then get yourself in the habit of using ’em. And no matter how long you’ve used Android or how intelligent of a mammal you may (allegedly) be, you’re bound to forget about some gestures over time or never even notice that they’re there in the first place.

With that in mind, I’ve been racking my brain to remind myself of all the awesome Android gesture tricks that are out of sight, out of mind for most of us.

Here are 15 of my favorite finds.

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Android gesture action #1: Quicker Quick Settings

We’ll start with one of the simplest but most effective Android gesture actions around. While it may be relatively basic, though, you’d better believe it’s all too easy to lose sight of over time.

So, for context: Android’s Quick Settings — y’know, those one-tap tiles that show up when you swipe down twice from the top of your screen — are all about saving time and making it easier to access common adjustments.

And here, for ye, is a quick time-saving gesture for getting to those Quick Settings even more quickly:

Swipe down from the very top of your screen with two fingers together, side by side — and hey, how ’bout that?!

JR Raphael, IDG

You got exactly where you wanted to go, in precisely half the steps it’d typically take ya.

And speaking of Quick Settings…

Android gesture action #2: Hidden holds

When you see a tile or a button, like the ones in Android’s Quick Settings area, your first instinct is to tap it — right?

Well, here’s a little secret: With certain Android Quick Settings options, you can also press and hold the buttons to accomplish an extra invisible action.

The tricky thing is that there’s no real way to know when that maneuver’s possible. But, for instance, in the standard Google Android interface that’s present on Pixels and certain other devices, pressing and holding the Quick Settings tiles for Internet, Hotspot, Bluetooth, Quick Share, Dark Theme, Do Not Disturb, and even Auto-Rotate zaps you directly to the associated section of your full system settings.

Samsung handles this a bit differently and less consistently (because — well, Samsung), but you’ll find some long-press surprises within its Quick Settings setup, too, if you press and hold to see what happens.

Android gesture action #3: On-demand shortcuts

While we’re thinkin’ about that good old-fashioned long-press Android gesture, take a sec to remind yourself of this brilliantly invisible little benefit:

Pressing and holding any icon on your home screen or in your app drawer will surface a series of simple shortcuts for jumping directly to specific areas within the associated app.

So, for instance, with Google Docs, you can go straight into working on a new document without having to first open up the app and find the right options. With Google Calendar, you can create a new event with a single tap. With Slack, you can make your way immediately into any recently accessed workspace or conversation. And with Google Maps, you can fire up instant navigations to any of your favorite places right from your home screen.

JR Raphael, IDG

The list of useful Android app shortcuts goes on from there. (And if you really want to get wild, you can create your own custom Android app shortcuts and give yourself all sorts of step-savers specific to your own needs, too.)

Once more, all you’ve gotta do is remember.

Android gesture action #4: The Overview swift swipe

First things first, with our next nifty trick: You know about Android’s Overview interface, right?

That’s the list of recently opened apps you can access by swiping upward about an inch from the bottom of your screen and then stopping, if you’re using the current Android gesture navigation system — or by tapping one of the icons along the bottom edge of your screen, if you’re still stickin’ with the old legacy three-button nav setup. (It’s a square-shaped icon at the right in the standard Google version of Android and a three-vertical-line icon at the left with Samsung — again, ’cause Samsung.)

Once you’re in that area, take advantage of two easy-to-miss extra gesture options:

• You can swipe up on any app’s card you see to close it and dismiss it from the list.
• And you can swipe down on any app to open it quickly.

JR Raphael, IDG

Whee!

Android gesture action #5: The fast app flip

When you want to zip back to the app you had opened most recently, remember this:

With the current Android gesture nav setup, you can flick your finger horizontally to the right along the bottom edge of your screen to move backwards one step in your app continuum — and then you can swipe to the left in that same area to flip back from there.

It’s basically like Alt-Tab in Windows, only on Android:

JR Raphael, IDG

If you’re still with the old three-button nav approach, double-tapping the Overview icon will accomplish something similar.

Android gesture action #6: History in a hurry

Android’s notification history is one of the platform’s most useful and underused elements. Once you activate it, you can access a list of alerts that’ve popped up on your device — even after you’ve dismissed ’em. Handy, wouldn’t ya say?

And here’s a hidden gesture few Android-appreciating animals are even aware of: In addition to the History button at the bottom of the Android notification panel — in the standard Google version of Android, at least, when you have one or more notifications present — you can press your favorite fingie onto the words “No notifications” when no notifications are showing to get to that same place in a flash.

This is one even Samsung hasn’t stripped out of the software. (Hallelujah!)

Just note that you may have to manually enable Android’s notification history option first, if it wasn’t already on by default on your device.

Android gesture action #7: The clock quickie

Pixel pals, time to teach yourself a faster way to access your Pixel Clock app:

Swipe down once from the top of your screen to open your notifications panel, then tap the time in the upper-left corner of the screen.

Good to know, no?!

Android gesture action #8: The split-screen slide

If you’re using a reasonably recent large-screen Android device, be it a tablet or a foldable, this next one’s for you:

Google’s brilliantly useful taskbar is an awesome way to switch between apps and slide into Android’s typically out-of-the-way split-screen mode especially easily.

First, to summon the taskbar, swipe up gently from the bottom of your screen — just barely, then stop. (And note that this’ll work only in a large-screen Android environment — meaning only in the fully unfolded, tablet-like state of a phone like the Pixel Fold or on a traditional tablet’s spacious display.)

Then, once you’ve got the taskbar in front of you, press and hold your finger onto any icon either in the favorites area or within the app drawer at the left of the taskbar, then drag it up into either side of the screen to start a split between that and whatever other app you already had open.

JR Raphael, IDG

And while we’re thinking about that large-screen Android experience…

Android gesture action #9: Keep’s split-screen secret

This next trick is one I just discovered during my Pixel 9 Pro Fold explorations the other day, and my goodness, is it a good’un:

When you’re looking at the Google Keep Android app on any large-screen setup, be it an unfolded foldable phone or a tablet, take note: You can press and hold your finger onto the line separating the app’s two panels — the note list and whatever individual note you’re actively viewing — and then slide your finger in either direction to change the panels’ sizes.

JR Raphael, IDG

It’s the same gesture available in the standard Android split-screen interface, now possible within a single specific app’s view, too.

On a related note…

Android gesture action #10: The Calendar divide

Following that revelation last week, a thoughtful Android Intelligence reader reached out to tell me about a similarly invisible advanced gesture they’d noticed in the Google Calendar Android app — again, when it’s being used in a large-screen setup.

With Calendar, when you’re looking at any split view — showing both a full calendar interview and a specific event, in other words — you can press and then slide your finger along the line separating the panels to adjust each side’s size.

JR Raphael, IDG

Mind. Blown.

Android gesture action #11: Video vrooming

Android’s picture-in-picture system is fantastic for keeping a video or even Google Maps navigation present on your screen while you’re doing other things.

In most apps that support the function, you can start a picture-in-picture view by heading back to your home screen while the video or navigation is playing (though some apps, like YouTube, do have certain restrictions in place for when the feature can be used).

Then — here’s the fun advanced-gesture-requiring part — once that picture-in-picture box is present, with recent Android versions, you can use two fingers to pinch in or out on the box itself to make it smaller or larger.

You can also press and hold your finger onto the box to fling it around to any area of your screen — including, even, off to the side, if you want it out of the way and just barely visible for a moment — and to dismiss it entirely, too, by dragging it down to the bottommost edge of the display.

Android gesture action #12: The tab swipe

The next time you need to see your tabs in Chrome, swipe down from the address bar area.

JR Raphael, IDG

From there, you can tap any tab to open it and swipe left or right on any tab in your list to dismiss and close it.

Android gesture action #13: The menu slider

Speaking of sliding, an oldie-but-a-goodie Android gesture gem that’s all too easy to forget is the slide-down gesture that’s possible in lots of app menus.

When you see a three-dot menu icon within an app, instead of pressing it, try sliding your finger downward on it. In Chrome, Gmail, and plenty of other places, that’ll open up the menu and then allow you to simply keep sliding downward and stop on the option you want.

Android gesture action #14: Camera slidin’

Before you stop slippity-sliding, take a sec to open your phone’s Camera app — then try sliding your finger up or down and left or right on the main viewfinder area.

The specifics of what happens will vary depending on who made your device, but you might just uncover some interesting possibilities you never knew existed.

That’s absolutely the case for Pixels and Samsung devices alike!

Android gesture action #15: Keyboard switchin’

Last but not least, Google’s Gboard Android keyboard is jam-packed with out-of-sight shortcuts — and one in particular stands out from the pack as an advanced-gesture-oriented goodie that fits right into this list.

It’s an easy way to use your keyboard as a trackpad of sorts and shift the on-screen cursor in any text field simply by sliding your finger around.

And here’s all there is to it: Anytime you’ve got an active text field open, just swipe your finger side to side on the Gboard space bar. You’ll see the on-screen cursor move right along with that friendly li’l fingie of yours.

JR Raphael, IDG

If the gesture isn’t workin’ for ya, tap the four-square menu icon in Gboard’s upper-left corner, select “Settings,” then tap “Glide typing” and make sure the toggle next to “Gesture cursor control” is in the on and active position.

And there you have it: With this and all the other advanced Android gesture actions we just went over, the power’s officially in your fingertips. Once you remember to swipe, slide, and press in all the right places, you’ll be flyin’ around your phone like never before.

Get even more advanced shortcut knowledge with my free Android Shortcut Supercourse. You’ll learn tons of time-saving tricks for your phone!