Android Q is expected to bring several new features, including a system-wide dark mode and improved permissions, and now details on another major change have leaked out.
Google may eliminate the back button with Android Q. XDA-Developers has an early build of Android Q and, when they enabled experimental gestures, the back button disappeared. With this change, you can swipe the "pill" button to the left to go back. The update also shows smoother transition animations. When you're swiping right to switch to your previous app or cycling through all of your recent apps, the animations are smoother than on previous builds of Android.
Since Android Q hasn't been announced yet and likely won't see a public release until later in 2019, it's possible that Google may opt to keep the back button around. Ditching the back button could happen, though, as Google has shown an interest in moving to gesture controls in Android. Plus, ditching the back button would give the navigation bar a cleaner look, leaving just the "pill" button rather than the "pill" button and a single back button to its left.
What do you think of this news? Do you think Google should eliminate the back button in Android Q?
