Google was changing Android 10’s full-screen gesture navigation until launch, and I could definitely argue that there were still unsolved issues – I still go back frequently when trying to open an app’s side menu. Fortunately, the third Android 11 Developer Preview has a useful improvement.

Android 11 DP3 includes expanded sensitivity settings for full-screen gesture navigation, allowing device owners to customize the ease with which the backward gesture is activated on either side of the screen. In Android 10, there was only one sensitivity slider, which affected both sides of the screen equally. The new options were present in the first Developer Preview, but so far, they weren’t functional and could only be opened with ADB or an activity launcher.

Left: Android 10; Right: Android 11 DP3

While full-screen navigation is still not perfect (I still use three-button navigation whenever possible), it’s good to see that Google continues to make iterative improvements.