Google debuted its big Android Q update that will arrive on phones later this year. The company has a bunch of new features that focus on accessibility and privacy. There are also some new navigation gestures and it looks like they’ve been stolen straight from the iPhone’s UI.
With Android Q, Google introduced a new core set of gestures that let you navigate between apps and the home screen. If you’ve used an iPhone, you’ll probably be able to use an Android Q phone without any problems.
Google’s new gestures in Q have a white bar at the bottom of the screen, just like on the iPhone X through XS Max. Swipe up from the bar to go to your home screen. Swipe up and drag to open multitasking. Swipe across the white bar to switch between apps. Swipe down from the home screen to reveal your app drawer.
Any of those sound familiar? Don’t just take my word for it. Even The Verge admits Google stole Q’s gestures from iPhone.
“Really, the biggest difference between this system and the iPhone’s is that the bottom bar is in its own separate part of the screen instead of covering the bottom of the app you’re using,” writes Dieter Bohn, who got an early sneak peak at some of the features.
Honestly, it’s probably a good thing that Android Q’s UI has some similarities to iOS. It would be a pain if you had to relearn the right way to use a mouse when switching from a PC to Mac. Likewise, having similar UI gestures makes smartphone operating systems easier to navigate for novices and advanced users. And it also shows that Apple got it right with the iPhone’s UI and that Google’s back button was never really necessary.
