In Android 13, Google started work on a feature called the”predictive back gesture.” As you know if you’re an Android user, the back gesture can be great allowing you to go back a page with a quick flick of a gesture on the screen. But some Android users are telling Google that “I can’t see that I’m on the last screen prior to the home screen.” As a result, some users are backing out of an app by mistake which can skew certain metrics tracked by developers.
The predictive back gesture on Android 13 QPR1 Beta 3.5 using the Google TV app
Not only will Android 14 include the predictive back gesture by default, it will also work within apps to show you exactly where the back gesture is going to take you. Google says that with Android 14, users will have a “similar experience when [users] swipe within the app. Letting users know where the gesture back is going to take them by leveraging default or custom animations.”
To test this out on the two apps that support the feature in Android 13, you will need to toggle on Predictive back animations in Developer options
Now open the Phone app and slowly use the back gesture from the left or right side of the screen. As the Phone app shrinks, you’ll see the home screen in the background. Same with the Google TV app.
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