One UI 2.5 to bring support for Google gestures on Samsung devices w/ third-party launchers

Damien Wilde | Mar 19 2020 - 5:06 am PT

We recently reported that to nobody’s surprise that One UI 2.1 is set to come to older Galaxy devices. However, the next version, One UI 2.5 looks set to bring much-needed support for Google gestures when using third-party launchers.

One UI 2.0 added the Android 10 gestures for the first time and really cleaned up the poorly implemented Samsung version once and for all. It came at a cost though, as those who prefer using a third-party launcher such as Nova or Launcher have had been left without the ability to use gestures at all.

Luckily, One UI 2.5 will fix that, after a Samsung HomeScreen product manager confirmed that we will see support roll out when the update arrives in the coming months. The biggest disappointment is that we’ll likely have to wait until the release of the Galaxy Note 20 later this year before support gets added to current Galaxy handsets (via XDA-Developers).

Google has made it clear that all OEMs that update devices to Android 10 must include gestures navigation as an option. This does mean that Samsung isn’t the only firm that will encounter issues with certain third-party launchers, but as one of the biggest Android manufacturers, it’s still disappointing that it wasn’t ready right out of the box for the S20 series at the very least.

If you have been using a third-party launcher on your Samsung device running Android 10 this is undoubtedly great news but it’s not entirely clear how long you’ll have to wait for One UI 2.5 to be available to utilize gestures again. Let’s hope that Samsung continues the impressive current track record with OTA updates in the coming months.