Samsung’s Android gesture navigation and the ability to hide gesture bar aren’t dead yet

Ben Schoon | Jan 29 2024 - 11:35 am PT

Gesture navigation became an option in Android a few years ago, but since the classic three-button layout had its advantages, Google kept it around. Samsung, though, offered three different forms of navigation Galaxy devices for a long time, with a custom version of gesture navigation. On the Galaxy S24 series, that custom version has been removed, but it lives on if you put the work in.

As we first reported earlier this month, Samsung made two big changes to navigation on the Galaxy S24 series. Three-button is still the default, but when you switch to gesture navigation, you only get the one option, the same gestures found on Pixels. Samsung no longer lets you hide the “hint” bar for those gestures either, as it is used for the new “Circle to Search” feature from Google.

While we’d speculate that Samsung’s custom Android gesture navigation was not widely used – personally, I feel it’s pretty clunky and unnecessary anyway – it’s still been a big deal for some folks who were using the option. Luckily, it does still exist.

In Good Lock, Samsung’s service for making deeper modifications to One UI, the “Navstar” module can bring back both of the missing options. Samsung’s custom Android gesture navigation is restored, as is the option to hide the gesture bar.

To do this, you’ll need to download Good Lock from the Galaxy Store, then install NavStar from Good Lock. Once installed, turn on “Enable extra gesture settings.” After that, the removed options will reappear in the regular Settings menu under navigation settings.

Apparently, too, Circle to Search still works.

This update to Navstar is rolling out now, and will definitely be appreciated assuming Samsung pulls the plug on these gesture options when One UI 6.1 hits older Galaxy devices.