Gmail rolls out in-app predictive back on Android 14

Google has yet to enable system-level Predictive Back in Android 14, but the in-app variant is live in some apps, including Gmail most recently.

Predictive Back shows a preview of the homescreen as you swipe back from the left/right edge of an application. It’s meant to address how the current back gesture can result in “people leaving the app by mistake.” Google found that the “new Predictive Back feature has been shown to outperform the current experience in end users’ task completion, preference, satisfaction, confidence, and premiumness.” It wants third-party developers to adopt it.

Android 14 was originally expected to enable Predictive Back, but it remains behind Developer options > Predictive back animations: Enable system animations for predictive back. 

Meanwhile, Android 14 introduces support for custom in-app transitions/animations and this is live on a per-application basis without having to enable anything. We recently noticed Predictive Back in Gmail — version 2024.03.03.x — when closing an email. This complements the existing animation when tapping the back button in the top-left corner. 

You have to swipe back on the left/right edge to see the email screen shrink into a window with rounded corners. You will see your inbox in the background to provide some context. For comparison, iOS has its sliding pane metaphor.

This joins in-app Predictive Back in Google Calendar’s Schedule or Day view when closing a fullscreen event. We’ve also seen it when closing an overflow sheet in YouTube Music. Again, this requires Android 14 on Pixel, Samsung, etc.