[Update: Google Contacts too] Google account quick-switch gesture arrives in Drive and Maps on Android

Damien Wilde | Aug 27 2019 - 4:00 am PT

If you’ve got multiple accounts logged into Google Drive or Maps, you’ll be pleased to hear that the latest version 2.19.332 adds a new swipe up or down gesture to quick-switch between your logged-in accounts.

The update was originally spotted by Android Police, with the update allowing you to swipe up or down over your profile avatar to flick between any logged-in accounts. It works in exactly the same way as we’ve already seen on Google Maps.

[Update 08/27]: The quick switch gesture is rolling out across the plethora of Google apps it seems, the next to receive the quick-switch gesture is Google Contacts (via Android Police). Version 3.8.3 has now added the quick swipe up or down feature should you have multiple accounts logged in on your phone.

It’s pretty intuitive and makes it much easier to separate your work and personal documents in Drive. The gesture itself is easy to grasp but the animation is as smooth as silk and kind of feels like the Android Q quick swipe gesture between apps.

Google Maps did add the feature just last week but we’re not sure how useful that would be in comparison to the quick-switch being added to Drive. It does save time having to tap your account avatar and then having to select your email account to change. It’s also worth noting the animation in Maps is almost non-existent.

If you have tons of documents and files saved in Google Drive, you will need to wait for some of them to load. So in that regard, it isn’t quite instantaneous, although that is kind of to be expected.

It also appears that this feature is slowly heading out to all Google apps, which is nice as it really does make managing multiple accounts on the same phone that little bit easier. As AP also notes, we’re still waiting on the quick-switch feature coming to Gmail — which is surely the most used!