Android 10: Ten Essential Tips For Overlooked Features

The latest version of Android is packed with new features, but some are quite subtle, so let’s point them out.

- Ryan Whitwam

Android 10, previously known as Android Q, has finally started rolling out after months of beta testing. The Android of today is much more feature-rich than it was in the past, and that means some genuinely useful features could escape your notice. No one wants that, so here are 10 tips to get the most out of the latest version of Android.

1. USE THE NEW GESTURE NAVIGATION LIKE A PRO

Google has a new gesture navigation system in Android 10, and it can be much better than the 2-button gesture setup from Android Pie, as long as you know how to use it. As this is a full gesture setup similar to the iPhone, some of the intricacies are unclear.

In addition to swiping up on the gesture area to go home, you can swipe left and right to quickly cycle between recent apps. The back gesture has gotten a lot of attention because of the way it interferes with opening navigation drawers on the edge of the screen, but there’s a simple way to avoid accidentally triggering the back gesture. Just drag in and down toward the opposite corner of the screen. As long as you’re far enough away from a horizontal swipe, the back gesture won’t fire, and you can open the drawer every time.

2. SAVE YOUR EYES WITH DARK THEME

Google has teased us with dark mode options in previous beta versions of Android, but Android Q is the first one that stuck. The final version of Android 10 includes a Dark Theme system UI, and there are already some apps that will respect your dark mode setting.

To turn on dark mode, open the quick settings and just tap the Dark Theme icon. You can also find it under Settings > Display > Dark Theme. Sadly, there’s no way to automatically schedule the Dark Theme like there is on Samsung’s phones, but the quick setting is easy enough.