Swiping with Confidence: Gmail’s new back gesture arrives

Gmail
Gmail

Sometimes don’t you realize that you have inadvertently closed the email while hovering the cursor over the inbox? Gmail’s latest update for Android users offers a useful solution: create or view messages with the help of this back gesture. With this state-of-the-art capability, you can check that the destination pin is where you need it to be before running away.

But then, is it enough to have a separate branch of the Gmail feature? Google is trying its best to introduce more customers here by giving Gmail users the ability to swipe between screens, and this gesture is part of a larger Android 14 update called “Predictive Back.” This new feature is still in its early stages and has not been implemented across all Google apps, including Calendar and Settings.

As a result, Files and Clock are the Google applications that currently display the predictive back gesture. So, we’re a long way from seeing most apps get downloaded immediately, and it will take a while to see prevalence.

Gmail’s win over other mail apps is so it can usher in a new wave of confident swiping, but other apps in the ecosystem aren’t far from catching up. I’m hoping to see these clever colors, so there will be an element of improvement in the way I use different apps.