We asked, you told us: Gesture navigation isn’t perfect, but it’s the future

The traditional navigation buttons on Android as we know them today were introduced in 2011 alongside the Galaxy Nexus. But over the last several years, OEMs have been implementing various forms of gesture-based navigation.

With almost every smartphone now shipping with one type of gesture navigation or another, we decided to ask if you liked it more than the traditional software buttons. Here’s what you had to say.

Gesture navigation or traditional software buttons?

Results

With almost 50,000 votes across the website, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube, our readers definitely prefer gesture navigation over traditional software buttons.

Based on the comments from some of those who voted, it’s clear that most aren’t happy with the gesture controls as they stand today. Most see them as half baked and not properly implemented.

Despite this, gestures are seen as the future means of smartphone navigation. The half-baked nature of them, though, is likely why 39 percent of the votes were for the traditional software buttons.

Noteworthy comments

Here are some of the best comments from last week’s poll explaining why they voted the way that they did:

• Gesture navigation is the way to go ay I love that of OnePlus the most
• gestures is the future. But I hope it will have its own spaces in the bottom of screen, not obstruct other views, its kinda annoying for me. Transparent space, with our home blurred wallpaper in background
• Fluid navigations for me are the best, oems haven’t gotten close to how well this app helps me get around my phone
• Tapping on traditional Android software buttons is my favorite navigation gesture. I vote for the buttons.
• Why not have both so that the customer can choose what’s suited for them?
• I actually like Google’s gestures because it had the visual feedback of the 3 button nav, but there speed of swiping gestures, for new it’s faster at least, I’ve gotten used to it.
• webOS got them right…in 2009.

That’s it for this week, everyone. As always, thanks for voting, thanks for the comments, and don’t forget to let us know what you thought of the results below.