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Xiaomi's 'full display gestures' prepare us for a future without software buttons
- Xiaomi’s latest MIUI 9 beta includes support for “full display gestures”
- Gestures are similar to those on the iPhone X and Palm’s webOS
- Full display gestures are supported on the Mi Mix and Redmi 5 series phones
Because Apple removed the home button with the iPhone X, the phone relies on gestures to move folks throughout the OS. The iPhone X’s gestures tug at my heartstrings a bit — they remind me of the days of Palm’s webOS — and Xiaomi looks to do the same with iPhone X-like gestures in the latest beta build of MIUI 9.
With the latest update, Xiaomi added “full display gestures” that seem to be as inspired as the iPhone X’s gestures were. For example, swiping from the bottom to the top brings you home, while swiping from the bottom to the top and pausing for a second brings up your recent apps.
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Finally, swiping from the left or right of the screen to the middle will take you back to the previous page.
These gestures are likely included in order for Xiaomi to give us a preview of a world where its smartphones no longer have the software buttons at the bottom. On a personal note, that’s a future that I’m looking forward to, but there’s no saying which of Xiaomi’s phones will be the first to do it.
As for whether people will embrace the new gestures, they will likely be polarizing at first, since they are new input methods. Over time, however, I’m sure that people will warm up to the gestures and maybe begin to wonder how we lived with that row of software buttons at the bottom.
For now, it’s a future that folks who have Xiaomi’s Mi Mix, Mi Mix 2, Redmi 5, and Redmi 5 Plus can preview on their devices. The latest beta build of MIUI 9 should be available soon, with the new build also including a few bug fixes.
What are your thoughts on Xiaomi’s full display gestures? Do you think you can manage with only using gestures to navigate through your phone’s UI? Let us know in the comments below.