Over the years, smartphone makers have made devices longer and longer. Although it has made media consumption pleasant on mobile devices, it has led to the fact that many phones are impossible to use with one hand. To compensate, several phone makers have developed software solutions to enhance usability with one hand: especially Apple with its Reachability feature. Now Google is set to bring its own version of the one-handed mode in Android 12.
XDA has now learned that Google has developed a one-handed feature to be included in AOSP, the open source version of Android. This means that the feature will be accessible to any smartphone manufacturer using AOSP. More importantly, it means that OEMs who have not developed their own feature with one hand can use the Google version of the software. However, we do not know if Google intends to set up the one-handed version on all Android 12 devices.
While we do not know exactly how Android One-Hand Mode for Android 12 will be designed, we think it will look like the many OEM implementations that shrink the entire screen to a corner (for example, like the ASUS implementation in the suggested image is shown). ). We do know that Google’s current implementation in Android 12 involves reducing the screen size to 40% of the maximum size. We also know that there will be a way to activate one-handed mode by using the traditional 3-button mode as well as the newer gesture navigation mode. It is currently planned to add one-handed mode to Settings> System> Gesture> One-handed, which makes sense because it is activated with a gesture (probably swings left / right on the navigation bar).
The addition of a one-handed mode in Android 12 comes long after many OEMs have already made their own versions of the feature. At one point, Chinese smartphone maker Huawei even tried to submit its version of the feature to AOSP, but Google rejected its addition. We do not know exactly why Google turned down the release, but it’s not uncommon for Google to take the time to implement key features already found on its partners’ Android devices.
Google, for example, also finally introduced a scrolling screenshot feature in Android 12, years after it was implemented by OEMs. Google said something in a question about me on Reddit last year that they did not want to implement the screenshots in a half-baked way; the company pointed out how multiple OEM implementations do not work on certain pages or to stitch images as they scroll through certain views. Similarly, Google can use a similar level of zeal in working with one-handed mode. In addition to shrinking and repositioning all system UI elements, Google should also consider how one-handed mode affects third-party applications, as its implementation will affect the entire Android ecosystem rather than just a subset of devices.
Since we do not have photos of the one-handed mode of Android 12, we unfortunately can not demonstrate exactly what it will look like. However, we expect the first Android 12 developer preview to land later this month, so we may not have to wait long to see the feature in action. However, we are not sure if Google will include the feature in the developer preview or even in a future beta or stable release. If Google decides that the feature is not ready for release yet, we can only see the feature next year’s Android version.
Full picture: ASUS mode with one hand on a ZenFone 7 Pro with Android 11