With Google running stable builds of Android alongside both betas and the new Canary track, there is a constant rollout of new features you may or may not be aware of. In fact, it’s almost impossible to keep track of everything unless you are too plugged in, like to test unstable stuff, or have more than a few devices to keep it all up-to-date on.
Over the past couple of days, several new features surfaced that are either on the way or snuck under the spotlight that you should be aware of. Below, we’ll walk through 3 new Android features that you just might love and didn’t know you needed.
Gboard gets toggles for period and comma keys: This is one of those subtle customization options that probably should have arrived years ago, but we’ll take it today. This week in an update to Gboard spotted by 9to5Google, Google is giving us toggles to turn off comma and period keys. You can keep them both on, toggle or or the other off, or just get rid of both to have a bigger spacebar.
To customize these, you’ll open a text field, tap the Gboard 4-square navigation button>Settings>Preference. In here, you should now see toggles for “Comma key” and “Period key.”
I’m seeing the new toggles in v16.2.4.
Google Play Link: Gboard
Reversed 3-button navigation in Android 16 Canary: After introducing an Android Canary channel back in July, we’ve attempted to keep our Pixel 9 Pro Fold up-to-date in order to find features on the horizon that you may one day see hit stable and your own personal devices. Of the features that showed up in the most recent Android 16 Canary update is one that Samsung users have taken advantage of for, I don’t know, a decade or more? I’m talking about button order in 3-button navigation.
The year is 2025 (almost 2026) and Google finally appears to have readied the options to reverse the button order on a 3-button navigation setup. While I’d suggest everyone ditch buttons and go gestures, I understand that old people love buttons. So, allowing oldies to swap the back button over to the right side is a pretty important change, that again, should have arrived years and years ago. At some point, I feel like I remember Samsung defaulting navigation to this order, with “Back” on the right since so many people likely use their phone with a right hand and this would make it easier to take advantage of Android’s powerful back button.
We’ll see if this comes to a beta build in the future, because if it does, the likelihood of it going stable is high. This one has to go stable, right?
Flashlight gets a brightness slider: It has been a few months since someone first spotted a potential brightness slider for the flashlight on a Pixel phone and it’s already gone live in the latest version of Android 16 Canary. Like the feature above, this is not a new-to-Android thing, as Samsung has allowed for flashlight brightness adjustment for some time, but it is new to Pixel phones.
In this latest update to Canary, Google allows you to long-press on the flashlight quick settings tile and then move a slider up or down to adjust brightness. This also happens to be a lot like how Apple does flashlight brightness on an iPhone, but who’s keeping track of such things?
While features in Canary may never see the light of day, we’re talking about these two changes because they seem like obvious changes that should have been implemented long ago. Basically, it’s about time Google added them.
What's crazy to me is Android had a flashlight slider years ago. And it disappeared. I thought it was on Nexus devices. But maybe it was a Samsung or one+ I was using. Hmm. So many phones.
Here are* 3 New Android…
Old people liking buttons.
Uding buttons would be, to me a more direct and straighforward way over gestures. How many timess does one have to wave to get where you want to go.
Punctuation is totally part of language, leaving it out is like removing vowels. That would make more sense.
And I'm all for brightness adjustment, because there have been times when "normal", what ever that is, isn't bright enough
Wow, worked hard to make an article here…
Promoting less usage of punctuation is asinine… Gestures blow and have since their inception. Who remembers trying to take a screenshot on the HTC Evo 4g? I'll use the 3 buttons until forever… Flashlight slider will be marginally useful. .5 outta 3 isn't great.
Gestures are terrible. Slower and less intuitive. I'll never understand this trend. iPhone comes out with something that makes using the device worse and next thing you know, Android adopts it to try and get people to switch.
Wow, these are 3 features I'd never use…the flashlight brightness is maybe the most useful, but it's unintuitive to have Back on the right, and I help all my friends with Samsung phones switch to the proper order, or gestures, whenever I see them using backwards nav buttons. Also, why would I want to hide the period button?
Exactly what does hiding the period button do, but hide the period button. I think that the comma button should toogle with the period button. I am constantly hitting the comma button when I want numbers or emojis. So why not toogle it with the period.
Why now? IF these come to stable, at the earliest it will be in March 2025. Maybe then people will want to know. By writing "now" people expect to be able to use these features "now" and that is not possible.
"I understand that old people love buttons."
You know, Kellen, you're no spring chicken yourself anymore. I've been hanging around DL long enough to know you're getting up there in age (me, too)!
Android gestures suck.. I used them for years before going back to buttons
If they had kept the gestures that the Moto X Pure Edition came with, I'd still be using it. Sadly, I find this gesture system as hot garbage.
I have not, and can not understand why do many people see gesture navigation being so much better than 3 button. Let the i-sheep have it.
But iPhone doesnt have swipe gestures… They still hit a button to go back. iPhone users can not swipe back, to go back like Android
Having both I'll tell you this. iPhone is trying to be like Android, and Android is trying to be like iPhone… If they keep it up people will start switching to iPhone because it's going to be the new Google type phones. Watch
Amazing