Practical work on Android Q Beta 3: dark theme, new gestures and more!

The opening speech of Google I / O 2019 is officially over and – wow – are there a ton of things to explore: new Pixel phones, the new Nest Max Hub, Google Assistant updates, And much more. You can read everything that was announced today here.

But we know what you are really here for – Google also announced Android Q Beta 3 at the developer conference and you can install it now. We have been exploring the third beta version of Android Q for a few hours. We will therefore review some of the important changes and features of this update.

Read also: How to install Android Q Beta 3 on your phone: A step by step guide

The dark theme at the system scale has arrived!

Google has played with the idea of ​​a dark system – wide theme for a while, and it 's finally here.

Go to your display settings, select the theme option, then choose dark. This action will make most sections of the Android operating system completely black – quick settings, settings menu, home screen folders, application tray, and even some system apps such as Google Agenda and Photos. It is also true black so that your phone takes advantage of the battery saving features of the OLED display.

Google has added a quick settings thumbnail so you can turn it on and off without having to go through the settings menu every time. In addition, the battery saving mode activates the dark theme if it is not already activated.

Gestures remodeled: Android works a little more like iOS

Probably the most user-oriented change in Android Q Beta 3 is the new gesture navigation system.

Now, the gestures of Android are much more similar to those of iOS. In my opinion, it's a good thing: the gestures work very well on the iPhone XS and the gestures of Android Pie were always a bit ridiculous for me.

After activating the new gestures (called "fully gestural navigation" in the system navigation settings), you will only see a long and slender navigation bar at the location of your home button. It's actually quite easy to use:

• Go home: Swipe up on the navigation bar
• Return: Swipe anywhere on either side of the screen
• To launch the application switch: Swipe up (as if you were going to the home screen) and pause
• To quickly switch between applications: Swipe left or right in the navigation bar
• To launch the application drawer: Slide your finger on the navigation bar from your home screen

I got it after using the new gesture system for only a few minutes. It's rather intuitive, even if it remains a bit buggy (it's a beta, after all).

However, the new gesture of return (sliding on either side of the device) poses a particular problem: tons of applications – including Google's own applications – have navigation drawers on the left side that usually contain additional parameters. You usually access these drawers by sliding your finger from the left edge of the screen. With this new system of gestures, it does not work anymore. You can not drag to open these navigation drawers; the system replaces the application settings and recognizes the gesture as "backward".

It's a little annoying right now, but luckily it's a beta version. We hope to solve this problem in a future beta release.

With the launch of the Google Pixel 3 series, Google has removed the option to use Android's traditional three-button navigation system. It was still an inherited option on the Pixel 1 and 2 series, but it seemed like Google was focused on the pixel 3 gestures. For some reason, the three-button navigation option is back in the third beta version of Android Q.

In this new version, you can now choose between the new "full gesture navigation" system, Android Pie's two-button navigation and the old three-button navigation. We hope that will remain and we know you are also excited about it.

Smart Reply now available for all email applications

Android Q will also bring Smart Reply at the operating system level to each email application.

Google's Smart Response feature aims to offer suggestions on what you want to say, allowing you, in some cases, to reply to a message with one click. This is useful in applications like Messages and Gmail. In the future, Smart Reply will be available in applications such as Facebook Messenger, Signal and other third-party applications.

In addition, Google has announced a new feature called Suggested Actions, which looks like Smart Reply messages on steroids. For example, if a friend sends you a message with an address, you will not only see an answer option via SMS, your phone will suggest you open cards, which will allow you to directly access Google. Maps. see this place.

The best part is that all these features Smart Reply and Suggestions Actions are running on the device. As a result, this information is not sent to Google. In fact, Google only sees the data it needs to carry out the action.

I have not managed to get it to work on my Pixel 2 XL, but your mileage may vary.

Focus Mode: Prevents you from opening apps when you do not need to

Time for a break? With Focus mode, you can distract yourself by selecting the apps you want to keep active and pausing everything you do not do. # io19 pic.twitter.com/Pq74lnsUU3

– Google Google) May 7, 2019

Google strengthens Digital Wellbeing in Android Q with a new feature called Focus Mode.

The main goal of Digital Wellbeing is to get you to stop using your phone when you really should not use it. The focus mode makes it even easier. Here's how it works: Select a list of predefined apps that you know will distract you. When the focus mode is on, all applications on your phone are grayed out and you can not open them unless you turn off the focus mode.

This is another feature we have not tried yet. It will be deployed on Android Pie and Android Q devices later this fall.

Live caption: The most important accessibility feature for some time

One of the most impressive ads in Google I / O is a feature called Live Captions. Once activated, it adds captions to all the media broadcast on your phone, whether it's a video, a song, a podcast or even d & # 39; A live call with Google Duo. Simply activate live captions from the volume controls on your phone. It will immediately add subtitles to the media being played on your phone.

The best part? All this happens on the device, so you do not need an internet connection to make it work. It's crazy.

Unfortunately, we have not been able to try this feature, but we are really looking forward to it.

The features of Android Q that we can not show you

I know I have a little cheated and included some features that I have not yet been able to test. I can not show you a multitude of other features available on Android Q, so be sure to read them here:

You'll be using Android Q earlier than before.

Chances are, you will have to test Android Q much earlier than previous versions of Android. Google today announced that the third beta version of Android Q would be deployed on 21 non-Pixel devices from 13 OEMs. You can see the complete list here.

Whichever company makes your phone, chances are you'll get the stable Android Q update faster than ever before. Google has just announced that Android Pie is installed on 10.4% of Android devices, an increase of 2.5% over last year. This means that we can expect the same, if not better, results for the stable version of Android Q.

Following: Google Pixel 3a XL Review: Come for the camera, stay for the experience