Pressures and gestures on the touchscreen make up the vast majority of our interactions with smartphones today, but sometimes it’s nice to be able to perform an action without looking, as we could by pressing Active Edge to call Google Assistant on older pixels. A similar feature that allowed double tapping on the back of the phone was in development for Android 11, but has not reached the final version. Fortunately, it looks like it will make a comeback on Android 12.
Code-named Columbus, the feature used a combination of the phone’s accelerometer and gyroscope to detect touches on the back of the phone and perform a predefined function, such as taking a screenshot or opening an application. Given that the latest Pixels have lost the ability to activate Google Assistant with a pinch, this gesture would be an appropriate alternative.
The staff of 9to5Google we saw information that indicates that the feature is coming back on Android 12. Similar to the previous implementation, it will allow users to customize their action, but it can also get a sensitivity button and an easy way to enable / disable it.
With the developer’s first preview of the next Android iteration scheduled to arrive in February, we probably won’t have to wait long to see this feature in action.
