Background:
I’ve recently gotten a new (used) Pixel 7a—upgraded from an iPhone X.
Problem:
I must have short thumbs or something because on my new Android phone, I’m constantly having to swipe multiple times for a gesture to “take.” For example, swiping up to unlock or get to home, swiping left/right to cycle through image carousels in the app store—in all use cases, the screen starts sliding over, but when I lift my thumb off the screen, about 50% of the time, the screen slides back to its original position instead of sliding the rest of the way to the next screen.
I understand the need for a threshold to prevent accidental swipes; however, the native swipe lengths are just a wee bit too long for me, and the constant need to swipe multiple times to do what I want is significantly affecting my overall experience. I never had this problem on any of my iPhones.
What I’ve tried so far:
- I’ve poked around in the Settings and done a few internet searches. Came across this Google forums thread from 2018, to which the only reply was essentially tough rocks.
- In another post, I received the advice that I don’t need long gestures if I make them faster, and I have noticed different results depending on the speed of my flicks, but still find myself having to make multiple flicks to get it to do what I want. Somebody else suggested reducing the “Window Animation” or the “Transition Animation” speed (in developer settings), but alas, there are no such settings in GrapheneOS (I tried the search bar).
- I’ve installed an alternate app launcher (PieLauncher), but this is only a partial band-aid solution. I still have the issue w/ left/right swipes on image carousels.
I’ll keep exploring apps that allow me to customize gestures, but has anyone else had this problem, and how did you solve it? Or if anyone has any suggestions for apps available in the F-Droid store that might help with this problem, I’d appreciate it. Thank you!
Are you using a different type of screen protector than you were used to on your old phone? Tempered glass screen protectors in particular can reduce touch sensitivity since they tend to be thicker.
I’m not using any screen protector on my new phone (not yet anyway). I don’t think it’s an issue with screen sensitivity. How I see it, the issue is that in order to advance the screen left or right (say in an image carousel), I have to stretch my thumb really far over to the left side of the screen. If I don’t reach really far over, and just do a lazy right flick instead, the screen registers the touch and moves right a little bit, but when I lift my thumb, the current screen just springs back into place instead of advancing to the next screen. It’s most noticeable when viewing screenshots in the app store.