- Google may finally add a double-tap gesture to turn off the screen on Pixel phones, a common feature available on competitor devices.
- Evidence for this lock screen gesture appeared in the latest Android 16 beta, and it functions as expected, though it’s not yet enabled for users.
- The official roll out of this feature is uncertain; it probably won’t make it into the stable Android 16 launch but might arrive in a later quarterly update.
Google Pixel phones are beloved for many reasons, and their software is chief among them. Google offers numerous Pixel-exclusive capabilities, like AI-powered features that simplify phone calls and photography. However, Pixel phones also frustratingly lack some basic features that users migrating from other brands often expect. One notable omission is a double-tap gesture to turn off the screen, but Google might finally be adding this feature to Pixel devices.
Many of the best Android phones from brands like Samsung, Xiaomi, and OnePlus let you turn the screen off by double-tapping the lock screen, but Pixel phones don’t offer this. Double-tapping the lock screen on a Pixel simply does nothing, which is odd considering you can double-tap the screen to turn it on.