Android 12 could have a one-handed use mode. If we look at the evolution of phones in the last three decades we will see not only the leap from phones to smartphones but also the clear increase in screen size.
Worldwide, for example, the norm is to use smartphones between 6 and 7 inches, regardless of the price range of the model in question. We have become accustomed to watching videos, making video calls, or reading. Small phones are just not convincing.
That is why it is increasingly difficult to use the phone without using both hands, which is why manufacturers add the one-handed mode in their layers. Yes, because Android does not have it as standard, although that could change.
The one-handed mode could be coming to Android 12
As discovered by XDA Developers, Android would be working on a one-handed mode for Android 12, the version that will be released in a stable form in a few months.
In this way, with a gesture we could activate the reduction of the screen size through the software, leaving a black strip on one side and in the upper area, to have a useful area of about 4 or 5 inches, something that is possible to use one-handed.
According to the current Android 12 code, we could enable the feature in the settings, in:
- Settings > System > Gestures > One Hand.
It is important to emphasize that this feature might not make it to the final version as we currently do not even have a beta of Android 12, the system being in a very early stage. And even if it were to be seen in beta versions it could be eliminated the option in the final version, although it is something that most brands already have and that Google would do well to implement in the core of the system.
We also don’t know if this feature would be mandatory for manufacturers to use. Not all features in new versions of Android are mandatory, as we can see in Android 11 and the absence of the home automation menu in the power menu in brands such as Samsung and Xiaomi.
