![\"Photo](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Photo-of-a-Pixel-phone-with-flipped-navigation-bar-scaled.jpg\"\/ "\\"Photo")
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Mishaal Rahman \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n
TL;DR<\/p>\n
For years, Samsung phones<\/a> have defaulted to a three-button navigation layout where the back button is on the right and the recents button is on the left. In contrast, Google\u2019s Pixel phones<\/a> use gesture navigation out of the box but offer a three-button option with the traditional Android layout \u2014 where the back button is on the left. The problem is that there\u2019s never been a way to flip the button order on Pixels. This poses a challenge for Samsung users switching to a Pixel, as they have to retrain their muscle memory or switch to gesture navigation. Fortunately, Google is finally adding an option to reverse the buttons in the navigation bar.<\/p>\n Last month, we reported that Google is preparing to let users flip the navigation bar on Pixel phones<\/a>. Although we previously spotted code for this feature, we didn\u2019t know how Google would present it to users. Now, after digging through the recent Android 16 QPR2 Beta 2<\/a> release, we\u2019ve discovered new code that details how the option will work.<\/p>\n For starters, we found code in the Settings app pointing to a new page called \u201cButton navigation<\/strong>\u201d under Settings > System > Navigation mode<\/strong>. This page will be accessed by tapping a settings cog icon next to the \u201c3-button navigation<\/strong>\u201d option. On this new page, a \u201cButton order<\/strong>\u201d header will appear above two choices. The default order is \u201cBack, Home, Recents<\/strong>,\u201d while the new option, \u201cRecents, Home, Back<\/strong>,\u201d mirrors the layout on Samsung phones.<\/p>\n Code<\/p>\n Copy TextButton navigation
We don\u2019t have screenshots of the new \u201cButton navigation\u201d page yet, but it\u2019s not difficult to imagine how the feature will work. Here\u2019s what the navigation bar should look like once this option becomes available:<\/p>\n Mishaal Rahman \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n While we spotted the code for this setting in QPR2 Beta 2, its appearance in the stable release isn\u2019t guaranteed. With one more beta left in the cycle, the setting will need to show up in Beta 3 to make the final cut for December\u2019s public release.<\/p>\n
\nButton order
\nBack
\nHome
\nRecents<\/p>\n![\"Default](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Default-vs-flipped-three-button-navigation-bar-in-Android.jpg\"\/ "\\"Default")
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