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.
There’s a setting in Lineage for swipe speed, sort of. I forget what it’s called and where it is (always have to look for it). Not sure if Graphene has it.
It may be in Developer Options: go to Settings, About, and tap Build Number 5 times. Now go back to Settings, System, and you’ll have a Developer Options. In there, Window animation scale, Transition animation scale and Animator Duration scale affect how quickly windows are drawn and animated. None of which affects swipe speed.
Just found my notes for this issue in Lineage. Go to Settings, System, Touch Screen, Smoothness. Higher setting is faster. Not sure if Graphene has this, looks like Divest doesn’t (and it’s based on Lineage). It was almost unusable at first.
I think you’re on to something w/ transition scale or animation scale, even though I’m not seeing them in GrapheneOS settings even after activating developer mode. I may just need to request this feature in GrapheneOS or look for a third party app that unlocks this setting. You’ve also given me a new phrase to search for, so thank you for that.
EDIT: I found Transition Scale and Animation Scale in GrapheneOS after activating developer mode, not sure what I did differently this time. Alas, neither of those settings solves the problem, so the hunt continues.
I don’t see this option on GrapheneOS, even after toggling on developer mode. Thanks anyway for chiming in.
Editing to clarify that there is a setting called Smooth Display, and another called Force Peak Refresh Rate, but neither of these helps with the issue I’m having, which is that I’m constantly having to swipe multiple times to get the gesture to take.
I’d think smooth display could be it. Sounds similar to the Lineage setting.
Check for a touch sensitivity setting. Maybe your phone needs the option to increase turned on.
Have you checked with Graphene forums/chats (I forget where they have rooms, XMPP maybe?).
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I’ve tested with Smooth Display, but still have the same issue. I think that setting has more to do with screen refresh rates and animations. I don’t think Touch Sensitivity is it, either. This seems more to do with making it easier to register touches with a screen protector. The problem that I have is not registering touches, it’s that when I swipe (e.g. left or right to sift through an image carousel), the original screen springs back into position instead of advancing to the next screen. It happens a lot in the app store when I’m using my thumb to browse the screenshots. I swipe left b/c I want to view the second screenshot, but the first screenshot moves over but not enough to advance to the second screenshot. It just snaps back into place and I’m still looking at the first screenshot. Same issue in reverse when I’m using my thumb to swipe right, it’s like it wants me to start the swipe gesture from too far left on the screen where it’s not very easy to reach, and it’s not ergonomic to have to basically wiggle the phone in my hand to reach that far over to start the swipe gesture. In summary, it’s a navigation issue, not a touch screen issue—I hope I’m making sense. Thanks anyway for chiming in, though.
Curious if you had this issue on the factory rom.
It could just be you, but honestly there’s not that much difference between Android and iOS when it comes to swiping. If anything, I find iOS to be a little less sensitive (more “lazy”), and that’s not a criticism.
Maybe there’s just something odd going on with your OS image. If you have the time, I’d flash back to a factory image, see how it behaves.
Keep in mind you often have to update to the most recent factory version before flashing a rom. I’ve run into this on phones, if I didn’t have a recent enough factory image, things like a radio wouldn’t work, or even touch wouldn’t work at all. In fact, I have a phone sitting in my pile that I need to reflash for just that reason.