Android 16 Could Finally Bring This Common Display Feature To Pixel Phones

Google Pixel owners have been able to wake their phone’s screen with a double tap gesture for a while now. But the default Android experience on Pixels doesn’t allow users to turn off the screen with a double tap. However, smartphone brands like Samsung and OnePlus already offer this feature on their respective devices. It now looks like Google is in the mood to catch up, according to new evidence uncovered in Android 16 Beta 4.

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In a report for Android Authority, Mishaal Rahman details hidden elements in the latest beta that suggest the commonly used double-tap gesture could soon let Pixel users turn off their screens. This feature isn’t active in Android 16 Beta 4, but thanks to some tinkering with the software, Rahman managed to get it working.

It’s unclear if Google’s implementation will limit the upcoming double-tap gesture to empty spaces in the lock screen or also allow users to turn off their screens by double-tapping any vacant area on their home screen. The latter solution makes sense and is already available on Samsung Galaxy devices courtesy of One UI.

The feature likely won’t be available when Android 16 debuts in June

As Rahman notes, Pixel users can always download a third-party app to activate the double-tap gesture for turning the screen off. Nevertheless, it’s good to see that Google is developing its own solution for Android. Users are recommended to stick with third-party apps for a few more months, though, as Google is unlikely to include this feature in the stable version of Android 16 in June.

Instead, Rahman speculates that Google could bundle this with the first quarterly platform update of Android 16 later this year. There’s always the possibility that Google and the Android team will push the feature’s release even further, though we hope that’s not the case.

This isn’t the only Android 16 feature that will miss the June debut of the software. We recently reported on a couple of lock screen-related changes in the latest Android 16 beta that could be introduced with the first quarterly release of Android 16.

Similarly, we’ve also learned of a new “Supervision” page in the Settings, possibly integrated with Google’s Family Link, that might debut with the first quarterly release of Android 16. So even though there’s plenty to look forward to with Google’s next big software release in June, there’s plenty more to come with subsequent releases.