Android and iOS have been in a user-interface war for years. Who is winning really depends on who you ask, but a secret feature buried in the code for Android 7.0 Nougat shows a feature that would give Android the upper hand.
Android Police uncovered details and screenshots of a navigation bar customizer hidden in the code for Android Nougat. It’s not currently active, as it was pulled from the code base for being “not ready,” but a tipster managed to recreate the feature and provide screenshots.
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The customizer appears to be powerful. All the navigation buttons are removable, and you can replace them with options like a clipboard or a keyboard switcher. Keycodes also allow you to assign any keyboard action you want to a button on the navbar. Basically, anything you’ve ever wanted to be able to do from the navigation bar is up for grabs.
Once you’ve decided on the actions, you’re able to move those buttons around in any order you want on the navbar. It’s a big change for Android, which has mostly stuck with the same navigation options for years, especially once physical buttons started to die out.
Making the navbar customizable is an obvious move for Android. The navbar itself is a little old, and arguably a waste of space in the user interface. But add the option for customized buttons, and navigating around Android just became faster and easier than ever. Jailbroken iOS users, eat your heart out.
