Don’t forget: Three-button navigation is getting a much-needed upgrade with Android 16

Long-pressing the back button now lets you preview where navigating back will take you.

Jun 11, 2025 - 00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYp8-Zwqdh0

Android 16 extends predictive back navigation to three-button navigation.
You can now see a preview of the previous screen by long-pressing the back button.
Additionally, apps targeting Android 16 will have predictive back system animations by default.

After debuting the predictive back navigation as a developer option in Android 13, Google finally enabled it by default in last year’s release. The feature previously only worked when using gesture-based navigation, but Google is extending it to three-button navigation in Android 16.

We first spotted evidence of predictive back support for three-button navigation in the second developer preview of Android 16 earlier this year, and it went live with the first Android 16 beta release. The feature is now finally making its way to users with the stable Android 16 update today. It’s a helpful addition if you still use Android’s three-button navigation, as it lets you preview where the back button will take you.