Hamburger Menu in Android 10

Product case on how Google and developers can resolve the issue.

Photo by Christian Wiediger on Unsplash

Android 10 brings with it the new gesture-based navigation system. Swiping from the left edge of the screen now works as a back gesture. Earlier it used to reveal side hamburger menu. Hamburger menus have been the part of android since the beginning. The app developers use them for easy navigation within the app. Now the best way of accessing the menu is to tap on the hamburger icon at the top left corner of the screen. However, if we scroll down the page, this hamburger icon vanishes, and to access the menu, we have to navigate back to the top. Here is some potential solution to the problem.

Hamburger Menu in apps

Solution 1: Middle Swipe Gesture

Developers can modify their apps so that swiping towards the left from the middle of the app reveals the hamburger menu.

Middle swipe gesture

Issues:

1. Some apps have tabs, and middle swipe is already mapped to switch these tabs.
2. Might interfere with the existing app elements like Photo slider.

Solution 2: Only Right Side Back Gesture

Google can modify the gestures in the next iteration of the android to enable swipe from the right edge to go back. In this way, swipe from the left edge will reveal the hamburger menu.

Swipe from right to go back

Issues:

Left-handed users prefer swiping from the left edge as the back gesture.

Solution 3: Floating Hamburger

A floating hamburger icon either on the top left or the bottom left corner of the app to reveal hamburger menu. The icon at the bottom would be better considering the tall aspect ratio of modern…