I’ve never used an edge-panel/drawer, and hadn’t noticed before this thread how burdensome it is to return to the Home screen to open other apps. I can appreciate why superusers might miss this feature.
Seems there’s a want for fast, seamless access to apps and contacts, particularly individuals’ most used apps and contacts.
Here’s a few ideas & solutions to deal with the pain point, without building an edge-drawer and tab:
- Allow users to place app icons, or ‘Quick Open’ (QO) app tiles, alongside the Quick Settings (QS) tiles in the formerly named QS Drawer (now Quick Actions drawer).
- Alternatively, allow users to add QO tiles down the side or along the bottom of the Recents screen, where users can return to apps they have open (but might not have been available in the edge-drawer).
- Customise the Navigation Bar to open a QO drawer/window upon double-tap or long-press of a button.
- Create a shortcut to the Apps Drawer (i.e. remove the frustrating step of returning to the Home screen) and allow users to ‘pin’ their most important apps at the top. This would at the same time provide the user access to all their apps with a swipe up.
If Nothing is going to introduce an edge drawer, please allow users the option of putting QS tiles here. I’d have much more use for that than QO tiles, because my thumb doesn’t reach the Notifications Drawer.
I’m going to take this opportunity to ask again for the ability to customise the Nav Bar to open the Notification drawer and to split-screen. It makes using phones with one hand so much easier!
