Three Ways to Make Using Your Android Phone Easier With One Hand
There will inevitably be situations where you can’t hold your phone with both hands: for example, when carrying groceries, holding tightly to the rails on the subway, or walking the dog. This means you’re left with only one hand free to use your smartphone, which can be a bit awkward, especially as these devices get bigger all the time.
However, like iOS , Android has built-in features that make it easier to use your phone with one hand. This doesn’t have to be a problem, and once you have both hands free again, you can easily return to normal operation.
One-handed keyboard
No matter what Android phone you have, if you have Google’s Gboard keyboard installed, you can quickly switch to a special layout that’s handy if you only have one thumb free instead of two.
Open the keyboard in any app, then tap the four squares in the top left corner of the keyboard overlay and select One-handed on the next screen. You’ll see all the keys move to one side of the screen, making them easier to press. If the keys are on the left and you want them on the right, or vice versa, just tap the little arrow button on the side.
Click the resize button (the square in the lower left or lower right corner) and you can further resize and reposition the keyboard. To return to the normal view, click the expand button (four outward-facing arrows) found in the upper left or upper right corner of the keyboard, depending on which side it’s docked on.
If you’re using the Samsung keyboard that comes by default on Galaxy devices, the feature is largely similar: you have to tap the three dots in the top-right corner of the keyboard to find the one-handed shortcut key, and you don’t have the option to resize the keyboard yourself, but otherwise it’s more or less the same.
Change Chrome’s Address Bar
Sure, there are plenty of great browsers for Android besides Google Chrome , but if you’re using the stock browser, reaching the address bar at the top of the interface can be a challenge. Luckily, Chrome for Android now lets you move the address bar to the bottom for easy one-handed use.
Here’s how to do it: Simply long-press the address bar at the top of Chrome, then select “Move address bar to bottom.” As expected, the same action can be performed to move it back to the top. You can also customize this by tapping the three dots on any browser tab (in the top-right corner), then selecting “Settings” and “Address bar.”
Enabling one-handed control mode
In addition to the tricks mentioned above, there is a special one-handed mode available for Pixel and Galaxy devices. The main function of this mode is to allow you to quickly drag the entire display downwards so that the top half is within reach of the hand you are holding the phone with.
If you have a Pixel, open Settings and go to System > Gestures > One-handed mode . You can choose whether this shortcut hides the entire screen or just notifications. The shortcut itself is a swipe down on the gesture bar at the bottom of the screen, though it can be tricky to get right. To exit one-handed mode, swipe up again or tap the empty area at the top.
Galaxy owners need to open the settings and select Advanced features > One-handed mode . To reduce the screen size, again make a short swipe down on the bottom gesture bar. You can control it with the arrow on the side and the handle on the top. Tap outside the reduced screen or swipe down on the gesture bar again to return it to normal.
A couple of final tips: On your Android home screen, you can also make sure that frequently used shortcuts are at the bottom of the screen instead of the top. It’s also worth remembering that on Android phones, you can usually press the volume button to trigger the camera shutter in the stock camera app, rather than pressing a button on the screen, which is easier to do with one hand.