One UI 6.1 lets users hide the gesture navigation bar with this workaround

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The ability to hide the gesture bar is the most requested feature from Samsung users.

Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus
(Image credit: Nicholas Sutrich / Android Central)

What you need to know

  • New findings from Mishaal Rahman give users what to expect from the upcoming One UI 6.1 update.
  • Galaxy S24 users can hide the gesture bar from the display settings in the One UI 6.1.
  • Good lock apps’ NavStar gets a new update, further giving users to hide the gesture bar.

Samsung’s latest One UI 6.1 brings a much-needed tweak for Galaxy devices: the ability to hide the popular gesture bar.

Android expert Mishaal Rahman notes that the gesture bar sitting right at the bottom of the screen and indicating where to swipe to the home screen or switch between apps — can now be hidden.

The ability has been spotted on the latest Galaxy S24 running on One UI 6.1. The process includes specific steps that can hide the gesture bar. As part of the One UI 6.1, Samsung is rolling out an update to NavStar, the company’s Good Lock App, which usually allows users to tweak certain settings on their Galaxy devices.

The NavStar update includes a new toggle dubbed “Enable extra gesture settings” that needs to be enabled to hide the gesture bar. After enabling it, users can navigate to Display> Navigation bar> More options> Gesture hint. Turning on the Gesture hint toggle will allow users to hide the navigation gesture bar altogether and give them more screen real estate to play around with.

Hiding the gesture bar, however, doesn’t turn off the navigation features, and users will still be able to operate them as before. Rahman has further shared the before and after screenshots of the settings in the enabled and disabled states, which gives the phone’s screen a much cleaner and clearer look after the new update.

Rahman has further confirmed that the newly announced Google’s Circle to Search works well even after hiding the gesture bar. The new feature was seemingly a long-term feedback/complaint from users to Samsung, which the company has taken care of with the One UI 6.1, and it should likely reach prominent Samsung devices in the near future.

Vishnu Sarangapurkar
Vishnu Sarangapurkar
News Writer

Vishnu is a freelance news writer for Android Central. Since 2018, he has written about consumer technology, especially smartphones, computers, and every other gizmo connected to the internet. When he is not at the keyboard, you can find him on a long drive or lounging on the couch binge-watching a crime series.

6 Comments Comment from the forums
  • puch96
    You can already hide the gesture bar in OneUI 6 natively without GoodLock
    Reply
  • fuzzylumpkin
    puch96 said:
    You can already hide the gesture bar in OneUI 6 natively without GoodLock
    This isn't about One UI 6, though. It's about 6.1.
    Reply
  • mustang7757
    Supposedly Good lock bringing an update to the s24 Navstar to eliminate the bottom bar
    Reply
  • edubfromktown
    I did it immediately as it is a worthless waste of space.
    Reply
  • SyCoREAPER
    puch96 said:
    You can already hide the gesture bar in OneUI 6 natively without GoodLock
    fuzzylumpkin said:
    This isn't about One UI 6, though. It's about 6.1.

    So you're saying they regressed the UI on OneUI6.1 to actually force the bar and then pat themselves on the back letting you hide it?

    I would have said the same thing as puch96 since it's indeed hidden in 6
    Reply
  • fuzzylumpkin
    SyCoREAPER said:
    So you're saying they regressed the UI on OneUI6.1 to actually force the bar and then pat themselves on the back letting you hide it?

    I would have said the same thing as puch96 since it's indeed hidden in 6
    Exactly. And it's not even the only regression in the software lol. 6.1 is very 2 steps forward, 1 step back.
    Reply