Gesture: Draw to Open Apps

Indroid Studio

About this app

Draw an L and your camera opens. Draw a V and you're calling home. Draw a Z and your notes app is in front of you.

Gesture turns shapes you draw into shortcuts. Record a shape once, choose what it opens, and from then on drawing that shape anywhere on the pad takes you straight there — no hunting through app drawers or home screens.

★ OPEN MORE THAN APPS
A gesture can open:
• Any app on your phone
• A link — a website, or a deep link into an app, such as a playlist, a calendar or a mailbox
• A call to a contact
• A message to a contact
• A WhatsApp chat with a contact

★ REACH THE PAD FROM ANYWHERE
• The app icon opens the gesture pad
• Add the Quick Settings tile in one tap and draw from the notification shade
• Put a Draw shortcut on your home screen
• Turn on the optional floating ring: a small circle on the edge of your screen. Long-press it from inside any app and a see-through pad opens over what you were doing. Drag it anywhere along the edge

★ IT LEARNS YOUR SHAPES, NOT YOUR HANDWRITING
Size and position don't matter, only the shape. Draw it small in a corner or big across the screen. When you record a new shape that is too like one you already have, Gesture warns you before you save it.

★ NEVER FORGET A SHAPE
• Try each new gesture straight away: its shape stays on the pad for you to trace
• Tap "My gestures" to see every shape and what it opens, right on the pad
• Drew something it didn't recognise? Your shapes appear so you can compare

★ YOU'RE IN CONTROL
• See every gesture you've recorded, with a picture of each
• Rename a gesture, point it somewhere else, or delete it
• Adjust how strict recognition is
• A short vibration when a gesture matches or misses, or switch it off
• Export your gestures to a file and import them on a new phone
• Light and dark themes

★ PRIVATE BY DESIGN
• No ads
• No accounts
• No internet permission — the app cannot send anything anywhere
• No data collected or shared
• Everything works without any special permissions. The floating ring is the only feature that asks for one ("display over other apps"), and only if you turn it on

TIPS FOR GOOD GESTURES
Shapes with a corner work best: an L, a V, a Z, a check mark, a triangle. A single straight line is hard to tell apart from any other straight line.

Works on Android 8.0 and newer, including the latest release.

What’s new

• Try each new gesture straight away: its shape stays on the pad for you to trace.
• Forgot a shape? "My gestures" shows them all, and a miss brings them up.
• Simpler floating-ring setup that brings you back once permission is given.
• Ring now starts on the right edge, out of the way of app toolbars.
• Add the pad to Quick Settings or your home screen in one tap.
• Optional vibration when a gesture matches or misses.
• Clearer settings and New gesture screen, plus fixes for Android 8.0.