You only use a swipe down the home screen for one thing

One of the most underrated gestures is the ability to swipe down anywhere on the home screen so that you can either access your notification shade, device search menu, or app drawer. This is different from swiping down from the top of the screen, which only activates the notification shade.

However, we were wondering what you were using that gesture on your phone for, so we released a poll earlier this week. That’s how you answered it.

What do you use a single swipe down on the home screen for?

Results

We released the poll on Tuesday which, at the time of writing, garnered over 1,200 votes. And it turns out that the vast majority of respondents (84.6%) say they use the single swipe down on the home screen to activate the notification shade.

This is not surprising as many modern smartphones are quite large, which makes it difficult to activate the notification shade from the very top. Reader comments indicate that this is also a handy way to get to quick settings in no time.

Almost 6% of surveyed readers say they don’t use swiping down on the home screen at all. Closely followed by those who say they use the gesture to activate the device search feature, which is just over 5% of respondents.

Finally, just over 4% of surveyed readers say they use the gesture to activate something else. Some Samsung phones use this gesture to activate the app drawer.

Comments

• Taaun: Samsung’s default setting on the Galaxy S10: Applications menu.
• RichSPK: It shows device search on my tablet, but I didn’t know that until I read this survey. I don’t expect to use it even now that I know.
• alex z: I have a Xiaomi MI 9, and I use the left side down to open the notification shade and the right side down to open the quick toggles (or whatever it’s called), just like I do with iPhones .
• thomas: I also use it to expand “quick settings”, bluetooth etc … one swipe down instead of two.
• KBalaz: On my Pixel I use it to quickly get to settings, bluetooth, wifi, flashlight, airplane mode, do not disturb.
• Albin: No surprise in the response statistics. Aside from notifications, I have six visible icons (Data, Wi-Fi, DNDisturb, GPS, Bluetooth, and Moto Mod Battery) as well as the deeper switches. My Launcher allows you to open a tabbed and labeled app drawer (which keeps the personal photo home screen clean).