Android’s physical navigation buttons are back on Googlebooks, but not the way you think

<figure> <img alt="A close-up photo of two Googlebook keyboards." data-caption="What year is it, and what dessert name of Android are we up to? | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge" data-portal-copyright="Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/10/268755_Googlebook_home_buttons_ADiBenedetto_0001.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> What year is it, and what dessert name of Android are we up to? | Photo: Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge </figcaption> </figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">A common misconception I've seen with <a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/1005745/google-googlebook-android-laptops-dell-acer-asus-lenovo-hp-impressions">Googlebooks</a> is that the Quick Insert and Google logo keys are new. They're not, as they <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/1/24259069/chromebook-quick-insert-ai-button-samsung-lenovo">first debuted a couple of years ago</a> on some Chromebooks. But there is something new for Googlebooks that's ripped straight from Android phones circa 2014.</p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">On every Googlebook keyboard, the F1, F2, and F3 keys are the old triangle, circle, and square navigation icons that first debuted on <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2014/11/12/7203161/android-5-0-lollipop-review">Android 5.0 Lollipop</a>. These were the back, home, and app switcher buttons long before everything went to gesture-based navigation, and they're <a href="https://support.google.com/android/answer/9079644?hl=en">still built into phones on Android 17</a> as an alternative. On Googlebook OS, these keys do w …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/1007409/androids-physical-navigation-buttons-are-back-on-googlebooks-but-not-the-way-you-think">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>