Modify Pixel 4 Motion Sense Gestures

The Soli’s radar technology installed on the Google Pixel 4 devices may come in handy for certain needs, such as waking your phone without directly touching it. However, as a new feature, Motion Sense has a considerable amount of constraints/limitations. Some even argue that Motion Sense is only one of the gimmicky features Google’s phone has.

Luckily, we can at least tweak or modify the way the radar works. There will be two methods mentioned on how to do this. Before that, keep in mind that If you only need to turn off the feature or slightly change it, you can simply do this: Go to “Settings”—> tap the “System” option —> tap “Motion Sense”.

From there, you can choose to disable the Motion Sense altogether or for only specific gestures. You can either disable the “skip songs” gesture, “silence interruptions” gesture, and/or “reach to check phone” gesture. For “skip songs”, you can reverse the direction of the swipe from left-to-right to right-to-left.

Folks who want to modify the Motion Sense to a larger degree, such as remapping the gesture, will need certain tools and apps to do that. Don’t worry, just follow the guide below accordingly and you’ll be fine.

Remap Motion Sense Gesture using Button Mapper (no root needed)

Developers from XDA managed to create a useful app to further modify the gesture called Button Mapper. Despite the name, it doesn’t exclusively work for buttons, other features such as Active Edge and Motion Sense can also be remapped. Here’s how it’s done:

1. First, make sure that all of the Motion Sense gestures are enabled during the process, especially the “Reach to check phone” gesture.
2. Next, you need to download and install the latest version of Button Mapper from the Play Store or XDA Labs (permission needed to install apps from other sources other than Play Store).
3. Once the app is installed, open it—> if not done automatically, scroll down to the bottom of the app until you find “Settings permission” —> tap the option to enable it.

You will be instructed to install ADB on your PC. No need to be confused, the instruction is quite straightforward and you can intuitively follow the procedure step-by-step.

If the ADB and the Button Mapper are successfully installed on your PC, you can start remapping the gestures. Keep in mind that you need to purchase and upgrade to the Pro version of the app in order to do so. For now, the motion gestures will also work when the phone screen is off, on the home screen, and on the lock screen.

Once you got the Button Mapper Pro, however, you can start to modify the gesture. For example, you can assign the swipe left-to-right gesture to turn the flashlight on and off to test if the remapping works correctly.

Another guide that offers you more freedom, with a cost

There is a more complicated, less intuitive way to do the same thing with an app called “OsloBridger Magisk Module”. If you are interested, check this guide from XDA Developers. By following the guide, you will eventually need to root your phone, which is not recommended for most users. Rooting your phone can potentially damage your system and void your warranty if not done seriously and carefully.

The rooting method, however, has an advantage; you will have more freedom to edit the gestures. So, if you are interested to basically ‘overhaul’ the Motion Sense gesture, give it a go.