Ryan McLeod / Android Authority
TL;DR
- An APK teardown of the Samsung Members app has revealed pinch sensors for the Galaxy Buds 3 series.
- This suggests that the new earbuds could offer pinch and squeeze gestures in lieu of touch controls.
- Apple, Nothing, Xiaomi, and several other earbud brands offer pinch functionality today.
We’ve seen several Galaxy Buds 3 leaks ahead of the Unpacked event next month, suggesting Samsung could opt for a more conventional earbud design with a stem. Now, our APK teardown has revealed the design once again along with the presence of pinch sensors.
An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
Android Authority, in partnership with AssembleDebug, discovered references to pinch sensors on the Galaxy Buds 3 series. The references were discovered in version 5.0.00.11 of the Samsung Members app and also include images showing the buds and gestures. It’s unclear if the sensor and gestures will be available on both the Buds 3 and Buds 3 Pro or just one model. Check out the images and references below.
There’s no mention of how these pinch sensors and gestures will actually be used. Nevertheless, brands like Apple, Xiaomi, and Nothing have offered pinch gestures on some earbuds before.
How Galaxy Buds 3 could use pinch and squeeze gestures
These brands all generally offer the same basic controls, namely pinching once to pause, pinching twice to skip, and pinching three times to go back. In saying so, my own experience with the vivo TWS 2 suggests that some earbuds have room for improvement as far as haptic and physical feedback goes.
Apple, Nothing, and Xiaomi’s buds also let you toggle cancellation/transparency modes by pinching and holding. Vivo’s buds also let you pinch and swipe up to control volume, while Nothing’s earbuds offer a double-pinch-and-hold gesture for volume that colleague Rita El-Khoury found finicky.
Do you prefer pinch or touch controls on your earbuds?
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Either way, we’re guessing Samsung could adopt a similar approach with the Galaxy Buds 3 series and the included pinch sensor. This could be a very good thing, as Rita felt pinch gestures were superior to touch/swipe controls. Pinch and squeeze gestures generally require more deliberate actions to trigger. By contrast, touch/swipe controls can be accidentally activated by your hair or when you’re simply adjusting the bud in your ear.
It’s also worth noting that the Samsung buds in these images have red or blue lights at the root of the stem. This could potentially be in line with the so-called “blade lights” that recently emerged as part of a Galaxy Buds 3 Pro leak.
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