How to Get Double Tap to Sleep on the Pixel and Pixel XL

With the help of a custom launcher, you can enable the popular Double Tap to Sleep gesture on both the Pixel and the Pixel XL.

The Double Tap to Wake and Double Tap to Sleep gestures generally go hand in hand. Google built this Double Tap to Wake gesture into the Android OS for the Pixel and the Pixel XL, but they have left out the Double Tap to Sleep gesture. Google is well known for not adding in many features to their stock launcher, as we have yet to see them implement a way to apply things like Icon Packs.

So, this mean we have to look elsewhere for extra features like a Double Tap to Sleep gesture.

Many custom launchers have this option built into it, but I suggest Nova Launcher as it is my favorite. You will need to purchase the premium unlock for this application though, as the Gestures option is tucked away behind a paywall. I can’t recommend Nova Launcher enough though because of all the customization features it includes.

You can customize almost every aspect of the launcher, and even have it look exactly like Pixel Launcher. It will take some time to go through and set everything up though (this is what pushed me away from Nova Launcher so long). But once you have things setup the way you like, you can backup your settings so you never have to do it again.

Pixel Double Tap to Sleep

1. Download the Nova Launcher app
2. Download the Nova Launcher Prime app
3. Press the Home button
4. Choose to use Nova Launcher as your default launcher
5. Tap and hold on an empty space of the Home Screen
6. Then tap the ‘Settings’ gear icon at the bottom right
7. Tap on the ‘Gestures & Inputs’ option
8. Scroll down and tap on the ‘Double Tap’ option
9. Tap on the ‘Screen Lock’ option
10. Then press the Home button
11. Double tap on an empty spot of the Home Screen
12. Choose which Screen Lock Method you want (I recommend Timeout)
13. Scroll down and tap on the Nova Launcher option
14. Toggle the Modify System Settings option to on
15. Tap the Home button to go back to the Home Screen
16. Double tap on an empty spot of the Home Screen again
17. Wait for the screen to go black and then lock the device

Explanation

As much as I would like to see Google including this Double Tap to Sleep gesture in the stock Google Now Launcher and the Pixel Launcher, I just don’t see it happening anytime soon. As I mentioned, I was hesitant to switch to Nova Launcher for the longest time because of how much setup was involved in getting things how I want them. I’m just so used to how the Google Now Launcher makes things look, that I wasn’t a fan of things like the default icon size of Nova Launcher.

One day though, I took 20 minutes or so to set it up and I have really enjoyed it ever since. I understand that it’s hard to convince someone to buy Nova Launcher Prime just for one gesture, and there are likely other solutions to this as well. This is the method I use, but I encourage you to talk about the methods you use in the comments section below. Once you have these two Nova Launcher application installed, you’ll want to bring up the settings for the new launcher.

Right at the main menu of the application, you’ll see an option called Gestures & Inputs. Tapping on this will bring up a number of different gestures that you can setup. As I talk about in the video, I recommend that you scroll down and go through all of the gestures that are setup by default. Turn off the ones you don’t want, and maybe add in a couple that you do want. We’re going to focus on the Double Tap gesture though.

After you tap on the Double Tap option, look through the list and then choose the Screen Lock option. From here, you just need to tap on the Home button so that you can go back to the Home Screen. You’ll want to test this gesture out by double tapping on an empty spot of the Home Screen, and you should see a pop-up box appear. This box asks you which Screen Lock Method you want to go with.

If you choose Device Admin, the screen will lock instantly, but you won’t be able to unlock the phone with your fingerprint. Trying to do so will bring up the PIN, pattern or password prompt and you’ll have to enter that to unlock your phone. I recommend the Timeout option, and while this works as intended, it can be confusing at first. It takes about 5 to 10 seconds after double tapping on the screen before the device actually locks.

You’ll want to watch the embedded video above, as I give a demonstration of how this Screen Lock Method works on my Pixel XL.