There’s a lot of borrowing going on in the smartphone world, and it’s usually something we’re all quick to criticize.
You have Apple desperate to copy Google’s success, Google borrowing foldable features from Samsung, Honor making iPhone clones, Xiaomi copying Apple’s naming conventions, and more and more all the time.
Companies borrowing others’ top-notch features is nothing new — it’s something we often call out and then reap the benefits of — but that makes it odd when borrowing doesn’t take place.
I’ve been testing Motorola phones for years. The first-ever handset I reviewed was one, and I’m using an Edge model right now.
For all that time, they’ve had a unique set of features that transform how you use your phone, yet no rival has chosen to copy them. I’m talking about Moto Gestures.
I almost bought a Motorola phone again until I looked beyond the hardware
I still can’t ignore this problem
What are Moto Gestures?
Quick ways to navigate
Moto Gestures are shortcuts for your phone that let you summon certain tools or open functions incredibly quickly. Crucially, they don’t require you to press certain icons on your mobile to enable them.
To illustrate: My favorite is one called Karate Chop Torch — actually, no, that’s what I call it, because that describes how you enable it. If you give a Moto phone two quick karate-chop gestures, your torch will turn on (or off, if it’s already on).
I do this all the time, so I can quickly and easily summon some illumination without unlocking my phone, go into the quick settings menu, and swipe along to find the torch button.
Another useful one has you rotating the phone back and forth, back and forth, in quick succession to open the camera app. It’s a little finicky to do. I tried to train my partner once, and she couldn’t manage it.
Still, when you get the hang of it, you can easily jump into the camera way faster than any other shortcut.
A final Moto Gesture I use all the time is a simple one. If you put your phone screen down on a surface, it’ll automatically enable Do Not Disturb mode.
You can quickly and easily silence notifications if you need to focus, without using the device and facing all your current notifications.
Some Android Police writers have already described how they love the swipe gesture for easier multitasking, and I’m sure plenty of other Moto fans have their own must-use shortcut.
6/10
- SoC
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MediaTek Dimensity 7450X
- Display resolution
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1056 x 1066 cover / 1080 x 2640 inner
- RAM
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8GB LPDDR5X
- Storage
-
256GB UFS 3.1
A prime feature to steal
And improve on?
Given how useful Moto Gestures are, I’m always surprised that I don’t see the big names like Samsung or Apple taking inspiration.
No, Pixel’s Quick Tap feature isn’t the same, and there are plenty of other smaller companies like Honor, Xiaomi, or OnePlus that could really do with an extra selling point like gesture control.
What makes Moto Gestures so primed to pinch is that many other companies could integrate it into their software much more easily.
Motorola phones use stock Android — more or less, though with some extra Moto tools and a few of Google’s flashiest tools usually missing from the mix — and beyond Moto Gestures, there aren’t many bespoke tools that you only get on the company’s phones.
That’s possibly despite Motorola’s best efforts. It keeps trying to shove an AI chatbot and various other AI tools into its phones. But they work poorly and clutter up the interface.
For all intents and purposes, Motorola has a light UI and few software tools.
That’s in contrast to many other brands. Google has its own AI and camera features, while Samsung has offerings like Privacy Display, Bixby, and other hidden Samsung Galaxy features.
A gesture-control mode that offered shortcuts to a brand’s bespoke features would make perfect sense. Imagine shaking your Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra to turn on the Privacy Display, or turning over your OnePlus phone to automatically enable Zen Mode.
Other companies have more expansive product ecosystems, too. Imagine swiveling your wrist to tell your smartwatch to bring up Bixby, or shaking your head so that your earbuds know to change the zoom lens on the camera app.
There’s a world of possibilities that phone brands just aren’t exploring at the moment.
As a tech reporter, I benefit from Moto Gestures being exclusive to Motorola phones. It means there’s a very easy compliment to level at the devices, and a reason to recommend them over many rivals.
But as a tech fan, it doesn’t make sense that Moto’s rivals have completely ignored this useful tool.
Perhaps other companies haven’t pinched the features because Moto has been perpetually underrated.
That could all change soon, given that Motorola has reinvented itself as the top Android maker through 2026, so maybe we’ll see other brands treat Moto Gestures with a little more envy.
