Gestures are not new to Android, but they're infamously under-explained. You could easily be missing out on some of the best time-saving gestures on your phone. Maybe you know some of these, but you might not know all of them.

Go back -- from any side

Let's start simple. Since Google switched to gesture navigation, the classic Back button has been replaced by a swipe. But unlike the old button that lived on one side of the nav bar, the gesture is not limited to one side of the screen. You can activate the Back action by swiping inward from either the left or the right edge of the screen. No matter how you're holding your phone -- left-handed, right-handed, or switching grips -- you can always easily trigger the gesture.

Open sidebar menus more easily

Before gestures, you could open the left sidebar menu in apps by swiping in from the side of the screen. Now that activates the aforementioned Back gesture -- unless you know the trick. Swipe in from the edge, but do it down at an angle to pull out the menu. If one finger isn't working, some phones let you use two fingers to do the same action. These gestures allow you to avoid reaching to the top of the screen for the hamburger menu icon.

Bring the top down with One-Handed Mode

Speaking of reaching the top of the screen, it can be difficult if you have a modern phone with a massive screen. That's where One-Handed Mode saves the day. On many Android phones, a quick downward swipe near the bottom edge of the screen shrinks the entire display down, temporarily bringing the top of the screen down to your reach. You can tap what you need, and the screen pops right back up to full size. It's an essential gesture to have in your toolbox.

Precisely position your cursor

Trying to get the cursor in the precise position with finger taps can be frustrating. You tap the screen near the mistake, but the cursor lands just before or just after the letter you want to change. If you use Gboard (and some other keyboard apps), you can use the spacebar as a trackpad. Simply slide your finger left or right across the spacebar and watch as the text cursor moves smoothly and accurately through your text. You'll wonder how you ever lived without it.

Switch between apps with blazing speed

If you're anything like me, you're constantly jumping between two or three apps. You could pull up the Recent apps and tap a thumbnail to open an app, or you can simply swipe horizontally across the navigation bar to instantly go to the previous app (and back again with another swipe). It's an incredibly smooth and quick way to multitask. I use it all the time.

Hop between browser tabs

This one makes using multiple tabs in the browser much easier. Instead of tapping the little square tab counter icon and then scrolling through a stack of thumbnails, you can instantly jump between your open tabs. Just swipe horizontally across the address bar. A quick swipe left or right will take you to the previous or next tab in your list. This gesture works perfectly in both Chrome and Firefox on Android.

Samsung's two-finger split-screen

For those of you rocking a Samsung Galaxy device, you've got some extra gestures to learn. Split-screen multitasking is great, but it's definitely not one of the smoothest processes to initiate. Samsung makes it easier: Just swipe up from the bottom of the screen with two fingers. That's it. Your current app instantly goes to the top half of the screen, and you can pick your second app for the bottom half.

Samsung's corner pop-up window

This last one is another Galaxy device exclusive. Samsung allows you to turn almost any app into a smaller, floating pop-up window by swiping down diagonally from the top corner of the screen. The app shrinks down into a draggable window that stays on top of whatever else you're doing. It's perfect for temporary tasks and keeps your main workspace clean.