I may or may not have a solution. But in my experience, between Android 13 and 15, the 3-button navigation bar became more “smart” and\or more complicated. 15 introduced Predictive Back which is on by default. 15 can add more static buttons onto the bar (Accessibility shortcuts, Keyboards). In 15 now my web browsers (Vivaldi and Firefox Beta) does not recognize “holding down back button” to show a recently visited webpage list. I am using Nova launcher on both 13 and 15 and I’m not necessarily getting 3-button navigation bar lag, but I am noticing windows animation intricities on 15, which Ive kinda fixed by slowing animations in the Developer Options.
The more 15 options I can turn off and make the 3-button Navigation Bar act “less smart” the more responsive it acts.
Btw, I have a 2024 Motorola with Android 15. Everything can be found under “Settings” (com.android.settings). And turning things off…
Some switches may appear more fancy-looking, or that may be a Motorola-only thing.
Developer Options…
Animator Duration Scale = 1.5x (larger = slower)
Windows animation scale = 1.5x
Transition animation scale = 1.5x
Predictive Back animations = off
Settings\Gestures…
I turned off most features.
Settings\Display,…
Refresh Rate 60hz only
Swipe-to-Split = off
3 finger swipe to screenshot = off
Settings\Accessibility…
I turned off the Accessibility Menu, live Captions, and anything else that added shortcuts to the volume and power buttons.
Settings\System\Performance…
Smart App Launch = off
I think this is a “single tap & hold anywhere for fancy action”, I’ve no clue. When it’s on it shows a permanent button on the screen.
Also I have a Settings\Home and Lock Screen Settings, but I’m certain 50% of the things in there are related to my phone’s native Motorola Moto Launcher. I’m using Nova Launcher, so uncertain if things there are in-effect or not as I cannot force stop the native launcher spp; it just restarts, even though I’m not using it.