Multitasking may be a useful feature of any mobile device but multi-window is better once Android officially launches it. For now, Google’s Android team is working on multi-window functionality for tablets and smartphones. No official announcement from Google yet but it was confirmed last March that the search giant is indeed working on it.
The multi-window feature will allow users to run two apps on the screen at the same time. You can also drag and drop between the two. This feature is something Samsung has been wanting to do but has not fully perfected until Google starts working on stock Android. This is something to look forward especially now we’ve seen proofs of Google’s early plans and works.
Since Android L is on the horizon, it’s safe to assume this multi-window feature will also come with an upcoming mobile platform. It may or may not arrive with the next Android OS. All we know is that Google has been experimenting as shown by Android Police’s illustrations.
Two apps can be opened at a time but a user could swipe between recently opened apps and swipe them to either side of the display screen. One app will be “snapped” to the half of the screen while the other app still occupies the other half of the display, or in this case, the recent apps menu. The recent/home screen side will work as usual and will allow user to swipe another app on the other side.
We don’t know how one can jump out of an app from the home screen or if the app can still be controlled but it could simply follow a finger’s current location. That or a user could just tap on the desired screen to focus then exit.
There’s also the possibility of scaling two windows as desired by the user. A window scaled to 25 percent the width of the screen, it would then scale to phone layout. The hotword “OK Google” can be used to open a search interface and overtake the unfocused screen. Text and images could also be dragged between windows. This means you could move images or search terms from one window and then to the Google search interface, making it easier for you to start search.
These illustrations are for a 4:3 tablet device but the multi-window could also work in vertical or portrait orientation on phones and tablets. The functionality still doesn’t work well and Google still wants to perfect it. We have no idea when Android will have multi-windows but at least we know Google is working on something.
VIA: Android Police
“This feature is something Samsung has been wanting to do but has not fully perfected until Google starts working on stock Android.” Obviously the author hasn’t tried the Samsung implementation on the Note 3 which is very good, or the even better implementation on the Note 4.
Awwww shi…zzle.
That’s cool. Keep up the great work and thanks for keeping us up to date. 😛