07
Oct
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One of Samsung's claims to fame is a feature meant to improve productivity on mobile devices. One that users of stock Android and manufacturer skins alike have been yearning for for a while. That feature is multi-window, which allows users to run two apps on the screen at once, dragging and dropping between the two.

The problem is no one has been able to get it right yet. A company in the mobile space - in this writer's opinion - has yet to perfect the balance between utility and intuition when it comes to multi-window functionality on tablets (or phones, though I haven't used the Note 4 yet), but a post to Android Internals in March confirmed that Google had been working on the programmatic side of multi-window in stock Android. What we have today is further evidence of Google's burgeoning ambition toward multi-window functionality, this time taking a look at Google's interface experimentation.

This won't be like a normal rumor post - we are not suggesting that these features will eventually surface as reality in Android L (or any other release), as we can't be sure what Google's plans are just yet. Instead, we'll simply be taking a look at the functionality and interface Google experimented with toward the end of 2013 and beginning of 2014. We won't be showing source images but we will show illustrations that boil down the essence of the proposed interactions.

multitask

How It Would Work

Basically, users can have two open apps at a time. From the recents menu, users could swipe recent entries to either side of the display, "snapping" them to that half of the screen, leaving the other half of the screen occupied by the home screen or recents menu.

1 2

The home screen on the other side would still behave normally - giving access to notifications and Google Now, or the option to slide another recents entry into a full app, or open another app on that side of the screen from the app list.

The immediate question that jumps out is how users get out of an app if they are controlling the home screen already on 50% of the display. The explorations seem to indicate that either of the two halves can be "focused," so the user would focus on the active side to exit the app, or the empty side to interact with the home/recents menu.

One could then scale the two windows as they desire. If a window is scaled to 25% the width of the screen, it could scale to its phone layout, while scaling all the way to 0% puts the other app in full control.

25view

The "Ok Google" hotword would still open a sparse search interface, overtaking whichever side of the screen is not currently "focused."

searchresults

According to our information, content like images or snippets of text could be dragged between windows, including dragging search terms or images from one window into the search interface.

dragtosearch

The explorations we saw represent a 4:3 tablet device, but as Android Internals demonstrated, the functionality would work in a vertical arrangement on phones, and can work in a vertical arrangement on tablets as well. The functionality shown there is still very early and "doesn't work that well." What it does suggest though is that split-window functionality probably would not rely on individual apps to implement it - the feature would probably rest at a lower level, allowing ostensibly all apps to participate. Of course it's impossible to know this for sure, but that's what the information we've seen so far suggests.

At any rate, it's interesting to get a look at the direction Google apparently wants to take multi-window functionality on Android. With HTC working on a 4:3 tablet with an official keyboard case, maybe the time for productivity on Android tablets is right around the corner. We can't be sure if these explorations have become a reality, but with Google supposedly plotting an announcement some time this month, we should find out soon.

Liam Spradlin
Liam loves Android, design, user experience, and travel. He doesn't love ill-proportioned letter forms, advertisements made entirely of stock photography, and writing biographical snippets.

  • blindexecutioner

    If Apple can patent something like slide to unlock can't Samsung patent something called "multi-window"? I am genuinely curious why some things could be patented when other cannot be.

    • http://AndroidPolice.com/ Liam Spradlin

      They could probably try but I think it would come down to how the functionality is actually implemented.

    • LIKEWHAT

      cause multi windows has been in windows for years lmao

      • DrewNusser

        Slide to unlock was around well before the iPhone too though. So were multitouch gestures.

    • Damian P.

      "Multi-window" was used in desktop OSes for dozens of years now.

      • MBat

        Desktop patents don't apply on mobile patents.

        • pfmiller

          Of course they do. Of course that doesn't stop patent trolls from trying to pretend they don't.

    • JP

      Google and Samsung have have signed a 10 year patent sharing aggrement.

  • QQ

    Size comparison

    http://imgur.com/Gcy8M4X

    • Dominik

      Is there a size comparison to the Nexus 10 somewhere?

      • QQ

        I will add Nexus 10 later today when I get time

        • Jondan Rothfus

          Why not go ahead and add the Nexus 6 on there to give people an idea of size comparison of the N6 to the N7?

          • QQ

            Will add that too

          • YouNex

            Thanks man !

          • http://www.androidpolice.com/ Artem Russakovskii

            Hell, throw in a Nexus 5, Nexus 4, Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S, and Nexus One while you're at it. Because why not #nexusmasterrace?

          • http://AndroidPolice.com/ Liam Spradlin

            Uh hello what about Nexus Q

          • Ahmad Nadeem

            Finally someone remembers the Lost Nexus!

          • Sam Del Valle

            We...We don't talk about the Nexus Q. Clear?

          • WORPspeed

            same way we don't talk about honeycomb and the Xoom

          • jm9843

            Hey, the Xoom eventually became awesome. I still use mine and it runs 4.4.4 KitKat full-featured, including LTE. Honeycomb did suck though.

          • Fatal1ty_93_RUS

            And Chromecast!

          • Tomáš Petrík

            That would want 3D comparison.

          • Mathias Kenting

            Best Nexus ever.

          • http://droidagency.com/ Vardan Nazaretyan

            The Nexus that never was.

          • Fatal1ty_93_RUS

            #sizecomparisonoverkill

          • Ryan Stuckmaier

            Why no HTC G1? The original Google Phone!

          • Sir VAVA the 2nd

            #Nexusfortherestofus

        • Guest
    • NAUSHNIK52

      Oh, Nexus 7 so small. Want to upgrade to Nexus 9, but can't

      • Badouken

        Feeling the same... I love the nexus 7 and the size is great for on the go... but want something bigger... but Nexus 7 is only a year old... must hold... out...!!!

    • Ahmad Nadeem

      Mind adding the Android powered coffee table in there?

    • dkbnyc

      "What are the 6 most boring tablets ever created?"

      Oh, i thought it was a Jeopardy question.

      • jb

        what makes a tablet exciting?

    • http://dribbble.com/nickchamberlin Nick Chamberlin

      Could you add project loon in there as well?

    • abobobilly

      Thats a little like "in-your-face" isn't it?

    • GazaIan

      Why does that Surface Pro 3 look so wide? Almost looks like a Surface Pro 2/1....

    • QQ

      Updated with Nexus 10 and Nexus 6. Didn't release until today how fugly the Nexus 10 is.

      • Oliver Thomas Cervera

        FUGLY.
        EPIC

    • QQ

      And another one with just the Nexuses. Nexus 10 is off by a couple of mm, but still gives you a good idea. Nexus 10 is fugly!

      • tylerbrainerd

        dang, the 10 is looking bezel-y

      • arathkone

        What this seems to show really well is how out of place the N6 is going to look. If you put the N5 in there with the 9 & 7 you have a really cohesive style. The 6 looks like it's from a different brand/manufacturer.

      • Duncan_J

        QQ you know what you have to Do, Nexus One to Nexus 10 in size order with release date underneath.

        • QQ

          Too much work :( Maybe someone else can do it

          • Duncan_J

            Its a photoshop challenge. I would but that would cut into my Shadow of Mordor time :)

      • Omar Al Matar

        So it's not just microsoft who can't count :P

      • SinBroncas

        Nexus 7 is as "fugly" as Nexus 10

    • deepen915

      and the Pro 3 has the HIGHEST resolution at it's size.. with the most productivity and power.

      • yboy403

        Yeah, and it costs up to twice as much as the next most expensive option.

        • QQ

          However: it has full Windows, Pen, Large screen, Premium build, 4+ gb RAM, Core i3+. Also a real Ultrabook with the keyboard.

          • yboy403

            Oh, for sure. The Surface is a tablet, but including the Pro in a list of tablets seems a bit off.

          • QQ

            I included it for size comparisons, nothing else. Since it is one of the largest mainstream/popular tablets.

  • Drew

    I was thinking that something like this would explain the Nexus 6. If developers had a large QHD phone, they'd have an easier time building their apps to work multi-window.

    • http://petercast.net Peterson Silva

      Stop! I don't want to have expectations about this =/

      • Drew

        I know! I want this but I don't want to be let down when it is not a surprise reveal in the L launch. Meanwhile, Windows RT has this and I believe iOS is coming out with something similar, so this is as much about keeping parity as launching a sweet feature.

        • Imparus

          Considering iOS multi window has been as much confirmed as android version of it, it would be quite the stretch to say it is to keep parity with iOS, when this could in theory appear with android L (even thought I doubt it will be ready in time).

    • Jess B

      I've been having the same hope since the 5.9" size was leaked.

    • Jozef Kruszynski

      I have been assuming that the funny "messaging" icon on the n6 renders was actually a multi-window icon. Why would Google bring BACK the messaging app?

      Makes sense to me.

      • Daniel

        It could simply be AOSP. Hangouts is a Google services app.

        • Jozef Kruszynski

          Very true. But I have been holding out hope, but there was a mention of some sort about the same icon not appearing on the n5 L pics.

          Dunno.

      • Brandon Jiang

        doesnt explain why the multiwindow feature is an app... if it was configurable it would be in settings, otherwise it is simply via the recents menu. doubt they would have it as launchable app, and the doc never holds this sort of stuff. a type of messaging app still makes the most sense
        sadly, logic doesnt compute

        • WORPspeed

          it is Google, they even made a hangouts dialer app and are rumoured to be working on a whatsapp killer for emerging markets... >.>

    • me

      You WILL have this on nexus 6. You also have it on your current phone. Its called xhalo module for xposed. It takes a little configuring(litterally worst default settings in an app ever) but after that it does just exaclty whats written in this post, minus the drag&drop.

    • Guest

      This would be a very good reason for the N6 display size choice...
      If that's the case, I'll buy the damn phone even it's huge.

  • http://www.androidpolice.com/ Cameron Summerson

    give 2 me plz

  • Nick

    Seems like a great implementation right now, I wonder how it is in actual use though.

    • pfmiller

      The article says "it doesn't work that well".

      • http://AndroidPolice.com/ Liam Spradlin

        That is referring to the post by Android Internals, where a very very early and incomplete version of split-screen was tested out. At the time (since it was incomplete) it didn't work that well, but who knows how far it's come since then?

        • Espen Flagtvedt Olsen

          Since they worked on it back then it would explain the size bump, even if it doesn't make it to this release.

  • http://petercast.net Peterson Silva

    I think the only problem would be how to convey all the information necessary for people to intuitively use apps in such a system - how to not make it something that only people who have used it / been taught to use it would be able to use it again...

    • http://AndroidPolice.com/ Liam Spradlin

      Yep, that would be the major consideration with things like this. What would the first-run look like? How would people even know about this? It's an interesting problem, but not a showstopper for the functionality, just an interesting challenge.

      • David Loring

        Is there any sign of configurations other than 50-50? I think those are very useful on the Surface.

        • http://AndroidPolice.com/ Liam Spradlin

          From what I based this post on, it just looks like 1 or 2 apps open at the same time, snapped, with the option to resize. So no free-floating windows or anything like that. But who knows what kind of changes they may have made since the things I saw were made?

          • someone755

            No free-floating windows pls.
            Tried once on a 10" Android tablet.
            NEVER. AGAIN.

      • Michael

        Even then a "first-run" probably wouldn't be enough to teach non-technical people that have no idea what it does or how it works, such as switching between phone and tablet layouts depending on width, or the fact that hitting home/back sometimes performs the action on the other half.

        • http://petercast.net Peterson Silva

          I think the idea with Android since the beginning is that apps do not need to have "tablet" versions; they just need to scale well. So I don't think anyone would have to be schooled on "switching between phone and tablet layouts depending on width"; if the strategy proves itself, people will feel it's a natural shift when it happens.

      • Armando Rodriguez

        Well a tutorial like the one on Google Camera or the first time you enter immersive mode it should run the first time you press the multitask button. Also it could have a box with "dont show next time".

      • http://petercast.net Peterson Silva

        Here's what I think could be done: system detects if a user is changing too many times between the same two apps (like Chrome and Keep; seeing something in Chrome and taking notes about it). When it detects that, an instruction overlay appears in the "app switch" screen saying "You can use both apps at the same time - press and hold an application to use it in one half of the screen".

        Home button could become an X (just like back button becomes a "down" when keyboard's up) so pressing it would close the app. Or a vertical rectangle (instead of a square) so an app would fill into the whole screen.

      • Fatal1ty_93_RUS

        It needs a tutorial like that Sony "Evolution UI" stuff they posted for testing during summer

    • br_hermon

      Which interestingly brings up another point. Are manufacturers muddying the waters of what is a tablet and PC? When they were first introduced, and still much to this day they have been advertised as dead simple devices. A home screen, apps, in and out. Simple as that. But Samsung has focused their note line much more on productivity. Dual screens, stylus note taking, etc. Some have said, and I still agree, that PC's are for work, tablets are for play or light work. There's simply not the horse power to get real work done on a tablet. So... Is it a mobile OS's responsibility to add more features like this? When does it stop being a mobile OS and become full blown? Or should Android and others not reach to become a fully featured OS and keep a line between (simple, intuitive, light) and (complex, training required, powerhouse computing)?

      • http://petercast.net Peterson Silva

        It _is_ indeed an interesting question. Honestly, I haven't got a clue on what to make of it...

  • Bluewall

    And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why the next Nexus is 5.9'' :)

    • http://www.androidpolice.com/ Artem Russakovskii

      Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

      • Sac Bunt Chris

        Isn't that, like, our job as followers of tech news?

  • Jerome’s Room

    My body is ready.

  • V

    I totally see this useful on 5.9inch device... Hmm...

    • someone755

      I see this useful on a 7-inch tablet. And a 9" and 10" and GOOGLE PLS NO GIANT PHONE

  • SuyashSrijan

    umm, apk pls?

  • Grahaman27

    that actually looks really cool and intuitive.

  • Fatal1ty_93_RUS
  • Guest

    Sh!t Nexus 8 and Android 5.0 L... confirmed in one photo...

    • http://www.androidpolice.com/ Artem Russakovskii

      Nexus 8 doesn't exist.

      • someone755

        It does now, apparently. xD

        • http://www.androidpolice.com/ Artem Russakovskii

          Nexus 9 does, not Nexus 8.

          • someone755

            Nexus 8 FTW can't wait for the next one.

            (Not everyone is serious here, Artem :P)

          • Fatal1ty_93_RUS

            Sadly...

      • Grahaman27

        Douche as always.

  • eliseo

    #APKPLZSOONBACKANSWER

    • Guest
      • eliseo

        #DEADHORSESOONRUN

        • someone755

          PLZ SEND ME HORSE

    • Michael

      Anyone else finding these posts annoying now?

      • http://ericravenscraft.kinja.com/ Eric Ravenscraft

        Nope.

      • Serge Cebrian

        not yet!

      • someone755

        Where's the gif of that image?

      • Emile’sGhost

        Just yours.

  • http://turbofool.com Jarrett Lennon Kaufman

    If this is real, and it happens with L, I might just go ahead and buy the Nexus 9. Because multi-window multitasking is one of the few remaining features that keeps it from being a near-desktop replacement. This would prompt me to try to make it act as one.

  • Dillon Brown

    I have been waiting forever and a day for this, but this implementation looks a little confusing with the "focusing." while they probably can't use it, iOS's multi finger closing gesture would be intuitive here so that you could pick which app to close.

    Also, I think a long press on the recents button causing the current app to slide up or over (depending on screen orientation) and the app switcher menu to slide in with a nice animation would be more elegant, from there you could just tap on whichever app you want to pull up second, instead of the potentially confusing swipe, which would be used for both opening a app in multi Windows and removing it from the list depending on context.

    • http://AndroidPolice.com/ Liam Spradlin

      I would be interested to see exactly what kind of indicators/animations may actually be planned. Like I said in the post, these explorations weren't brand new, so a lot may have changed. I think the long-press idea is a good one, too. As for closing windows a gesture would be intuitive, but I think the idea that whatever you interacted with last is the focused window isn't too hard to get a handle on. The main challenge will just be educating the user on how this all works.

      • Dillon Brown

        Ya, I'm just throwing out ideas, and look forward to what they come up as, obviously, this is by no means comprehensive. One more point of curiosity though, do you have an idea of how this might work with the back button? It seems it would work in a focused environment, but could get tricky at the system level if the button stays "takes you to last screen." plus, as it currently works tapping a YouTube link in Chrome for example, currently replaces chrome in the app switcher with you tube (L might change that I don't remember) but how would all that work in this environment?

        • Dillon Brown

          I mean, this are more curiosity questions for Google, not really you specifically.

  • Abhijeet Mishra

    It would be awesome if this would make it to Android officially. Multi-window is extremely useful on big screens; it's not something I use everyday, but when it does come in handy, it's awesome, especially in refering to something while doing the other. It's the one feature that would make go over the Galaxy Note over any other phablet (I prefer 5.5-5.7" screens), though Samsung's slow and ugly software makes me stay away (currently have the OnePlus One.)

    • http://AndroidPolice.com/ Liam Spradlin

      Agreed. I've been considering the Note 4 just to check this out on a daily device, but I'd be thrilled if it actually made it into a Nexus tablet. Here's hoping.

      • Abhijeet Mishra

        I had the Note 3, so I've used it quite often. Again, not everyday, but very useful when I did use it. Plus, while Samsung's software feels a bit less responsive than stock or Sense (or Sony's skin), Multi-Window works without hiccups, at least on high-end devices.

        • JW

          I disagree. My Note 3 slows down considerably with MW on. I ended up turned it off because it's not worth the performance hit.

          • Abhijeet Mishra

            I was talking about MW itself - the two apps that I ran on it always ran fine. Though I only had the phone for six months, pretty sure things have gone downhill in terms of performance for those who've used it longer.

          • JW

            I had mine for about six months too. May be you will get a present surprise when you turn it off. ;)

      • Android Developer

        What about other cool Note-only features? like the S-Pen ?
        I think all Note users would like this, as they will always be able to move to AOSP (hence getting longer support) and still have a certain set of features for the S-Pen.

    • David Fulde

      You can do this with xposed using xhalomultiwindow

      • Abhijeet Mishra

        Yeah, Xposed is awesome, but it's a hack and not a very nice solution. Still amazing what all Xposed makes possible.

    • Stefan Verbeeck

      You're right. I just ask myself why it took so long for them to implement this. It could have been a deal breaker on android's early honeycomb tablets.

  • Dave

    Suddenly the N9 aspect ratio and the N6 phablet size would all makes sense if this came to fruition. Perhaps this is Google's ace up their sleeve in the final release of Android L?

    • http://AndroidPolice.com/ Liam Spradlin

      I would love that, but I'm not counting on it.

  • Guest

    Hopefully that's will be avaiable on the next release of Android...

  • Wesley Modderkolk

    "Basically, users can have two open apps at a time. From the recents menu, users could swipe recent entries to either side of the display, "snapping" them to that half of the screen, leaving the other half of the screen occupied by the home screen or recents menu."
    Yes, it is this easy. Just swipe it in a direction from the recents menu. Previous attempts at multitasking just seemed to overcomplicate the whole thing.

    Whether you like it or not, Windows' handling of windows and multitasking just does not work in a touch(or smaller screens) environment.

    Microsoft introduced ways to Snap in windows Vista and continued to use it in Windows versions after that. Microsoft pretty much has multitasking in a touch environment(metro) spot-on. The solution described here is pretty much similar to how multitasking is handled in Metro, which makes me wonder; does Microsoft have patents that would limit Androids ability to do this?

    • http://AndroidPolice.com/ Liam Spradlin

      That's a fair question. I'm not familiar with Microsoft's patent portfolio obviously, but my instinct is that it would come down to implementation. If Android's "windows" at no point are freely floating and instead default to a 50/50 snap that can only be resized or have one side closed, I think it would probably be far enough away to avoid any conflict. But again, I really don't know.

      • Walkop

        That is exactly like Microsoft's implementation, though.

        Have you never used a Surface?

        • Michał Ostrowski

          Yes, that is how Metro works. Since Windows 8.1, the split between two windows can be freely adjusted.

      • guest

        exactly how windows works...

      • Wesley Modderkolk

        My post was a bit confusing in combining windows and the newly added apps to Windows 8.

        My question regarding this behavior was more directed towards apps. Which, in the implementation described in this article, is exactly the same. It describes dragging a app towards a side to manage multiple windows. This is done the same way in windows 8(and up), dragging a Metro app somewhere allows it to snap in a similar fashion.

        It'll be interesting to see if microsoft has any patents on this, they're gonna get rich(er) from royalties this way.

    • Sir_Brizz

      I doubt it because they are riffing functionality that was added in other OSes years before them.

      • Wesley Modderkolk

        The way microsoft handles multitasking in Metro apps was something they were first in.

        • Sir_Brizz

          IT's just a touch implementation of what they already had with a bit more polish to it. It's nothing new, I really doubt they could have patented it.

          • Ramiro Fernandez

            "IT's just a touch implementation of what they already had with a bit more polish to it."
            You just described all of Apple's patents in their Samsung case...

    • didibus

      I'm gonna go on a wild guess, but I think Microsoft probably does not have the patents for this, though maybe it could on a "touch interface". But I'd be surprised if this windowing functionality hadn't been discovered and patented at Xerox or Bell lab years ago.

      This kind of window management to me is simply what you call a Tiling Window Manager, which Xerox made famous. Read here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiling_window_manager

      The only difference I see here is that it's limited at a total of 2 Window, and the way you interact with the tiling manager might be new, because of touch interface. So they could have a patent on that.

      • Wesley Modderkolk

        Not generally about tiling, because indeed, that's far from original. However, dragging an app to a certain side(or corner) was something Microsoft did first in Aero, and pretty much perfected it for touch in Metro.

        • didibus

          Not at all, Tiling Window Managers always "snap". That's just how it behaves. The only difference in Windows is because it's not a true tiling window manager, you have to drop the window to the edge to activate "tiling". And I wouldn't call what Aero initially did tiling. That was just kind of macro shortcut that sets window size to 50% and align with top left or top right corner. It doesn't tile, the window would still overlap whatever was under.

          Tiling is when you snap to say half the screen, and whatever is already there moves over to the other half, sometime resizing to fit, sometime not, depends on the Tiling Manager.

    • h4rr4r

      Tiling window managers date from the 80s.
      The implementation in Vista is nothing special.

  • mark boyle

    Google needs to stop focusing efforts on useless things like this and focus their efforts on 3D phones.

    • Eirik Corneliussen

      Idk if that's a troll, but what about multitasking is useless, and 3D NOT useless?

      • someone755

        3D phones have more cameras, DUHH.
        I mean when are you going to use this, especially on a tablet?

      • mark boyle

        Just joking around. 😯

        • Eirik Corneliussen

          Haha good to know 😛

  • YouNex

    Can't Wait !

  • DanieleMnn

    Basically it's windows 7 with aero snap. Nothing new.

    • Armando Rodriguez

      Tell me a MOBILE OS that does this apart of Touchwiz framework on Android? The only one is Windows RT and that was a FIASCO.

      • DanieleMnn

        Windows 8.1 is a mobile os. Never heard of atom SOCs?

        • Fatal1ty_93_RUS

          it's a desktop OS recompiled for ARM

          • DanieleMnn

            Windows 8.1 is not for arm, is for x86. And is a mobile OS.

          • Fatal1ty_93_RUS

            Didn't know I'm using a mobile OS on my PC right now

          • DanieleMnn

            Now you do. It runs on 7" tablets, it's not a mobile OS?

          • Android Developer

            can it run on phones, as it's a mobile OS, and also have multiple windows being shown?

          • Armando Rodriguez

            ITS NOT, the screen size it runs on doesnt matter, it matters the UI and how it was created.

            Windows 8 RT was created to be the midle between Windows Phone and Windows 8, AFAIK it doesnt have a desktop it doesnt run desktop apps (legacy).

          • Walkop

            Windows 8 runs circles around Android, that's not even a question. Surface Pro, for example. Not even in the same class a Android devices. It's 12" but only slightly heavier than my Nexus 10, plus it can do everything my tablet can do plus run desktop apps/do split screen RIGHT.

            Even Surface, other than apps, has better touch performance than the majority of Android tablets (and even the iPad). The browsing experience is the smoothest I've seen on any platform with touch.

          • Armando Rodriguez

            We are not discusing wich is better.

            I said that Windows 8.1 is NOT a mobile OS because it has a desktop and runs legacy apps.

            Windows 8 RT is/was the mobile version of Windows 8 created for tablets.

        • Armando Rodriguez

          Not its not, its a full desktop OS on smaller screens. You can run legacy apps on it therefore is not mobile its a full fledge OS.

          Windows 8 RT is mobile because it only has a touch UI + only runs WinRT apps.

          Intel SoCs can be used with desktop OSes and mobile OSes, Android can run on an Atom SoC, thats a mobile OS.

          • DanieleMnn

            WinRT has a desktop FYI, and Win8.1 is both a desktop and a mobile OS since it runs on mobile SOCs. I would argue that's a plus the fact that it's full fledge OS in mobile form.
            All I wanted to point out is don't say that samsung or google invented multitasking in that way, it has existed for year.

          • Armando Rodriguez

            Windows 8 RT has a desktop?

          • DanieleMnn

            Yup.

          • Armando Rodriguez

            It still cant run legacy apps

  • Clément

    This is really good !

  • Android Crook

    I know I'm advocating for the devil but this has clearly taken some influence from microshit 8. I also remember it wasn't too long ago that Dianne Hackbourn threatened Steve Kondik to remove cornerstone or else cm would lose Google Play ability(eve by flashing) https://plus.google.com/app/basic/stream/z13izns4pyiyj1opf04cc3owexetubjgzko0k -> read the comments

    • http://AndroidPolice.com/ Liam Spradlin

      I would say that since two years ago things have changed for Android, especially with evidence that split-screen functionality was at least partially built out in KitKat. I would also say Google's gone to great lengths to ensure that any such system wouldn't cause the issues described in that comment. Again, there's no way to be sure, but I have to think that if Google were going for this, it would have these things in mind.

      • PiLoT .

        fair play for replying to someone whos childlike attitude prevents them from typing company names in a proper manor

  • Bomberlt

    Meanwhile, on my Nexus 7: http://imgur.com/yUCDuTa

    • Splendid Frequent Langur

      I don't see any multi-windows...

    • http://AndroidPolice.com/ Liam Spradlin

      Yep, that is curious, isn't it? I still have no idea why that's happening with G+ and Newsstand, but I find it very unlikely that Google would knowingly push two updates to two separate apps, both with material makeovers, that behaved the same way on tablets running L, if there weren't something else coming.
      But that's just my own speculation.

      • Luca Vallerini

        Well, it's a developer build, so it could be that. On the bug tracker they closed this issue saying they aren't facing these problems on their new internal builds...

        • Bomberlt

          Can't wait for new Android L releases...

    • Fatal1ty_93_RUS

      ugh it looks awful, I know. That's XHaloFlotaingWindow from Xposed, right?

      • Bomberlt

        No, that seems to be a Google+ bug. I'm running stock unrooted Android L preview on Nexus 7 2013.

        • Fatal1ty_93_RUS

          So how did you get this floating window then?

          • jm9843

            Run the latest G+ on a Nexus 7 with Android L developer preview. Instant (broken) floating window.

  • http://farukahmet.blogspot.com/ Faruk Ahmet

    That "dragging items from one window to another" functionality is so tempting. It could even work, I think, without having two windows open side-by-side. Say, long click on an item > drag it over the recents button > recents menu opens > you hover over another app > if that app is compatible with the item you are dragging, it opens and accepts the data. You wouldn't need to use the share menu and you could still enjoy real multitasking even if your phone's screen is not big enough to accomodate two windows at a time. Just a thought.

    • http://petercast.net Peterson Silva

      Just like in desktop systems (at least it is doable here in KDE). That would be great indeed.

    • Aaron Stevenson

      It would only work for devices with on-screen nav buttons though.

  • KeePeeR

    @carburano prepara uno zaino 🎒 anche per me, Nexus 6 her I come

  • Peter

    So... basically Windows 8.

    • SolarShane13

      Haven't you heard? Android is the new Windows ;)

      LOL.

      • Ryan Callihan

        Well yeah. Since Windows is the new OS X, something had to take its place!

        • http://theridermusic.com/ Tomfoolery

          Windows is the new OS X? Haven't heard that one before...

          • Ryan Callihan

            I was making fun of their jump to Windows 10 which is eerily similar to Mac's OS X.

          • http://theridermusic.com/ Tomfoolery

            rriiighht. good one..

  • Francesco Lorenzet

    we will see it as a new thing in iphone 12. at least

  • Ørjan Laxaa

    So, like Windows 8 then?

    I hope the new Nexus 9(as well as the new iPads) get this functionality. It would do wonders for productivity.

  • Hussam

    Looks like Microsoft multiwindow on windows 8/8.1

    • h4rr4r

      Looks more like TWM from the 1980s.

  • Jakob

    Dragging content from app to app. This would be "mind blown(!!)" on Chrome OS...

    • WestHej

      Microsoft Courier anyone?

  • William Thieme

    If multiwindow might be a thing, wouldn't you want a tablet with a wider aspect ratio than 4:3? 16:10, maybe?

  • didibus

    Isn't this exactly the way Samsung does it too?

    • Android Developer

      If Google will make it, it will get official, with APIs that the developers can handle on all devices and not just of Samsung's.

      • Laurentiu

        App developers cannot use this multi-window implementation (which will be part of Android OS) in their app - there will be no API for it. The OS will decide what part of display space will allow the app to be displayed on. This multi-window implementation should not impact in anyway the existing and future Android apps.

        • Android Developer

          I didn't mean APIs for controlling the feature (though it could be cool too), but more like APIs to handle events of it.
          Google has told Samsung in the past that it's not a good idea to put multi-window in its devices yet, so they compromised on a set of built in apps instead of all apps.

          The reason is that the framework isn't ready to tell apps what is going on when such a feature is used. An example of it is deciding which component has the focus. What events should each Activity (screen phase of apps) have in such usage of the feature, etc...

    • https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=dyna.logix.bookmarkbubbles Bubble Cloud Widgets

      I haven't tried their newest implementation on the Note4, but the one running on the Note3 is pretty clumsy, and works with a very limited number of apps (there are hacks, but they are generally a headache mixing thing up from time to time). It's better than nothing but it's done "just barely working" Samsung style (could be their tag line for software :-)

    • Abudi

      Yup. Exactly. On my GS4. 👇

  • Cameron Williams

    What are your thoughts on Space Dandy? :P

  • http://www.techreviewshop.com/ JP

    I'd rather have a floating window that I can resize on the fly like the samsung galaxy note 2012(13) version of touchwiz ( :( ) but they decided to make it s-pen only now when creating the window size which was a terrible move.

    • Android Developer

      According to what I remember I saw, you can do it with the finger too, from the upper-right corner of the screen.

  • h4rr4r

    TWM has been around since 1987.

    The wheel of computing turns again.

  • Nathan J

    This is depressing.

    Google seems to be going after this space-maximizing effort, for the same reasons Samsung did. No matter how big you make a screen (there is a logical max, and it's around 10"), and no matter how high-res you make it, you still have sausage fingers being opaque. Computers have smaller controls because a mouse pointer isn't a sausage finger. We can control it more precisely.

    You can use a mouse on an Android phone or tablet, and it'll just work. If you've ever used Linux, you'll even recognize the default Linux (for most distros) cursor. It's black with a white outline, and a hair shorter than the Windows one. Left click is a tap, right click is a long press, and there's no multi-touch.

    But do you want to? Probably not. The solution, I think, for a tablet at least, being a device that isn't carried in your pocket, is a recessed thumb stick. I know it doesn't sound like a great idea, but if you want a multi-windowing experience (i.e. like Windows or OS X) on a tablet, you're going to have to use something that works like a mouse.

    But this is why I use a somewhat big phone (HTC One M8; 1080p @ 5"). I use a FlyGrip so I can get my thumb all over it. It's a crisp, clear display, and while it can only display one app at a time, it has great multi-tasking (I'm running CleanROM, a Sense ROM, so I have the 3x3 grid rather than the stack).

    I don't think we're ready for 2+ apps at once on Android. There are solutions, and then there are ideas like mine, but none are ready for prime time. I think Android can be a desktop OS at some point, but this is something it will have to solve first. That is to say, Android will need to have support for being ran on a 20"+ screen with a physical keyboard and mouse/trackball connected. Not to mention things like disc burning and printing locally. It will have to work just as well without multitouch, and it will have to work better with physical keyboards (it may just be my setup, but it seems I have to type slower for it to not trip over itself, but I type very quickly). And no, I don't want a Chromebook. I want to use Firefox as my browser... at least the infamously choice restricting Apple lets you do that on their computers. Chrome OS can't and likely never will. You might like Chrome and you may even prefer it, but can we at least agree that forcing the choice is the wrong way?

  • didibus

    Brief history of window managers for those interested:

    - In the 70s Xerox invented the first windows GUI computer, the Xerox Alto. It used overlapping windows. This is called a stacking window manager, because it stacks windows on top of one another.

    - Xerox followed suit with the Xerox Star, which used tiled windows. This is called a tiling window manager because it does not allow windows to overlap, instead it always resize all windows to make them fit next to one another on the screen. It's important to know that already, the Star allowed most window to be tiled, but still would let some windows overlap as floating, like dialogue boxes for example.

    - In 1984, Mac OS released, it used a stacking window manager like Xerox Star. It was the first commercially successful stacking window manager.

    - In 1985, Windows 1.0 was released. It tried to have a stacking window manager, but because of a lawsuit by Apple claiming the copyright over the concept, Windows had to instead adopt a tiling window manager. Yes, Windows 1.0 tiled your Windows, just like Windows 8 haha: http://mnemonikk.org/talks/windows_1.0.gif

    - In the 1980s, Amiga OS came out with the first compositing window manager. A compositing window manager can do everything the others can, so you have floating, overlapping, tiling, but you can have much more, like 3D, off screen, transparent, etc. It differs more in implementation, than functionality. Compositing window managers is now the standard, and used by Windows, OSX, Linux, Android, iOS, etc.

    What's funny is how we are seeing a come back of the tiling style of window management over the stacking style.

    I also highly recommend to the interested one to go read on the Apple vs Microsoft GUI lawsuit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Computer,_Inc._v._Microsoft_Corp.

    It set the standard for GUI lawsuits, claiming that you can not copyright the overall Look and Feel, but only it's individual pieces. It also said you can not copyright the idea, but only the expression of it. It said that only original work could be copyrighted. And it said that when there aren't any other way to express an idea, you can not claim patent over it.

  • dkbnyc

    So... when does Samsung sue Google for stealing it's multi-window functionally?

    • Caitlin Wolford

      Samsung and Google signed a "we won't sue each other" agreement earlier this year.

  • benz_85

    Nexus 7 (2013) ? Will it get it ?

  • primalxconvoy

    This is great news. While using my phone as a desktop, I'm frustrated that there isn't an easier way to keep multiple apps open in multiple windows (As a Samsung owner, I've found the multiple windows system offered in-house to be unusable). Right now, I use the long press of the home button to see recent apps (which never show the most recent, until you delete some from the screen, btw) and "Notification Toggle", which allows functions and apps to be openable from the notification drawer. This allows me to switch between office, browser, home screen and file browser apps fairly easily (although it's not as good as the system currently available in windows).

    Hopefully, Google will improve these features for continued productivity use and/or desktop users.

  • Ryan Callihan

    PRAYING that this is why Google is releasing larger devices this year. Let's get some official Multi-Window support!

  • Jpx

    This could explain the Nexus 9 having a 4:# ratio!?! Just eyeballing the visual comps it looks like these screens are ment for 4:3 over 16:9

  • Shawn

    ARE YOU THINKING WHAT I'M THINKING? IS THIS THE NEXUS 9 o.O

  • http://twitter.com/jdrch jdrch

    The only thing I got out of this is that multitasking on touch interfaces is clunky at best.

  • dontsh00tmesanta

    Bring it

  • chaostheory66821

    So...Google is actually trying to mimic what Microsoft has been doing? Don't get me wrong, my household is split 50/50 with Android/Windows products, but I have actually noticed that mobile devices are trying to reproduce some of the functionality of the "metro" interface on mobile devices. This is great, because it means that soon Android will probably be as natural on small-form devices when it comes to this as some of the newer Microsoft devices. I like that, especially with the lower memory footprint of Android. I just wonder if Microsoft actually managed to jump ahead in this respect, rather than trailing like it has in the past?

  • Thales

    Xda developers developers member timduru has a multi window implementation for his tf101 Rom that is pretty awesome, and app focus and resize of apps it's not a concern.it's the best multi window implementation I ever sawhttp://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2592890

  • micah

    I don't know, Samsung did a pretty good job with it!

  • Abudi

    Multi Window on my S4

  • Bobby Wright

    Microsoft will sue pants from legs because it looks similar to the snap windows thing..

  • Stefan Verbeeck

    Question: why does android have technical multitasking support since the beginning when you can not see any stuff running in the background (beside a notification)? So android pro's can extract a zip while texting? Seems dumb when badly optimized apps like fb decide to take over your phone with battery eating services...

    • Daniel

      Battery management will be way more efficient with the new Android L, Also, the developers will have more tools to manage it in a better way i suppose.

  • Yo Pelao

    I love the way people don't recognize stuff when they have to. Like, let's be honest: who TF thinks multitasking is being able to exit one app and access another one fast? Cause I don't. I think the BEST EVER implementation of real multitasking is they one approach of Samsung's. Yet this article says "nobody got it right", and then states Google will (not that it has, but that it WILL. In the FUTURE). Not cause I'm a fanboy (indeed, Google is my all-time favorite company), but let's just give credit to whom deserves it. Same way I read an article the other day, it went something like " oh, big phones aren't easy to use one handed, but Apple's great idea of pulling down the screen is cool"... Remember the shrinkable screen option for one handed tasks on the Note 3? No. They seem not to. I really dislike when ANYONE has their credit for something taken away, it's plain assholism, IMO.

  • Marclonus

    Could I be wrong in feeling that there might be a patent war looming at the horizon with Microsoft on sticking the window to the side of the screen?

  • new_guy_around_here

    Edit: I clearly didn't read correctly. Sorry.