Samsung (and others) have been teasing the concept of foldable phones for a short while, and that flexible dream has been a science fiction-level goal for years. But up until today, it was anyone's guess exactly how that might have worked when it came to software implementations in Android. But fret not, Google has just revealed at the Android Dev Summit that our favorite operating system will have native support for folding form factors.
We just announced support for foldables at #AndroidDevSummit, a new form factor coming next year from Android partners.
Android apps run seamlessly as the device folds, achieving this form factor's chief feature: screen continuity. pic.twitter.com/NAfOmCOY26
— Android Developers (@AndroidDev) November 7, 2018
At the event, David Burke, Vice President of Engineering for Android, made the announcement in a keynote address, revealing that Google's plans for folding displays revolve around something called "screen continuity" that better enhances the convergence between phone and tablet form factors, with a seamless transition between the two.
Google also spilled the beans on an upcoming Samsung foldable, which is coming "early next year."
Developers themselves won't have to bend over backward to accommodate the new devices, either. Google's doing its best to add new features that should make developing for the platform easier, though precise details outside a new resizable flag have yet to be revealed.
I'm sure we'll hear more information about the particulars behind both screen continuity and developer details in the coming days. In the meantime, hopefully Samsung has more to say about its rumored upcoming folding phone at its developer event, which (not-so-coincidentally?) is also happening today.
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