latest
Android 12 DP2 subtly changes the app switcher
Slightly smaller app view, a relocated icon, and bigger stashed previews
Among the other changes hiding in Android 12 are a handful of tweaks to the app switcher/multitasking menu/recents menu. It's subtle, but Google has moved the app icon so that it no longer covers your view of the app itself. The currently selected app also now has the same vertical height as the stashed previews to the left and right, and your view of the app is just slightly smaller than before.
Dark Mode Quick Settings toggle coming to OxygenOS, plus other tweaks planned
A new multitasking interface and lower volume levels are also on the list
As part of its monthly Q&A (or FAQ — the company calls it both), OnePlus has just revealed a handful of smaller but still much-appreciated tweaks we can look forward to in its OxygenOS software. In addition to finally getting the Dark Mode toggle we've been clamoring for, we can also look forward to multitasking interface tweaks, lower volume settings, and other minor launcher fixes — though each change is tied to its own separate schedule.
Screenshots are becoming a lot more convenient with Android R. While Google is already planning to implement scrolling screenshot support in the OS update (which, granted, many other OEMs have already done), there's yet another way in Android 11 to share an app's content.
Before Android Q Beta 5 launched, details from a leaked internal build were already doing the rounds on Reddit. This gave us a glance at some functionality that didn't make it into the publicly available beta build, like an option to change the back gesture's sensitivity. Another feature from the internal build has now surfaced that offers to translate the contents of an app preview in the Recents screen.
Android P DP2 introduced the very controversial gesture navigation during last week's Google I/O, and with it came a new interface for the app switcher (aka Overview or Recents). Instead of scrolling up and down to move between tiny cards of your open apps and swiping sideways to close them, you now scroll sideways between full snapshots of your open apps and swipe up to close one of them. One detail that slipped by us, though, is that this whole interface is now bundled with the Pixel Launcher, not the Android system.
Gather 'round people. There's a change in the second Android N Dev Preview and it will rock your whole world upside down. Oh who am I kidding, we spotted it and we know you guys like these teeny tiny tin-tastic changes in Android, even if they mean nothing to the way you use your device, so we're sharing it with you. Prepare to be underwhelmed.
While CyanogenMod is generally regarded as the biggest and best of the innumerable custom ROMs, some of the others tend to implement interesting additions to Android much sooner. The latest nightly builds of CM 11 (Android 4.4) have added something that's not exactly new, but should be very much appreciated by immigrants from other ROMs. Users can now long-press the physical or virtual Recents button to quickly open the last app "under" the current one. Observe:
Think of smartwatches now like smartphones were around 2008 - despite the fact that the idea has been around for a long time, everyone is still trying to figure out the best way to go about it. In Android Wear, Google is trying to make a super-simple interface based on short swipes, taps, and voice commands... which leaves a lot of users craving more conventional tools. So we've got a launcher, a web browser, a file explorer (ugh) and now a substitute for the Recent Apps menu in Android OS.