Hands-on: Android’s Bubble Bar makes multitasking way better on phones
Android’s new bubble bar puts bubbles in an easy to access location, making it easier to multitask.
- Google is working to improve Android phone multitasking by enabling any app to open in a bubble and making them accessible from a new bubble bar.
- The bubble bar, combined with the “bubble anything” feature, would allow users to easily open and switch between more than two apps, unlike the current split-screen mode.
- Google is also developing different categories of bubbles and addressing lifecycle issues with apps in bubbles, suggesting continued development of this enhanced multitasking feature.
Multitasking on most Android phones can be challenging due to their limited screen sizes. However, manufacturers address this by offering a variety of multi-window features. For example, most Android devices have a split-screen mode that allows users to place two apps side-by-side, and a bubble feature that opens certain apps in floating windows. While both are useful for switching between two apps, their utility diminishes with three or more apps. To improve multitasking on Android phones, Google is working to enable any app to open in a bubble and to make those apps accessible from a new bubble bar.
Android 11 introduced the bubble feature to provide messaging apps a standardized way to open conversations in floating chat head windows, a feature popularized by Facebook Messenger. Since its introduction, however, only a few top messaging apps use the bubbles API. Theoretically, most Android apps should function well within a bubble, as it simply acts as a container for the app’s activity. Currently, though, the feature doesn’t allow this.
