Google recently released a developer preview version of the next Android N operating system. The OS is currently available to developers only; a public version is yet to be released.
With this new OS, there are signs that lots of new features will be coming in. One such great feature that users of Android tablets can expect is split-screen multitasking. If you are familiar with Apple’s iOS 9, you might have already come across a similar feature that goes by the name Split-View.
Split-screen multitasking
Despite this release, Google’s Android N will be playing catch up to Apple’s iOS 9 as far as multitasking is concerned. Apple first added this ability to iOS 9, which was released last fall. This feature was expected to show up with Android Marshmallow, but Google failed to do this, however, it is finally here.
The split-screen feature will let users use more than one app on the same screen by resizing the window of each app so that they fit in the main window. With one app already running, just press and hold the Recent Apps button and the initially displayed app will be pushed to one side and a list of all recent apps will also show up on the other side. Here, the user can pick another app to open in split-screen mode.
The views vary depending on how you are holding your Android tablet. When in landscape mode, the apps will appear side by side (left and right) while portrait mode displays them one on top of the other. The user has the control over the size of each app being displayed. Moving the divider to the other end will give one app the entire screen.
Google is also expected to come in with Freeform Window Mode for Android N tablets. With this feature, multiple applications will be able to float in windows that can be resized. However, this feature hasn’t been fully implemented and there is no word on whether it will be available in the final version. The search engine giant also seems to have spared the picture-in-picture mode for Android TV users only.
Quick reply feature
When you pull down from the top of the screen of an Android device, a panel of commonly-used settings as well as a list of notifications shows up. The upcoming Android N adds something cool to this panel as far as the notifications are concerned. Users of this OS will now be able to directly respond to the notifications that show up upon pulling down from the top of the screen with no need of going to the main app.
Android N release date
There is no doubt that Android N is coming in with some cool changes and new features. At the moment, not all developers have added support for these two features, but hopefully, Google will get them on board.
Android N developer preview was not expected until the Google I/O 2016. However, Google released earlier than usual, something that also hints to an early release of the final version. But for now, all we know is that more of Android N will show up during May’s Google I/O developer conference.