Android 12 Re-Imagines Split-Screen Mode, With More Flexibility To Run Two Apps

Android phones are always known to get the best features first, which is then an ¡®inspiration¡¯ to iOS. We¡¯ve seen this happen so many times -- whether it was the swipe typing or the widgets or the adoption of live wallpapers.

Reuters

One feature that Android has that iOS still doesn¡¯t (at least on iPhones) is split-screen -- having the ability to multitask by running apps simultaneously. And even on Android, the implementation is a hit and a miss with the apps. However, now a new report reveals that with Android 12, this is going to get a major overhaul.

Android could soon get a new feature called ¡®App Pairs¡¯, essentially a new version of split-screen. Reported first by 9to5Google, the App Pairs feature will not pin a particular app as the current system does, but in fact, it will group them as one task.

What this basically means is now users could get the ability to pick two apps from the recently opened section to create a pair. Once paired, users could get the ability to swap between a solo app or the pair that you¡¯ve created.

The report also highlights that the App Pairs would continue to use the divider to split as much screen real estate as one wants. However, the overhaul will also allow them to instantly swap positions of two apps with just a double-tap.

9to5Google

All these features surely sound interesting and they¡¯re not too far either as the report highlighted that we should see these in the Android 12 developer preview that is scheduled to roll out on Pixel and select Android devices sometime in February as that¡¯s when we saw Android¡¯s Developer Preview rolling out last year.

As always, these are mere leaks and you must take them with a grain of salt. And even if the developer preview contains this feature, it¡¯s unsure if it will be rolled out in the final update. Although, if these were to be true, they could come in really handy for all large-screen phones that we¡¯ve been seeing lately.