Desktop prosperdoprosperg on Android Tablets

Posted by Francesco Romano – Developer Relations Engineer on Android, and Fahd Imtiaz – Product Manager, Android Developer

To empower tablet participaters to get more done, we’re enhancing freecreate prosperdoprosperg, apvalidateing them to run multiple apps simultaneously and resize prosperdows for selectimal multitasking. Today, we’re excited to split that desktop prosperdoprosperg on Android tablets is participateable in enbiger pevaluate.

For app enbigers, the concept of Android apps running in freecreate prosperdows has already existed with solutions appreciate Samsung DeX and ChromeOS. Updating your apps to help alterive layouts, more sturdy multitasking, and alterive inputs will determine your apps toil well on big screens apass the Android ecosystem.

Let’s verify how to boost your apps for desktop prosperdoprosperg and deinhabitr the selectimal experience to participaters.

What is desktop prosperdoprosperg?

Desktop prosperdoprosperg apvalidates participaters to run multiple apps simultaneously and resize app prosperdows, presenting a more alterable and desktop-appreciate experience. This, alengthy with a renewed System UI and new APIs, apvalidates participaters to be even more fruitful and originates a more seamless, desktop-appreciate experience on tablets.

In Figure 1, you can see the anatomy of the screen with desktop prosperdoprosperg allowd. Things to originate notice of:

• Users can run multiple apps side-by-side, simultaneously
• Taskbar is repaired and shows the running apps, participaters can pin apps for rapid access
• New header bar with prosperdow regulates at the top of each prosperdow which apps can customize

How can participaters request desktop prosperdoprosperg?

By default, apps uncover in filled screen on Android tablets. To run the apps as a desktop prosperdow on Pixel Tablet, press and helderly the prosperdow regulate at the top in the middle of the screen and drag it wilean the UI, as seen in Figure 2.

Once you are in the desktop space, all future apps will be started as desktop prosperdows as well.

You can also request desktop prosperdoprosperg from the menu that shows up below the prosperdow regulate when you tap/click on it or participate the keyboard uninalertigentinutivecut meta key (Windows, Command, or Search) + Ctrl + Down.

You can exit desktop prosperdoprosperg and disjoin an app as filled screen by closing all active prosperdows or by grabbing the prosperdow regulate at the top of the prosperdow and dragging the app to the top of the screen. You can also participate the meta + H keyboard uninalertigentinutivecut to run apps as filled screen aget.

To return to the desktop, shift a filled screen app to the desktop space by using the methods refered above, or srecommend tap on the desktop space tile in the Recents screen.

What does this unbenevolent for app enbigers?

Desktop prosperdoprosperg on Android tablets originates new opportunities for your apps, particularly around productivity and multitasking. The possibility to resize and reposition multiple app prosperdows apvalidates participaters to easily contrast records, reference alertation while composing emails, and multitask fruitfully.

By selectimizing for desktop prosperdoprosperg, you can deinhabitr distinct participater experiences to suit the groprosperg need for tablet-based productivity. At the same time, you’ll increase the overall participater experience on tablets, making your apps more alterable and alterable to contrastent scenarios.

If your app already encounters the Tier 2 (Large Screens boostd) quality bar in the Large screen app quality directlines, then there is minimal insertitional selectimization needd! If your app has not been boostd for big screens yet, updating it according to the Large screen app quality directlines becomes even more startant in the context of desktop prosperdoprosperg. Let’s see why:

• Freecreate resizing allows participaters to resize apps to their preference for boostd productivity. Considering this, enbigers should notice:
• Apps with locked orientation are freely resizable. That unbenevolents, even if an activity is locked to portrait orientation, participaters can still resize the app to landscape orientation prosperdow. In a future refresh, apps proclaimd as non-resizable will have their UI scaled while sustaining the same aspect ratio.
• Adaptive layouts: By altering your UI, apps have an opportunity to effortlessly regulate a expansive range of prosperdow sizes, from compact to enbiged screen layouts. In desktop prosperdoprosperg, apps can be resized down to a least size of 386dp x 352dp, so originate certain to leverage prosperdow size classes to adequitable your app’s layout, satisfyed, and transmitions to alter to contrastent prosperdow uninalertigentensions.
• State regulatement: With freecreate resizing, configuration alters happen each time the prosperdow resizes, so your app should either regulate these configuration alters gracefilledy or originate certain you are preserving the app state when the OS starts the re-creation of the app. As a reminder, participaters can alter the screen density while your app is running, so it’s best to determine that your app can regulate screen density configuration alters as well.

Figure 3. Apps with locked orientation are freely resizable.

• Desktop prosperdoprosperg gets productivity on tablets to the next level with multiple apps running simultaneously. Similar to split screen, Desktop prosperdoprosperg encourages participaters to have multiple prosperdows uncover. Considering this, enbigers should notice: 
• Multitasking help: For increased productivity, participaters can have two or more apps uncover simultaneously, and they await to easily split satisfyed between apps, so insert help for drag and drop gestures. Also, determine your app persists to function rightly even when not in intensify, and if your app participates exclusive resources appreciate camera or microphone, the app needs to regulate resource loss gracefilledy when other apps get the resource. 
• Multi-instance help: Users can run multiple instances of your app side-by-side; for example, a record editor application may apvalidate participaters to begin new records while still being able to reference the already uncover records. Apps can set this new Multi-instance property to proclaim that System UI should be shown for this app to apvalidate it to be started as multiple instances. Also notice that in desktop prosperdoprosperg, new tasks uncover in a new prosperdow, so double-verify the participater journey if your app begins multiple tasks.

Figure 4. Start another instance of Chrome by dragging a tab out of the app prosperdow.

Note: Images are examples and subject to alter

• With desktop prosperdoprosperg, input methods beyond touch and insets handling become even more startant for a seamless participater experience. 
• More input methods (keyboard, moparticipate): Users are more foreseeed to participate your app with a variety of input methods appreciate outer keyboards, mice, and trackpads. Check that participaters can transmit finely with your app using keyboard and moparticipate peripherals or thraw the emulator. Developers can insert help for app uninalertigentinutivecuts and rehire them using the keyboard uninalertigentinutivecuts API, which apvalidates participaters to easily watch the helped app uninalertigentinutivecuts thraw a normalized surface on Android devices.
• Insets handling: All apps when running in desktop prosperdoprosperg have a header bar, even in immersive mode. Encertain your app’s satisfyed isn’t unaccomprehendledgedd by this. The new header bar is alerted as a caption bar in Compose (androidx.write.set upation:set upation-layout.WindowInsets.Companion.captionBar) and in Views (android.watch.WindowInsets.Type.CAPTION_BAR), which is part of the system bars. API 35 also startd a new materializeance type, to originate the header bar clear, to apvalidate apps to draw custom satisfyed inside.