Android offers several features that enable seamless multitasking on smartphones, including split-screen functionality, picture-in-picture mode, floating window, and quick switching gestures.
With 6.7 inches the most common screen size in smartphones these days, and mobile processors having grown into absolute powerhouses, multitasking is now easier than ever. You can now perform tasks like taking notes while watching a video, chatting with someone while ordering something, or video calling while scrolling memes right on your phone. There are several features on Android that enable you to accomplish these things seamlessly, and today we’ll be taking a look at those.
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Split-screen functionality
Knowing how to use split-screen functionality on your phone can give you a huge productivity boost. In Android 7.0 and later, users can have multiple apps simultaneously displayed on their device screen with a few easy steps. Not every app on the platform supports it but Android makes it easy to know which ones do.
Since Android comes in various flavours, the steps to enable a split-screen can vary slightly. But they’re still more or less the same and we’ve given them below.
1. Open both apps that you would like to use in split-screen
2. Open recents
3. On stock Android and Samsung, long-press the icon for the first app you’d like to use in split-screen and tap on “Split-screen”
4. On Xiaomi, long press the body of the first app you’d like to use in split-screen, then tap the split-screen icon
5. On Oppo, OnePlus, and Realme devices, tap on the three-dot menu and tap on “Split screen”
Select the second app you’d like to use in split-screen
Picture-in-picture mode
If you’re wondering how you can continue watching your YouTube video while using your phone, then Android has got just the feature for you. Picture-in-picture is arguably superior to split-screen for videos because the video overlay can be displayed on top of any app. The picture-in-picture window can also be dragged across the screen, as opposed to the split screen which is a lot more rigid.
Below we’ll be using YouTube as an example of how to set up PiP, but a few other apps (like Swiggy) let you use it as well.
1. To enable PiP on YouTube, open the app, then navigate to Settings > General > Picture-in-picture
2. Toggle the feature on
3. When done with the session, close the PiP window by pulling it to the bottom of your screen
Floating window
Several Android skins like ColorOS, OxygenOS, One UI, Realme UI, and MIUI offer floating window features, letting you use any app in a manner similar to Picture-in-Picture. The app turns into a little floating window that can be dragged across the screen, helping you keep it in the foreground even while performing other tasks.
1. Open recents
2. Tap on the icon for the app, hold down on the body of the app or tap on the corresponding three-dot menu for the app you’d like to use in floating window mode
3. Tap on Floating window or Open in pop-up view
Quick switch apps
If you are juggling between two apps and firing up the recents menu every time is too cumbersome, then there’s a faster, alternative way for the same.
1. If you are using gestures, swipe left/right on the navigation pill at the bottom of the screen to switch between apps. 2. Swiping left will quickly get you to the previous app
3. If you are using 3-button navigation, tap on the recents button twice quickly to go last used app
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