TL;DR
- Within the newest Android 15 preview, it’s now potential to change again to a persistent taskbar.
- The taskbar characteristic debuted with Android 12L as a persistent instrument that took up the display screen’s total width.
- With the launch of the Pixel Pill and Pixel Fold, Google revamped the taskbar to take up much less of the display screen and be transient, however Android 15 DP2 now provides you a alternative between types.
Again in early 2022, Google introduced Android 12L, the primary model of Android devoted to large-screen gadgets (like tablets) since 2012’s Android 3.0 Honeycomb. One of many key options of Android 12L was the taskbar, a dock that resides on the backside of the display screen and supplies fast entry to your apps. With the taskbar, customers can rapidly launch a brand new app from any display screen and even enter a split-screen view. The taskbar is a staple characteristic of desktop working methods, so its inclusion in Android 12L was a no brainer given Google’s renewed deal with productiveness.
The unique model of Android’s taskbar, nevertheless, stretched your complete width of the display screen and was persistent, which means it was all the time there. Whereas customers may briefly stash the unique taskbar by long-pressing on an empty space, its design general was limiting. The truth that it was all the time seen wasn’t that helpful for anybody however hardcore multitaskers. Plus, it took up plenty of display screen actual property, hindering productiveness on smaller gadgets, like book-style foldable telephones.
That’s why when Google launched Android 13 QPR2 final yr, it revamped how the taskbar seems to be and behaves. As an alternative of a persistent bar that stretches the width of the display screen, the brand new taskbar was enclosed by a small, pill-shaped field on the backside that may solely seem for a couple of seconds after the consumer swiped up on the gesture bar. This new taskbar expertise debuted on final yr’s Pixel Pill and Pixel Fold and trickled all the way down to gadgets from different OEMs with the Android 14 launch.
Though the brand new “transient” taskbar is extra appropriate for the typical consumer, it’s much less helpful for individuals who wish to multitask. Each time you need to open a brand new app, you could swipe up on the taskbar to disclose it earlier than you possibly can entry your app record. Google may remedy this downside by including a approach to pin the taskbar to the underside in order that it doesn’t disappear after a couple of seconds, and that’s precisely what it’s added within the newest developer preview for Android 15.
Welcome again the persistent taskbar to Android 15
Beginning in Android 15 DP2, Google provides customers the choice of whether or not they need to use the outdated, persistent taskbar or the brand new, transient taskbar. Once you swipe up on the taskbar and lengthy press on an empty spot, a pop-up will seem with a toggle to “all the time present taskbar.” Choosing this feature will revert the taskbar again to the outdated persistent model, whereas deselecting it would re-enable the newer, transient model. This toggle brings the most effective of each taskbars to customers: Merely allow it if you must do any work that entails switching between apps or multitasking and disable it once you don’t.
Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
We’re hoping that with the addition of this feature, different producers of tablets and book-style foldables observe swimsuit. At present, some OEMs like OnePlus solely provide the outdated, persistent taskbar model. Nevertheless, if it had been to undertake this characteristic, then it may provide the outdated and new types to customers. Which taskbar model do you favor?
