Android N here is how will the windowing mode in Windows style

Android N has a windowed mode in Windows style. It is not easy to turn on, there is who is able and has reported the first observations on the new interesting features.

The main functionality of Android N is native support two always-on applications on the screen in split-screen mode. But the simple multi-window is expanded with an even more extreme manner that closely resembles the one in Window and desktop operating systems. He got to try the Freeform mode Ron Amadeo of ArsTechnica, who discovered thanks to a reader how to turn on the current Developer Preview in alpha officially released by Google.

The site reported the activation procedures, which are not for all users, and could void the warranty of the device. You must have a device with unlocked bootloader and the latest release of the operating system installed, as well as a computer with fastboot and the Android SDK Tools installed. To unlock the functionality you need to install a custom recovery (such as TWRP), mount the system partition as writable and then type the following commands from the source through ADB Shell.

Activating the feature will see a new icon in the title bar of the app switcher previews Android. This icon will join the ” X ” that we usually use to close the app. Interacting with it, the system will launch the application in positioning the window on the wallpaper that we use in the home, not on the ” desktop ” of Android. Behind the window, there will be any icons or any widget, with the system that emulates the Windows approach, but it reproduces in all its versatility.

Each app in the window will have a bar to the title that incorporates icons for closing and switching to full screen, but by dragging the edges of the window, you can also resize it at its discretion. Exceeding a certain threshold is automatically activated tablet mode, while shrinking the size we will pass to the smartphone. It is a feature even in the simple split-screen mode, which allows you to tailor the content of the window based on its size.

Pressing the Home or on the app switcher, you leave the window environment ” constructed “, even if the same will again be accessible through a dedicated space within the same screen for the application change. The mode of course supports interaction via mouse, the cursor will change shape as when we pass over the edges of a window just as it does on Windows. It does not change, when we pass over a clickable item, such as a hyperlink on a web page.

When you are in freeform mode, all the new app launched will run in the window. ArsTechnica nevertheless wrote that ” there is still work to do to make the system truly functional. ” Android does not have a memory management designed for a business environment that Windows style and probably the app should receive the appropriate updates to make the most: for example, YouTube is ” frozen ” whenever you press on other elements of the operating system, the Chrome tab to close as soon as they are abandoned.

Even the graphical interface needs additional precautions: not a task bar or a similar system, writes Amadeo, there is no way to bring an application in the foreground if it is hidden by other elements, and the windows can be dimensioned only vertically or horizontally, and not simultaneously along both sides. There is then the possibility of using an app to full screen with another app in the window above the first: or using the windows mode for all, or the traditional full-screen mode of Android.

The title bars are also too big for what they contain, or two simple keys to maximize the window, and seem to now a ” big waste of space “. What is certain is that those of Amadeo are not final judgments, but simple tips from which Google can start to get ideas to improve functionality. It would be wrong to define the Freeform mode as an alternative to the multi-window of Samsung or other manufacturers of Android, finally writes the source.

With the new Google feature can directly challenge Microsoft and its Windows on the front of the 2-in-1 for professional use, but there is still a long way to go to achieve this goal.