Google plans to significantly adjust the desktop mode in the upcoming Android 15 system update. Google began to introduce split-screen mode in Android 7.0 and introduced desktop mode in Android 10 released in 2019, but overall it is relatively rudimentary.
In the Android 13 quarterly update released by Google in late 2022, it quietly transformed Android’s desktop mode, focusing on improving window management and optimizing the display and control of multiple Android applications on the screen.
Google plans to further improve the desktop mode in the upcoming Android 15 update, adding a “handle” icon at the top of each full-screen application. After users click it, three menus will pop up, namely full screen, split screen and free mode proportion.
Once the user chooses to switch to Free Mode, the application gets a title bar showing the application name and icon, a drop-down menu to open a menu to change the window mode, a maximize button, and a close button that the user can move automatically and resize the application window.
Resizing a window temporarily hides the application’s contents so they are easier to see while the window is resized. The window can be dragged to the left or right edge, docking it to that half.
