Say what you want about Apple, but Apple fans love the design and layout of its software. Perhaps that’s why Apple’s influence seems to be creeping into other areas, even into Android tablets. Google first added a taskbar to Android devices in 2022. android 12l.
The idea was good, but the implementation left me a little disappointed. So when foldable and book tablets came out, Google made the taskbar invisible by default and accessed by swiping up. A discovery in the code of Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 suggests that another change may be on the way.
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Android Authority’s Mishall Rahman discovered a feature that changes the taskbar’s recommended apps to recently used apps. Currently, Android allows up to eight apps to appear on the taskbar at once. Six of them are pinned apps and two are recommended apps.
Internal algorithms determine which apps are shown, so gaining the ability to toggle between recommended and most used apps provides a huge time-saving benefit to users. The only other way to access recent apps is to manually search for them.
When will this feature be released?
Source: Samsung
As Rahman points out, Google hasn’t hinted at the existence of this feature. This could be an internal feature used for testing, but I can’t imagine anyone would be upset if Google decided to make it public.
Other manufacturers have already taken this step with their operating systems. Both OnePlus and Samsung have put the spotlight on recent apps on devices like the OnePlus Open and Galaxy Z Fold, but it would be interesting if Google made the taskbar part of Android’s base feature set. It will also be much more convenient for other Android tablets that don’t. We made this change ourselves.
Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 introduces many other useful features, including bug fixes, quick keyboard toggles, lock screen widgets, and more. The feature, which is currently in beta, will likely be part of Android 15’s first major update this December, so keep an eye out for it. With any luck, Google will add this upgrade taskbar.
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