- Android 14 includes changes that allow third-party app developers to build new foldable experiences, presuming the phone maker incorporates these changes.
- These new foldable experiences include dual-screen mode, where both displays can be used simultaneously by one app, and rear-screen mode, where the rear screen is used even when the foldable is open.
- Apps like Google Camera/Pixel Camera and Google Translate use these changes to enable dual-screen mode already.
Foldables are catching the fancy of average consumers, and the category is inching its way toward maturity with every new foldable launched. Foldables are already some of the best Android phones you can buy. The existence of two displays opens up several possibilities for using your phone with your favorite apps. With Android 14, foldables will get better as third-party apps will now be able to make use of both displays simultaneously.
As highlighted by Android Police, Google has updated the window area module in the Jetpack WindowManager support library in Android 14. As long as the phone manufacturer does their homework correctly, third-party app developers can take the help of Jetpack WindowManager and its extension modules to build better foldable apps. These apps will be able to read the hinge position of the foldable (to respond to changes in the folding character) and also be able to show two app activities simultaneously in a multi-pane layout.