- Google is working on letting you put three apps into split-screen mode.
- This feature will likely only be available on tablets due to their larger screen size.
- The inspiration for this feature may have come from OnePlus and its Open Canvas feature.
We’re still months away from the release of Android 16, the next major version of Android. Given that we’ve only seen two developer previews so far, there’s still a lot we don’t know about what’s coming in the big update. However, while digging through the second developer preview, I found some clues about a major upgrade potentially coming to split-screen mode. Android 16 may be implementing a multitasking system inspired by Open Canvas from OnePlus, which is widely considered one of the best approaches to split-screen multitasking on tablets.
The Open Canvas multitasking system debuted on the OnePlus Open, the company’s first book-style foldable phone, before making its way to the OnePlus Pad and the OnePlus Pad 2. Open Canvas lets you run up to three apps side-by-side, with two apps sharing 90% of the screen and the third occupying the remaining 10%. The genius of this implementation is that, while the third app is usually far too small to be usable, it can be quickly enlarged by tapping anywhere on the app window.