Android 16 could take a page from the OnePlus Open Canvas

The release is still months away Android 16The next major version of Android. Considering we’ve only seen two developer previews so far, there’s still a lot we don’t know about what’s to come in the big update. However, while digging through the second developer preview, I found some clues about a big improvement coming to split-screen mode. Android 16 may introduce a multi-tap system inspired by OnePlus’ Open Canvas, considered one of the best approaches to split-screen multitasking on tablets.

Open Canvas debuted on the multitasking system OnePlus OpenThe company’s first book-style foldable phone before going to the OnePlus Pad and the OnePlus Pad. OnePlus Pad 2. Open Canvas lets you run three apps side-by-side, with two apps taking up 90% of the screen and the third taking up the remaining 10%. The genius of this app is that even though the third app is usually too small to use, it can be quickly zoomed in by tapping anywhere in the app window.

Tapping this way changes the screen so that the leftmost apps now take up 10% of the screen, and the middle and rightmost apps take up the remaining 90%. You can reposition apps, switch apps by dragging and dropping them from the taskbar, or view all three apps with a four-finger pinch gesture.

Since Open Canvas is a proprietary feature, it is not available other Android tablets. However, I have discovered evidence that Google is working on an updated multi-platform system with potential similarities to Open Canvas. During drilling Android 16 DP2I found code for a “flexible” split screen mode in development. With a bit of effort, I was able to get this new mode working on my Pixel device. This new “flexible” split-screen mode isn’t ready, so I couldn’t switch three apps to split-screen mode.

When I opened two apps in split-screen mode and then tried to drag and drop a third app, I noticed that there were previews for three positions where I could drop the app. This suggests that Google is indeed working on introducing support for the three apps. Split-screen multitasking in Android 16, similar to the Open Canvas system found on OnePlus devices.

with the presentation of desktop window support in its first quarter release Android 15some may find this updated split screen mode unnecessary. However, this new split-screen mode offers a simpler user experience and is likely to be integrated with the new app pairs feature for state saving. The ability of desktop windows to manage more than three programs offers more flexibility, but many users rarely need it, especially given the limited screen space on most devices.