A couple of tips. Why shouldn't you close applications? Multi-window mode: an additional competitive advantage for Android applications

Developer Eliyah Frederickson has begun open testing of the ReachApp tweak, which implements multi-window multitasking mode on the iPhone. This promising application can be used by all owners of jailbroken devices.

In accordance with the ReachApp concept, smartphones allow you to display two applications on the screen at once. At any time, the user can divide the display into two parts, each of which will contain one task. This could be, for example, an Instagram application and a YouTube client. You can read Twitter and view calendar events at the same time. There are a lot of programs whose users would like to keep several open “windows” in front of their eyes at once in order to perform tasks in parallel.

The sizes of windows can be changed at your discretion - moved up and down or removed from the screen. Wherein running applications will work, for example, when watching YouTube videos will not stop, you will hear the sound and will be able to work to the music. It is possible to switch from one window to another at any time and get an instant response.

You can evaluate the concept of multi-window mode for iOS 8 yourself by adding a developer repository to Cydia.

How to set up multi-window multitasking mode on iPhone:

Step 1: Execute jailbreak iPhone and iPad using the instructions. Install Cydia by following.

Step 2: Launch Cydia and wait until the repositories are updated.

Step 3: The package is in a separate repository http://elijahandandrew.com/repo/. To add a new source, you need to go to the Sources -> Edit -> Add -> Add section and specify the repository address.

Step 4: Wait for the update and go to the Search tab.

Step 5: Find the ReachApp package and confirm its installation. After respring, you can test multi-window multitasking. If your device does not support Reachability, then you must also install a tweak along with the installation of ReachApp.

Step 6: Set the command to launch Reachability feature using Activator to enable multi-window mode on iOS 8.

Working with a ton of apps and files can get quite tedious, but Windows 10 can help you with that. We'll give you 6 multitasking tips that will help you become more productive. using Windows 10.

1. Snap

A gesture such as grabbing and dragging is good way Use your screen more efficiently when you have multiple apps open. To grab a window, just pull top part application windows to the side. Snap Assist helps you fit other apps into the empty space on your screen. You can also move applications to any of the four corners by moving the window's title bar to those corners. How to use capture and Snap Assist in Windows 10 is described in the video below.

2. Task View

By sliding the left side of the screen, you can view all open applications and switch between them. This is called Task View mode, and you can enable it in other ways. You can also click the Task View button on the taskbar, or press the Windows+Tab key combination on your keyboard. You can also do this by swiping up on the touchpad with three fingers.

3. Virtual Desktops

If you find Task View useful, you can go even further and use virtual desktops. In Task View mode, you can create a new virtual desktop by clicking the New Desktop button in the lower right corner of the screen. You can also drag and drop applications onto these virtual desktops. This allows you to group applications across multiple desktops. For example, you can put Outlook and Microsoft Edge to Desktop 1, and Netflix and Twitter to Desktop 2. You can see Task View and virtual Desktops in action in the video below.

4. Hotkeys

You can see the entire list of required Windows 10 hotkeys, but below are those that relate specifically to multitasking:

Windows+Tab— Open Task View

Alt+Tab- Switching between open applications

Ctrl+Alt+Tab— View open applications

Windows+Arrow— Place the window on the left, right, in the corner, expand, collapse

Windows+Comma— Make it temporarily on top of all windows

Windows+Ctrl+D— Add virtual desktop

Windows+Ctrl+Left or Right Arrow— Switching between virtual desktops

Windows+Home— Minimize all windows except the active one (maximize when clicked again)

Windows+D— Show/hide Desktop

5. Touchpad Gestures

Below are the gestures that specifically relate to multitasking:

1. Go to Task View: Swipe up with three fingers.

2. Show Desktop: Place three fingers on the touchpad and swipe them towards you.

3. Switch between open windows: Place three fingers on the touchpad and swipe left or right.

Watch the instructional video below:

6. Mouse tricks

You can also use the touchpad for this trick, but first go to Settings->Devices->Mouse and touchpad and enable the option “Scroll inactive windows on hover”. This option allows you to scroll other windows on hover, even when they are inactive. For example, this is very useful and convenient when you type in Microsoft Word(active window) and at the same time scroll through the press release in Microsoft Edge (inactive window). The option may already be enabled by default, but it's best to check manually.

We hope these tips help you become more productive on Windows 10. For more tips and tricks posts, visit our.

Allowing you to easily arrange windows on your desktop. It relieved the user of the need to select the size and location of windows to fit them into a standard layout. In Windows 8, this function has become even more convenient: it was implemented here for the first time full-time job multitasking on tablets. Now you can resize several nearby applications at the same time with a simple gesture. At the same time, their windows automatically take up all available space on the screen.

When we started working on Windows 10, we stayed true to our original goal: to help you work more efficiently by making it even easier to manage your window layout. Now that Windows Store apps can run on the desktop, we've been able to combine best opportunities from Windows 7 and 8. We've also taken into account changes in PC technology over the past few years: new large format high-resolution monitors, multi-monitor configurations, touch screens, transformers. All of this has had a major impact on the way people interact with computers.

Snap Assist function

One of the features of Aero Snap in Windows 7 has gained popularity among users: if you drag windows to the left or right edges of the screen, they will automatically take up half of the screen area. By selecting any two windows, you can easily dock them side by side on the screen. This is very convenient when writing a letter or comparing products.

However, we have noticed that users usually pin one window first and then switch between the others, choosing which one to pin next. And we thought: why not immediately display a list of recent windows, so as not to waste time searching? This idea formed the basis of the new Snap Assist feature in Windows 10.

Now Snap Assist helps you snap two windows side by side much faster, because now you can select them yourself from the list. During the program preliminary assessment Windows found that 90% of the time, users use Snap Assist by selecting a second app from the list rather than manually. Snap Assist has other benefits as well. For example, like Task View, this innovation makes it easier to use with touch and is especially useful as part of Continuum.

Snap Assist makes it easy to snap two windows side by side

Corner snap function

When Windows 7 launched in 2009, 4K displays were just emerging and users were generally happy with the ability to split the screen in half (even on external monitors). Today, monitors with a diagonal of 27” and higher, with a resolution of 2560×1440 and 4K, are becoming increasingly popular. Therefore we want to new version Windows users could take full advantage of the increased screen real estate.

While working on Windows 10, we explored different interaction models to create better window layouts. In the end, we decided that the windows would be fixed in the corners, and came up with new types of touches for this function. To pin a window to a quarter of its area on the screen, simply drag it to a corner and release it. Various configurations are available. For example, you can pin four windows on the screen at once, or you can divide half the screen between two windows, and place the third on the remaining half.

By fixing windows in the corners, you can place three or four windows on the screen at once

We know that many users dock windows using the Windows key + arrow keys. Therefore, now they also work when secured in a corner. Simply press and hold the Windows key and press the LEFT ARROW key and then the UP ARROW key to dock a window in the top left quadrant, for example. That's it, easy and simple!

Snap fill function

Fixing windows by dividing the screen into two or four equal parts is undoubtedly convenient. However, sometimes an asymmetrical arrangement of windows is required. For example, the browser window may remain large, but the windows that display messages from social networks or a video is playing - small. Typically, in this case, selecting the optimal size of each window takes a lot of time and mouse clicks. In Windows 8, nearby Store apps automatically filled the available screen space, using it as efficiently as possible.

In Windows 10, we want this improvement to be available on the desktop for all apps. When you dock a window and change its size, these actions are recorded in the system. Then, when you try to dock a second window, it will automatically resize to fill all the available space. This seemingly small improvement turns out to be very useful when you dock multiple windows, especially if one of them takes up half of the screen and the others only take up a quarter of the screen.

Improved multi-monitor experience

It has become even more convenient to dock windows on multiple monitors. Let's say on one of them you have a complex configuration of four different windows, and on the other you have another set of docked windows arranged completely differently. Now it will be easier to work with multiple monitors. In previous Windows versions Windows could not be docked along the edge shared by two monitors. Instead, I had to use hotkeys. In Windows 10 this is possible: you can drag a window to a common edge or corner and dock it as usual. Finally, Snap Assist shows all windows on all displays, making it easy to snap a second window by simply selecting it from the list. This means that if you need to dock two windows on completely different screens, you no longer have to drag them across displays.

Continuum and Snap on tablets and transformers

Windows 8 became the first OS where users could fully multi-task on tablets and thereby greatly increase productivity on them. By simply swiping from the top of the screen to the center and pinning an app to one side, you could split the screen to work with another app. In Windows 8.1, this feature has been improved by adding an on-screen app divider in different aspect ratios (50/50, 70/30, 62/38, etc.). While this flexibility was an important advancement, we wanted to make things even simpler. That's why Windows 8.1 introduced an elegant way to automatically organize windows. For example, when you open an email and click on a link or attachment, the screen immediately splits in half. So, without losing sight of the message, you can view the opened content in a new window. In other words, we've found the easiest and most convenient way to organize windows: you don't even need to learn it! If you know how to click a link or open an attachment, assume you know how to position two windows side by side.

According to data about Windows work 8.1, in half of the cases the docking occurred automatically (applications launched other applications), and in the remaining cases - manually (the user himself dragged the window to the edge). This means we've opened up the benefits of pinning to many users - without any effort on their part. So in Windows 10, it was very important to maintain this variety of options so that people can multi-task on their tablets in different ways. Now you can dock windows with a simple tap, resize open apps side by side using the on-screen divider, and watch apps automatically open side by side. But we didn't plan to stop there.

First, in addition to Windows Store apps becoming regular windows on the desktop in Windows 10, desktop windows can now also be easily docked in tablet mode. Secondly, when you enter and exit tablet mode, all pinned app locations are saved to the system. So you can always continue working. Finally, in tablet mode, Snap Assist has become even more convenient: pin an application to your tablet, select a window on the other side, and you can start multitasking.

We're very pleased with the new improvements to this feature and encourage you to try them on your devices. You'll find that with the new Snap mode on Windows 10, you'll be more productive with your touch and pen, as well as your mouse and keyboard.

Anyone who has worked in multi-window mode on an Android device can attest that it is very convenient in certain situations. Simple example: reading e-book with an electronic dictionary. Especially on a smartphone or tablet with a fairly large screen.
If a user has to choose between two applications that are similar in almost every way, but differ in their support for simultaneous work with several windows, it is not surprising that he will choose the one that provides such support.

In this article you will learn about multi-window mode in Android, and how to use this feature when building your own applications.

Review

Simultaneous work with multiple windows in Android is an interesting feature that can make your application stand out from many others and give it an additional competitive advantage. Many OEM and ODM manufacturers, such as Samsung, Ramos and Huawei, subject the basic Android system revision. In particular, they are introducing support for multi-window mode. They do this in order to increase the attractiveness of their smartphones and tablets, to distinguish them from the bulk of devices that do not support such a function.

Scenarios for using multi-window mode

Preliminary information

In June 2012 it was introduced Cornerstone is the first open source platform for multitasking on Android. In August 2012, Samsung released the first device that supports multi-window mode. From 2013 to the present day, one can observe the explosive growth of solutions to support simultaneous work with multiple windows in Android.

In May 2015, Android M Developer Preview was released (today, in July, Preview 2 is already available). The official release of Android M (6.0) is expected in the fall of 2015. Among other innovations, Android M Preview 2 is notable for its support for multi-window mode.

Development of solutions to support multitasking in Android

There are two approaches to working with multiple windows: using floating and docked windows. Among the main features of working in multi-window modes are opening and closing windows (open/close), changing their size (resize) and relative position (swap). By opening or closing a window, we, accordingly, enable or disable multi-window mode. The resizing feature allows you to adjust the size of windows. Rearranging windows is an action that allows you to change their places.

Multi-window modes

In 2013, many solutions designed to work with multiple windows appeared on the market. They have been developed by OEMs, ODMs, independent software vendors, and the open source community. In the table below you can find a comparison of various technologies for organizing multi-window work in the Android environment.

Product	Cornerstone	Standout	Xposed	Tieto
Description	Framework for organizing multitasking work in Android OS	An open source library that can be used to create applications with floating windows	Multi-window application that supports docked windows	The project aims to create a work environment reminiscent of working on a desktop PC
Supports opening, closing windows, resizing, expanding to full screen	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Window style	Pinned	floating	Pinned	Fixed and floating
Code modification	At the Android platform level	At the application level	At the Android platform level	At the Android platform level
Application support	All applications are supported, however, it is not available dynamic setting SurfaceView.	Some supporting applications. For example, a calculator.	Compatibility and stability of the solution needs to be improved.	Supports all applications.
Android version	Android 4.1. – Android 4.4.	Android 4.1. – Android 4.4.	Android 4.4.	Android 4.4
Official site	Cry	Cry	Cry	Cry

Software architecture

The Android platform code can be modified to support additional features. The Android OS architecture consists of several layers.

In the case of Android 4.2 and Android 4.3, the launcher and other applications are placed in one stack at startup, called the “main stack”. As you know, multi-window mode requires more stacks to accommodate multiple windows. As a result, you need to modify the ActivityManagerService system class by adding an interface to it for creating and managing a stack. To modify the platform class WIndowManagerService, which allows you to manage graphical views of applications, you need to modify the InputManager. This is necessary so that it can redirect touch events to the appropriate windows.

With the release of Android 4.4 and Android 5.0, the approach to stack management has changed significantly. The shell and other applications can run on different stacks. Support for multiple stacks and the ability to manage them have been added to the system. The figure below shows the differences in working with the stack in different versions of Android.

Comparison of working with a stack in Android 4.3 and Android 4.4

Now let's focus on Android 5 (Lollipop). Android OS uses callback mechanisms to execute Activity interface functions. However, the control function is implemented at the platform level. So now we'll look at two important classes: ActivityManagerService and WindowManagerService.

Lollipop platform software structure

Activity Management in Lollipop

Since the ability to work in multi-window mode depends on the stack, the following shows how you can create a stack and how you can run an Activity on that stack. In Lollipop, the following functions have been added to the IactivityManager.java interface:

Once started, the SystemServer process calls activity manager services and windows management services. In order to observe this process, we can add commands to throw a runtime exception (RuntimeException) at the appropriate places.

The process of creating a stack in Lollipop

Now let's see how to launch an Activity on the stack:

Launching an Activity on a Stack

In Lollipop, the following commands were added to the ADB (Android Debug Bridge) utility:

Window management in Lollipop

WindowManagerService is the central part of the window management system. Its functionality includes dispatching input events, controlling the location of objects on the screen and the surfaces on which graphic elements are displayed.

WindowsManagerService's role Android graphic architecture

Multi-window problems

When working in multi-window mode, you can resize windows. There are examples when the size of the window displaying game animation cannot be changed. The main reason for this is that the Android SurfaceFlinger subsystem cannot dynamically change the size of the output image.

Games using SurfaceFlinger cannot dynamically resize the window

Another problem is that some applications do not display correctly in multi-window mode. In the picture below you can see that the calculator is not displayed correctly in multi-window mode. It's all about the application's layout, which is not designed for similar conditions use.

Calculator with a layout that is not designed to work in multi-window mode

Multi-window support in Android M

Android M Developer Preview 2 can be run on Nexus 5, 6, 9 and Nexus Player. If you don’t have such a device, or you don’t want to install an OS on it that is in Preview status, you can get acquainted with Android M using the emulator in Android Studio. In particular, we are now interested in standard means for working in multi-window mode.

In order to see this mode in action, just create a new virtual device using the AVD Manager tool, choosing one of those available with the Level MNC API as the system image. In our case, it was the x86_64 image. Next, you need to launch the emulator, go to the Developer settings section and enable the Multi-window mode option there. If you can't find such an option, take a look at this guide

Now comes the fun part. To begin with, you can launch several applications, everything will be as usual. But if you click on the button for calling up the list of recently opened applications, a new icon will appear in the title bars of the window thumbnails. By default, this is a frame indicating that the application is running in full screen mode. If you click on this icon, a window layout selection menu will appear.

Menu for selecting window layout in multi-window mode

Multi-window mode in Android M

It is still unknown whether working with multiple windows will be available in the official release of Android M. However, for example, the system calculator feels good in this mode. As a result, we have good reason to believe that the day is not far off when adapting applications for multi-window mode will turn from a competitive advantage into an urgent necessity.

If you want to equip your applications designed for earlier versions of Android with support for multiple windows, it's time to turn to the third-party solutions discussed above. For example, to Cornerstone.

Example: Cornerstone

Onskreen created Cornerstone, the first multi-window framework on Android. It is designed for devices with large screens and tablets. The source code can be downloaded on Github. It supports working with Android versions 4.1 and 4.2. Cornerstone has not yet been released for later versions of this OS. However, you can analyze the source code for Android 4.2 in order to find out the technical details of the system.

Cornerstone Modifications in Android Jelly Bean

Results

In many mobile devices working under Android control OS, used Intel processors®. How can developers improve the user experience of their apps? How to make applications more competitive? These questions lead us to continually improve products on Intel Architecture (IA) devices. Multi-window support is a good example of a useful feature that gives applications a competitive advantage. This is convenient; multi-window mode gives the user the opportunity to perform several tasks simultaneously. For example, watch a video and write a review to your friends about what you watch. For example, play a game and read its reviews. Today, multiple devices support multi-window mode. For example, these are the Ramos i12, Teclast x98 and Cube i7 tablets, which runs Remix OS.

Multi-window mode on IA devices

Samsung's TouchWiz interface is now often called the root of all evil, after it began to be layered on top of the Android interface: heavy, slow and too cartoonish. But if you look at it from another perspective, there are a huge number of new features, and one of them that we all really love, especially on the big screen of a device like the Galaxy Note 3, is multi-window mode.

What is multi-window mode? It's very simple - this is a way to work in multitasking mode on Android, when you can place several on the desktop at once open windows nearby, as in operating system Windows. This feature can only be found on devices Samsung Galaxy with the TouchWiz interface, and not on all of them, but only on those that work faster. The most interesting thing is that opening two windows at the same time is no longer possible on the basic Android platform.

Enabling multi-window mode is very simple. You need to swipe down from top to bottom to open the notification window on your device, and in the long horizontal list, scroll down to the last item and turn it on. If multitasking is enabled, a white arrow will appear on the left side. Select any application and drag it onto the screen. You can adjust the size of each window to suit your needs and, for example, watch a YouTube video in a small window with a large browser window open for reading. You can also save a couple of your favorite apps on the screen for quick access.