Summary
- Android 16 Beta 3 includes a crucial upgrade to desktop windowing on tablets — a minimize button.
- The button allows tablet users to hide apps without fully closing them, which wasn’t possible with the early implementation of desktop windowing.
- Google debuted desktop windowing for tablets with the Android 15 QPR1 release in December, though it’s been in the works since September.
The third Android 16 beta arrived a few days ago, and we continue to come across new bits of information about the software. Among the initial discoveries following the release of Beta 3 was a new desktop mode — tentatively named Desktop View — designed to bring a PC-like experience to Android tablets. Thanks to Android expert Mishaal Rahman, we’re now learning that Android 16 Beta 3 also includes a crucial upgrade to the desktop windowing feature, which was added with Android 15 QPR1 in December.
Writing for Android Authority, Rahman points to a simple, but crucial inclusion to desktop windowing with the latest beta — a minimize button. While the initial version of desktop windowing let Pixel Tablet users close a window or resize it, the UI didn’t provide a minimize button. Closing the window was the only option to hide a particular window from your view.
This makes things tricky, especially if you don’t want to risk losing any progress or changes you’re making in one of the app windows. The minimize button effectively solves this problem by letting tablet users hide the app while it continues to run in the background. It sits next to the buttons to maximize/fullscreen (square) and close (X) the window, offering a pretty conventional desktop experience on the tablet.
Desktop windowing without the minimize button
It’s worth noting that Rahman discovered work on this minimize button in November last year, but it finally appears to be live in this latest Android 16 beta release, paving the way for its appearance on the stable version sometime in June.
Slowly bridging the gap between desktops and tablets
In the video above, you can see how the taskbar indicator under each app changes based on whether the app is minimized or in view. Rahman notes that when all apps are minimized, Android will automatically disable desktop windowing. However, the system will keep them running, so the user can resume desktop windowing with all the windows/apps intact.
This form of multitasking may not be suitable for all, given the prevalence of smaller Android tablets. Nevertheless, it’s always nice to have the option as an Android tablet user, and people who multitask extensively using desktop windowing will no doubt welcome this addition. We hope manufacturers adopt OnePlus’ unique approach to multitasking with “Open Canvas,” which unlocks a decent multitasking experience on large-screen devices like the company’s foldable and the OnePlus Pad 2.
