Google is testing a new feature for Android tablets that lets you resize apps and arrange them however you want on the screen, making it easier to multitask. The Desktop Window feature is now available as a developer preview, and you can even open multiple instances of applications that support it.
Currently, apps on Android tablets open in full screen by default. When you enable the new mode, each app appears in a window with controls that let you reposition, maximize, or close the app. You’ll also see a taskbar at the bottom of the screen that contains running applications.
Once the feature is available to everyone, you can open it by pressing and holding the window handle at the top of the app screen. If you have a keyboard connected, you can also use the shortcut Metakey (Windows, Command, or Search) + Ctrl + Down Arrow to launch Desktop Mode. (You can exit this mode by closing all active applications or dragging the window to the top of the screen.)
Google notes that apps locked to portrait orientation can still be resized, which can make things look a little weird if certain apps aren’t optimized. However, Google plans to address this issue in a future update by scaling the UI of non-resizable apps while maintaining their aspect ratio.
Currently, users can access the developer preview version of the latest Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2 for Pixel tablets. We still don’t know when the feature will roll out to everyone, or if it will appear on the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
