Joe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1 revamps the recents display, making the app context menu for actions like split-screen extra discoverable with a brand new pill-shaped button.
- This button now shows the app’s identify and a downward arrow, a standard indicator for added menus, serving to customers discover beforehand hidden choices.
- Different visible modifications embody pill-shaped containers for “Screenshot” and “Choose” buttons and a blurred wallpaper background aligning with Materials 3 Expressive.
If you happen to’re new to Android, determining how you can put two apps in split-screen mode won’t be intuitive. It’s because the button for split-screen is commonly hidden in a context menu many customers might not understand exists. To entry this menu, it is advisable to press and maintain an app’s icon within the recents display—a gesture that lacks a transparent visible cue. This discoverability problem may be why Google has adjusted the recents display within the newest Android 16 beta.
In at this time’s Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1 launch, Google has made a refined however vital change to the recents display, making the context menu for every app extra discoverable. Beforehand, solely the app’s icon appeared above its job. Now, the recents display shows the app’s icon, its identify, and a downward-pointing arrow inside a small pill-shaped button overlaid on the duty.
Displaying the app’s identify is a welcome clarification, clearly figuring out which app corresponds to every job preview. Probably the most impactful change, nevertheless, is the addition of the downward arrow. This icon is extensively understood to point an extra menu, so its presence ought to assist extra customers understand they’ll entry additional actions straight from the recents display.
In Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1, the recents display’s context menu affords seven major actions: “App information,” “Cut up display,” “Pin,” “Pause app,” “Screenshot,” “Choose,” and “Shut.” An eighth motion, “Save app pair,” seems solely when the context menu is accessed for a split-screen job. Whereas devoted “Screenshot” and “Choose” buttons (for textual content or photographs) additionally stay beneath the duty, these have been a regular characteristic on Pixel units for a number of years.
Past the brand new capsule indicator, Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1 introduces different refined visible refinements to the recents display. The devoted “Screenshot” and “Choose” buttons are actually additionally enclosed in pill-shaped containers, making a extra constant look. Moreover, the beforehand stable grey background has been changed. Now, a blurred model of the person’s wallpaper or underlying content material subtly reveals by, a visible impact aligning with Google’s new Materials 3 Expressive theme. For a have a look at all the opposite design updates we’ve present in Android 16 QPR1 Beta 1, try this text.
