An Android multitasking revelation

Every now and then, you run into some genuinely surprising new Android option that actually makes you sit up and say: Whoaaaa. (Kindly apply an early-90s Keanu affectation onto that when reading it in your mind, if you would.)

This week, my fellow Android-appreciating animal, I had exactly that sort of moment. And, as often seems to be the case these days, it came not from any official Android feature or Google-given goodness but rather from a random third-party app that quietly got updated with a commendable new option.

It’s a simple-as-can-be way to both zip around your phone faster than ever and turn whatever device you’re using into a desktop-reminiscent productivity powerhouse.

Best of all? It takes a mere matter of minutes to get going — no matter who made your phone or, within the realm of reason, how old it might be.

Lemme explain.

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Android multitasking, reimagined

First, a slightly awkward but unavoidable asterisk: Depending on who you are, the first part of this story may feel familiar.

The tool at the center of my revelation, y’see, is actually a key part of my personal Android productivity setup — and has been for some time. It might even be my most important and heavily used app as far as getting around my phone and getting stuff done goes.

But while it’s incredibly helpful and well worth embracing, it isn’t something I’d typically recommend in a more mainstream, broad-audience setting — just because it really is a power-user tool, and the initial setup in particular can be slightly daunting for a less ambitious, tech-savvy, and/or generally insane Android phone owner.

So while I’ve actually written about it quite a bit, that discussion has taken place mostly behind closed doors — as part of my Intelligence Insider community, where we go beyond the basics and explore all sorts of next-level tools and tactics for taking our tech to dizzying new heights.

But this latest twist to the tool is so freakin’ clever and useful, I just couldn’t resist sharing it with everyone in this arena.

So without further ado, the tool of which we talk is an off-the-beaten-path beauty called Panels. Panels gives you the power to do all sorts of interesting stuff, but the primary purpose I rely on it for these days is creating a universally available version of my Android phone’s app drawer — one I can pull up anywhere and anytime, without having to stop what I’m doing, go back to my home screen, and poke around to find what I need next.

Instead, just a single swipe on the upper-left area of my phone’s screen — and boom: Every app I have installed is there and available in a simple sliding menu.

Panels makes the standard Android app drawer available from anywhere — and that’s just the start.JR Raphael, Foundry

That in and of itself has completely changed the way I use Android. Whether I’m on my home screen or in any sort of app, I almost never open up the traditional Android app drawer anymore. Instead, I just do that fast flick on the side of my screen, swipe right down to whatever app I need next, and hop directly over to it without any wasted moments or momentum.

But that, significant as it may be, isn’t the new part of this saga. What’s new is an addition that popped into Panels recently and really takes its usefulness up to the metaphorical stratosphere.

Now, whenever I pull up my Panels app list, I can press and hold any app in the list — any app I have installed, in other words — and select an option to open it in a “freeform window.”

Then, a second later, the app opens up not in a full-screen form, taking up the entire display as it typically would — but rather in an actual floating window that I can resize and position anywhere, on top of or alongside other apps.

Desktop-style floating windows on Android — how ’bout that?!JR Raphael, Foundry

It’s like a more flexible, versatile, and powerful version of Android’s standard split-screen mode — a desktop-caliber way to multitask and interact with two (or more) apps without having to stick to the at-times awkward and limiting side-by-side, full-screen-style grid.

So maybe, for instance, you want to quickly check some calculations whilst working on a document. Easy: One swipe up on the upper-left side of your screen, fire up your favorite Android Calculator app in a freeform window, and size it down to a spot that’s easy to access but also out of the way.

Google Docs and Calculator, together forever (or at least for a while).JR Raphael, Foundry

Or maybe you want to look at your notes as you’re drafting an email. Again, this setup makes it simple to do while still keeping your email as your primary, full-screen focus.

Gmail and Keep in a freeform window arrangement.JR Raphael, Foundry

The options are practically endless. It’s an incredibly powerful possibility to have at your disposal for when the right sort of scenario arises, and Panels now makes it splendidly simple — with any app, anytime, and without having to interrupt what you’re doing or go back to your home screen to find what you need.

Notably, (a) this setup is somewhat similar to the desktop windowing system being developed for Android tablets right now (but so far, we’ve seen no signs suggesting Google’s looking to bring that system to phones) — and (b) a similar sort of option also exists on recent Samsung Galaxy gizmos, though there, you’ve gotta go into your Overview area to select only from recently opened apps to start a new freeform window, so the framework is much more limited.

Panels brings the full function to any phone and makes it about as effortless to use as you could imagine. The only tricky part, as I mentioned early on, is the initial one-time setup.

I’ll walk you through it, but once more: This isn’t for the faint of heart or what I’d consider a casual, less tech-savvy, and less adventurous Android user. It’s a power-user setup, through and through.

But Goog almighty, is it a spectacular sort of setup to have — if you’re the right kind of shortcut-seeking, efficiency-adoring geek who’d appreciate it.

5 minutes to freeform freedom

All right — first things first, you’ll need to go download Panels from the Play Store. (A few different apps exist with similar names, so be sure to use that link to grab the right one!) It’s free to download, with a one-time $4 upgrade that removes ads in the setup interface and unlocks a variety of advanced options you may or may not be interested in exploring down the road.

For now, open ‘er up and follow the prompts to enable a couple o’ pertinent permissions — the ability for Panels to send you notifications and to display over other apps, both of which are needed for its basic operation (and are extremely limited, low-level permissions with no real risks or downsides).

Then, once you’re on the main Panels setup screen:

Tap “View.”

Tap the circular pencil icon in the lower-right corner of the screen and select “Delete/Reposition/Rename.”

Then, in the panel that pops up, tap the trash can icon next to “Apps and shortcuts” and “Widgets” — thus leaving only “App list” in place.

Panels’ initial setup is overwhelming — but you’ll only have to do it once.JR Raphael, Foundry

Now, think about whether you’d rather swipe to access your on-demand app list from the left or the right side of your screen. (If you tend to hold your phone in your left hand, as I do, then left likely makes the most sense — as that’s where your thumb rests and can easily reach over and swipe. If you keep your phone in your right hand while using it, you’ll probably want to go with the right side instead.)

Whichever way you choose, press and hold the little up-down arrows at the end of the “App list” line to move it into the correct section, as needed. And tap “Apply” once you’re done.

Got it? Good. We’re roughly halfway there!

Next, tap “Panels” at the bottom of the screen and scroll through the options at the top to fine-tune how your pop-up app drawer panel looks and works. You probably don’t need to do much (and you might just come back and revisit this later, after you’ve been using the app for a while). Personally, the main change I like to make is increasing the number of rows so that the entire app drawer is in a single A-Z list that you can easily scroll through with one up and down motion.

Increasing the number of rows in your Panels app drawer can let your entire app list fit in a single line.JR Raphael, Foundry

Finally, tap “Trigger” at the bottom of the screen, then think about exactly where on your display — in an up-and-down sense — you want to swipe to summon your on-demand app drawer. This is purely a matter of personal preference; I like placing it toward the top of the display both so that it’s convenient for where my thumb sits while I’m holding the phone and so it doesn’t interfere with the area of the screen I use for the Android back gesture.

However you want to approach it, you’ll use the “Vertical position” setting (with “Panel’s center” unchecked) and the “Height” setting to get there — and then tap the little down-facing arrow nub in the settings window to hide that pop-up and confirm your trigger area is exactly where it’ll work for you.

The “Veritical position” setting is well worth visiting.JR Raphael, Foundry

We’re almost done — I promise. (And see? I told you this wasn’t for everyone! Look at you, all brave and daring.) All that’s left is to enable the option that’ll allow the freeform window piece of the puzzle to show up and work, as that’s something that’s still technically under development and disabled by default on many Android devices — with the main exception being Samsung phones that already embrace the same underlying system.

So now, for the real power-user move:

On the main Panels setup menu (the first screen you see when you initially open the app), tap “More settings,” then tap the toggle next to “Enable freeform windows” if you see it.

If you don’t see that option, congrats! You may already already be in good shape and able to skip these next steps. Try jumping down to the green checkmark below and seeing if things work for you.

For everyone else: Follow the prompt on the pop-up that appears to enable your device’s developer settings. It’ll likely tell you to “tap on the build number seven times” and then point you to a specific part of your system settings to do it. It may sound crazy, but that’s exactly what you’ll want to do — finding the line in that area of your settings that says “Build number” and then tapping it seven times in a row and confirming that you want to activate Android’s developer options.

Head back to Panels and tap that same toggle again. It’ll give you another set of instructions to get the feature enabled — at this point, probably venturing into the newly enabled Developer Options area of your system settings and enabling the “Freeform windows” option, then restarting your device.

The simplest path is to use the search icon at the top of the Developer Options area, once Panels takes you to that section. Search for freeform, tap the option labeled “Enable freeform windows” within the results, then tap the toggle alongside that same option to enable it and follow the prompt to restart.

This is important: Do not mess with anything else in that Developer Options area. Android’s developer settings have all sorts of options intended for — well, y’know, developers. They can seriously screw stuff up on your phone if you don’t know what you’re doing. Stick to this one option and this option only!

Android’s developer settings are the key to bringing freeform window support onto any reasonably recent device.JR Raphael, Foundry

Once your phone restarts, take a deep breath: You did it. And you should now be able to access both your on-demand app drawer (from anywhere!) and its fancy new floating window function, too.

✅ Simply swipe along the side of your screen, in whatever spot you placed your trigger. You should actually see a light line guiding you to that area, in fact (though you can always turn that off later, if you want).

Then, once you’re looking at the app list, find any app, press and hold it for a split second, and tap “Freeform window” in the menu that appears. That’s it.

Thar she blows: Panels’ “Freeform window” option, in action and ready to serve you.JR Raphael, Foundry

Once a freeform window is in front of you, you can hold your finger to its top edge to move it anywhere on your screen and swipe around on any of its corners to resize it — as shown in the animation earlier in this article. The power is in your paws.

You might want to go back through Panels’ settings again after a while to tweak some specifics about your on-demand app drawer’s appearance and interface, but by and large, you’re all set and ready to roll — and you’ll never have to revisit the under-the-hood mechanics of this again.

Welcome to the future, my friend. Now, let’s say it together, shall we?

Whoaaaa. 

Get even more advanced shortcut knowledge with my free Android Shortcut Supercourse. You’ll learn tons of time-saving tricks!An Android multitasking revelation – ComputerworldRead More