Recently, Google has rolled out Android 13 QPR2 Beta 1 for Pixel devices, now Google is testing a new “transient taskbar” that takes less space and makes its interface better. The brand will soon announce the Pixel Tablet and Pixel Fold. Eventually, the company is hardly working on its software regularly for these two form factors. In the first Android 13 QPR2 Beta 1, you can see some changes to the tablet-focused taskbar that can make it even better for smaller screens like foldable or phones.
MUST SEE: Android 13 QPR2 Beta 1 now available for Google Pixel smartphones
Esper’s Senior Technical Editor, Mishaal Rahman, noticed a hidden redesigned taskbar in Android 13 QPR2. It is said to be a “transient taskbar” according to threads in Google’s code. Instead of staying visible on the screen at all times unless you long press and hold to hide it, the taskbar automatically disappears after a short time and can only be shown by a swipe up. The new taskbar fits in a floating panel instead of a fixed place at the bottom of the screen.
However, the feature does not seems to be stable yet and is likely to be under development or testing, the swipe up and down gestures attached to it make it more grind to access the home gesture. The taskbar is only accessible when using a high display density setting that is higher than 600 which makes it inconvenient for long-term use on devices.
Additionally, the taskbar might be not limited to large-screen devices only forever. In the first Android 13 Feature Drop that was released earlier in December, a new developer banner was spotted that allows users to enable the taskbar in place of the gesture navigation bar at the bottom of the device interface. It reveals that the company is working on taskbar support on phones or devices with a display density lower than 600 with a better design, and space-saving structure of the taskbar.
Another experiment shared by the Esper Sr. Technical Editor shows you to access the taskbar while in the recent overview. With this option enabled, the taskbar automatically appears whenever you head to the multitasking overview, it also allows you to quickly drag and drop apps to open them in split-screen mode.
Reminding back when Android 12L was introduced, Android and web developer Danny Lin determined to customize a build to enable the taskbar on phones. The upcoming Android version that is Android 13 releases could be seen as similar to it.
Eventually, the company could use these features for internal testing, and the company can decide to discard them. The taskbar should at be very least available for the rumoured Pixel Fold, which could still give an advantage with these features.
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