Android 15 could bring a tablet-like taskbar to smartphones

Google is seemingly planning a mini ‘tablet-like’ taskbar tool for regular smartphones with Android 15. The company aims to expand the reach of an application dock from large-screen devices to standard handsets for an efficient user experience.

Taskbar made its debut on tablets with Android 12L. The US tech giant wanted to give a desktop-like feel to large screen devices and foldable. It seems Google will bring this useful function to smartphones as well with the stable Android 15 upgrade.

Android analyst – Mishaal Rahman spotted the new taskbar capability for regular smartphones in the Android 15 beta 4. The build contains codes for a mini taskbar.

Being a compact taskbar, it may only support four apps at a time with a quick shortcut to the application drawer. One can enable the taskbar on their phone with a simple swipe-up gesture from the bottom of the screen. Note that it’s still a hidden feature.

Android 15 could bring a tablet-like taskbar to phones (Image Credits: GoogleBlog)

The shared video shows the taskbar at the bottom screen over open apps. Users can easily switch between applications on the bar without visiting the home screen. You can also choose to auto-hide the feature or keep it visible all the time.

Another good point is that the taskbar effectively supports split-screen and floating window functions. However, smartphone makers may alter this capability depending on their OS compatibility and smartphone technology.

Google has not confirmed this feature yet. Although a tiny taskbar for smartphones would be a great creation to swipe between frequently used apps without opening the app drawer or looking at the home screen again and again.

[Source – AndroidAuthority]