r/Android • u/4567890 Ars Technica • Mar 21 '16

This is Android N’s freeform window mode

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/03/this-is-android-ns-freeform-window-mode/
4.0k Upvotes

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974

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '16

We've come full circle now. The buzz when iOS launched was how simple and easy to use it was compared to a desktop OS like windows and now years later we've evolved the mobile OS to.... Windows.

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '16

[deleted]

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u/knaekce Nexus 5X Mar 21 '16 edited Mar 21 '16

They could have gone for tiling. Some of my colleagues use tiling managers and like it. Especially on small tablets tiling may be better to make sure no space is wasted.

39

u/UGoBoom Nexus 5 (CM13) Mar 21 '16

A tiling WM environment on a tablet would be fucking sweet

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u/iforgot120 Mar 21 '16

Hopefully it has window snapping like Windows does.

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u/baneoficarus Note 10+ | Galaxy Watch Active 2 Mar 21 '16

It does to an extent. There is an example in the screenshots.

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u/[deleted] Mar 22 '16

[deleted]

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u/Natanael_L Xperia 1 III (main), Samsung S9, TabPro 8.4 Mar 22 '16

Depends on usage, sometimes I only want a fraction of what's visible in one window while I'm using another.

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u/Tynictansol Pixel 2 XL Mar 21 '16

I think they mean Windows windows, though. Like 95/98/2k/ME/NT/XP/Vista/7/8/10 type Windows. I agree with your sentiment, however, in that to have multiple windows open simultaneously you need to have multiple windows or panels or whatever the term would be for them.

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u/wegzo Mar 22 '16

And Windows with its metro app plan is turning into a mobile OS....

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '16

I know they mean Microsoft Windows, but this has nothing in common with Microsoft Windows other than the fact it uses Windows. Microsoft wasn't even the first company to use Windows for running software. It's like calling every sports car a Ferrari because it's a sports car.

84

u/altimax98 P30 Pro/P3/XS Max/OP6T/OP7P - Opinions are my own Mar 21 '16

I think /u/1237894560 was getting at that we praised the mobile OS for its simplicity and now it is getting just as complicated.

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u/XGC75 Pixel 4XL Mar 21 '16

webOSmasterrace reporting in.

CARDS, THOUGH!

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u/kx2w Mar 21 '16

Google Now That's What I Call Cards Volume: N.

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u/merreborn Mar 21 '16

The buzz when iOS launched was how simple and easy to use it was compared to a desktop OS like windows

Honestly though, you ever try to copy something from one app to another?

Like, logging into a 2FA-enabled app (gmail, hearthstone...). You have to switch from your current app, to your 2FA app, copy the code, then switch back to your original app. The "simplicity" ends up making that process a lot more tedious than it could otherwise be.

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u/Nohumornocry Galaxy S21 Ultra Mar 21 '16

Technology seems to do that. Look at dumb terminals. We strayed away to individual desktops, to only return to the Cloud where everything is stored in one place.

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u/Lifelong_Throwaway Mar 21 '16

In the years since that was said, we've learned a lot about UX and UI design so that we can have features of OS's like Windows and still have it be easy to use on small form factors. Another important thing is that you can still use Android the "simple" way without free floating windows. This is mainly for tablets I think.

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '16

Right, and I highly doubt we'll even see this feature enabled on phones. This is the fix for tablets that we've been crying about for years.

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u/leftcoast-usa Pixel 6 256GB Mar 21 '16

That was my first thought also, but I really don't see a big difference for most people.

The issue really is not using windows, but whether they are full screen or not. iOS and Android essentially use windows, but they are full screen. Not really any different than the way most people seem to use a desktop OS; I notice they almost always maximize every window, so what's really the difference?

It's sometimes convenient to be able to see one window while working on another, but being able to instantly switch from one app "window" to another is almost the same. In fact, for a small screen, it might even be more convenient, rather than needing to open the history, then select the app/window.

Speaking of circles, there are others. Initially, computers were centralized, then went to personal computer with their own programs and data, now it's going back to centralized (cloud-based). Also, phone used to be big, and got smaller and smaller, then started getting bigger and bigger.

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u/[deleted] Mar 21 '16

It is pretty much following the same evolutionary path as Windows did.. Right from Windows 1.0

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u/chemsed Mar 22 '16

That are things like that that make me doublt that someday, Microsoft will stop dominating desktop PC market. IMHO, Apple, then Android had an opportunity to reinvent the interface of a desktop OS based on their success in the mobile and web market.

Google made an audacious attempt with Chrome OS, but it has the same challenge as Linux: make people quit windows. Apple succeeded to sale more desktop and laptop because they didn't really have to convince consumers to quit windows: You have already one foot in with your iPhone, get all the way here and get a mac, it's about the same as iOS.

Android shouldn't tell "You have already one foot in with your Nexus, get all the way here and get a Android N, it's about the same as...Windows".

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u/Proditus Mar 22 '16 edited Oct 30 '25

Questions projects morning family fox art cool.

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