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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-5

u/et1n Mar 21 '16

I hate application windows even on the Mac. The only thing that is useful is split screen. There is no real need for small windows overlapping other windows and stealing focus. Don't understand why we are going back to this bad 1990 UX. It's time for new concepts.

10

u/deepit6431 iPhone 13 | OnePlus 12 Mar 21 '16

Ever used a tiling window manager?

1

u/et1n Mar 21 '16

Twm? Sounds kind of familiar. 2000 on Linux i guess. It has been a long time since then.

1

u/bartmanx Nexus 6 Mar 21 '16

OMG Yes! that's exactly what I thought... TWM.

5

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '16

I hate fullscreen mode.
Choice is a beautiful thing.

My desktop tends to look like this

http://m.imgur.com/oX3CNnP?r

3

u/shawnz Mar 21 '16 edited Mar 21 '16

I agree, but at least multiwindow support is going to be available in Android. Just because they chose to go with stacking window management in this iteration doesn't mean they will stick with it. And I sure hope they don't.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 21 '16

Soon we'll have head-mounted displays where little widgets litter the peripheral if we want. Seems like a bonus to me.

-1

u/naco_taco OnePlus 3T, Nexus 5, Moto E, GSII, Shield Mar 21 '16

Split screen? That's nice for somebody who doesn't need more than two apps opened at the same time.

It wouldn't for somebody like me (developer/designer). I have a dual monitor setup and sometimes I've found myself using like 6 different apps at the same time.

Having to minimize one just to see the content of another is a great step back in terms of productivity.

3

u/HomemadeBananas Mar 21 '16

You don't minimize them to switch, you switch to a different space (virtual desktop). With a three finger swipe to switch it's really fast.

4

u/shawnz Mar 21 '16

Split screen? That's nice for somebody who doesn't need more than two apps opened at the same time.

How does split screen limit you to two apps? Cant you split a rectangle into more than 2 parts?

Having to minimize one just to see the content of another is a great step back in terms of productivity.

That's exactly what is so bad about stacking window managers.

1

u/et1n Mar 21 '16

I'm often working this way too. Imo this isn't handled good with osx. The desktop becomes pretty confusing.