![[ Plzhow ] Written and illustrated explanations](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0wb8SWgzkXTHmz2gI0D9wCA-XZK1GxFwT6EzfZ4IK3a2FV7eeIugnYcjwxYt4T6XtGc9mp52i63BfQjK94ow8tti1VyCEMMjBbYr8JZDgz8AUdopwlkfUDU1Ln9jQKAOSgf6qXxMNWNo/s1600/ff.png)
The latest version of
Android packs the usual raft of new features, but none are as flashy as
its revamped multitasking abilities, especially the new side-by-side
view that lets you use two apps at once.
Nougat also adds a couple of other essential new
multitasking features: the ability to quickly switch between the current
app and the last one you were using, as well as a one-tap method for
closing all your multitasking windows at once. Let’s give the trio a
try.
How to put a pair of apps side-by-side
Until the arrival of Nougat (which will slowly make its way
to Nexus handsets and other Android devices following its late-August
release), multitasking on an Android phone or tablet was an
almost-but-not-quite affair.
Sure, you could quickly
switch between apps by tapping the multitasking button, and a few
specific apps (such as Google Docs for Android) offered some limited
side-by-side window features.
Once you install Nougat on your Android device, though,
you’ll finally get some true multitasking power, with most Android apps
able to run side-by-side on the same screen.
Launching Nougat’s “multi-window” view is easy: Just open
an app, then tap and hold the multitasking button. A new window will
open in the bottom half of the screen, showing all the other app windows
you have open; pick one, and it’ll expand to fill the second window.
You can drag the window divider back and forth to expand or
shrink the two windows, and you can also turn your device to landscape
view to arrange your apps lengthwise rather than top to bottom.
To pick a new app for the
second window, tap the multitasking button (which, you’ll see, will now
have a new, split-screen icon), then choose an app from the familiar
multitasking view.
Most of Google’s native Android apps work like a dream in
Nougat’s multi-window view, although some third-party apps (like
Facebook and Twitter) will give you an “App may not work with
split-screen” warning before squeezing into a smaller window. Still
other apps (like Instagram and Reddit) won’t work side-by-side at all,
or at least not until their developers add multi-window support.
When you’re ready to go back to normal view, just tap and
hold the multitasking button one last time, or drag the window divider
all the way to one side or the other.
Jump between your two most recent apps
Switching from one app to another doesn’t always feel as
quick as it could be, even when you’re using Android’s multitasking view
to make the switch. Tapping the multitasking button is easy enough, but
you almost always need to pause to make sure you’re picking the right
app window.
That’s where Nougat’s new
“quick switch” feature comes in handy. Just double-tap the multitasking
button to switch instantly to the last app you were using, then
double-tap the button again to return to the first app—perfect for those
of us who need to quickly switch from, say, a login screen to a
password manager.
Close all your app windows at once
Android does a pretty good job at managing your handset’s
memory and app resources, meaning there’s generally no need to close an
app window unless you want to restart an app, or because (like me) you
just get antsy seeing too many apps open at the same time.
Still, someone at Google
HQ must share the obsessive-compulsive need of some of us to keep
Android’s multitasking screen as tidy as possible, because Nougat boasts
an easy, one-tap way to close all your open app windows at once.
Just tap the multitasking button, then scroll all the way
to the top of your various open app windows. Perched up in the corner of
the screen, you’ll see a Clear All button.
Tap it, and whoosh—all your open app windows will close and slide away, leaving you with a completely empty multitasking scr
EmoticonEmoticon