Android 16’s Split-Screen Improvement Could Prove Three’s Crowd

Why do you wonder? Android intelligence was polling whether or not people use Android’s split screen. It looks like Google is testing whether it will launch a future version of the tablets Android 16 should allow more screen partitioning than before. according to Mishal RahmanA noted code sleuth with a knack for figuring out what’s next on Android, this year’s software update will let you split big Android screens into three! This means using three programs side by side, side by side. What more could you ask for?

Rahman took a small screenshot of the current developer preview to show off the interface quirk that suggests it’s coming soon. “When I opened two apps in split-screen mode and then tried to drag and drop a third app, I saw that there were previews for three positions where I could drop the app,” he writes. “This shows that Google is really working on implementing three-way split-screen multitasking support in Android 16.”

Rahman has made a lot of money with his code in the past, which makes it all the more believable. The latest version of the operating system, Android 15, added desktop window support in last year’s update, so it’s clear that Google has plenty of apps to come.

This is the first time a 3-in-1 app on Android has been directly sourced. Other manufacturers figured it out themselves. For example, the Open Canvas UI by OnePlus is considered an inspiration behind it, as Android fans rave about how. OnePlus Open manages multitasking. Open Canvas lets you do the same thing: launch three programs at the same time. OnePlus splits the screen three ways, with the two dominant apps occupying 45% and 45% of the screen space, and the third app waiting for your tap to bring the 10% strip to the front. The idea is that all three apps are ready when you need them, without visual overload.

Samsung devices also perform this kind of split-screen magic in their OneUI software, although it’s not as simple as a triple-split screen. On it Galaxy Z Fold 6you can split two apps vertically on one side of the 7.6-inch built-in display and the other half of the screen, so you can run three apps. However, you probably can’t run them parallel to each other across the screen due to the 4:3 aspect ratio of the internal display. Like OnePlus’ Open Canvas feature, this capability is only available for Samsung devices.

Google has yet to confirm a triple-screen mode, but it’s likely that something similar could be added to Android’s multi-screen offerings. With foldable and tablet devices making up more of the platform’s product line, the source code needs to keep pace with how people want to use their devices.