- Six months after its initial appearance, Google is still testing the Bubble Anything feature.
- It's a feature that allows apps to open in bubbles just like messaging bubbles Android introduced in Android 11.
- The feature is paired with the Bubble bar which has a small navbar, just like Android's main navigation bar.
Multitasking has been an Android user’s best argument against iOS because Android has been great at it for decades. However, not all Android phones are made equally, and non-Pixels with third-party UIs have had better multitasking features. For example, Oxygen OS has a feature where you can drop an app window to the sides to form a bubble. Well, the Pixel UI seems to be taking a similar but enhanced approach as it could gain a cool “Bubble anything” feature in Android 16.
A feature called “Bubble anything” has been in the works on Pixel phones for quite some time. While it’s been almost six months since it last surfaced, according to Android Authority‘s latest findings, Google hasn’t abandoned it. If anything, it looks better with a bubble bar accompanying it, and may arrive in Android 16.
For those unaware, “Bubble anything” lets you minimize windows in the form of bubbles at the bottom of your screen. It’s similar to the chat bubbles API that Android 11 introduced to have floating chat bubbles on the display. Oxygen OS 15 (review) has had a similar feature, which we highlighted in our review.
This feature, paired with the bubble bar, helps you have multiple app bubbles and makes them easier to manage. It appears to have its own tiny navigation bar, that shows when no apps in the bar are in use. To open an app as a bubble, you need to long-press on its icon and select the Open as a bubble option.
You can use the navbar at the top to dismiss the bubble, open in full screen, or move it around. Besides, Mishaal says Google wants to categorize bubbles and is therefore developing different categories like Chat, Note, App, or Shortcut.
What are your thoughts on the Bubble anything feature? Is this the future of multitasking on Pixels beyond Split screen? Let us know in the comments.
