Android 16 Could Make Small-Screen Multitasking Less Painful

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Summary

Google is developing a new 90:10 split-screen mode for Android, inspired by OnePlus, that allows one app to dominate the screen while the other remains accessible for quick switching with a single tap.
This new ratio aims to improve multitasking on smaller smartphone screens by offering a more comfortable primary app experience compared to the current 50:50 and 70:30 options.
The 90:10 split-screen feature is not yet publicly available and is speculated to potentially debut with Android 16 in a future quarterly release.

Multitasking on small-screen devices like smartphones is possible, but it isn’t the most intuitive and user-friendly experience. Google is trying to fix this with a Samsung DeX-like Desktop Mode, though the implementation is limited to usage with an accompanying external display. What about multitasking on Android devices themselves?

Your Android device already offers split screen functionality for some semblance of multitasking, but it is limited to two views — 50:50 and 70:30 ratios. Google wants to change that, and it could potentially do so with Android 16.

Google is working on adding a 90:10 ratio to the Android split screen experience, which essentially means that one app takes up 90 percent of the screen real estate, while the other is pinched into the remaining 10 percent, as shared by credible Android expert Mishaal Rahman in a report for Android Authority.

Although that doesn’t sound usable at first, the new ratio will be paired with an intuitive solution that will let you swap apps between the two views with one tap — a solution borrowed right out of OnePlus’ Oxygen OS 15.

Enter the 90/10 extreme

The 50:50 ratio is okay. It lets two apps occupy equal portions of your device’s screen at the cost of neither app feeling truly comfortable to use. 70:30 offers a bit more screen real estate to the primary app, but on smartphones, that still doesn’t feel optimal.

90:10, on the other hand, takes it to the very extreme. The app that occupies 90 percent of the display can be used very comfortably, while the secondary app is simply there as a quick-switch option that can easily be glanced over.

Similar to its implementation on OnePlus devices, the 90:10 ratio, once available, will be triggered by dragging one of the two split screen apps to the top or the bottom of the display. Once snapped into place, users will be able to swap each app’s screen allocation by tapping the app residing in the smaller 10 percent panel. Here’s what that currently looks like on a OnePlus 12R.

The new ratio should allow users to focus on the app that takes up the majority of the screen, all while being able to seamlessly bring in elements from secondary app. The view could be helpful when copy-pasting information from Chrome to a note-taking app like Google Keep. Alternatively, you could have Gmail open in the primary tab, with your calendar occupying the secondary panel.

For what it’s worth, the 90:10 implementation isn’t publicly available to try out yet. The specific stage of the feature’s development cycle remains unclear. Rahman suggests that it could be available with Android 16, likely with one of the subsequent quarterly releases.