Android Nougat Developer Preview Multi Window Support in application

Android didn't have support for running multiple activities and application in a single screen. Android phone screen was used only by single App. Even though some OEM like Samsung was supporting this on their level by customising android source code.

But now android officially supported multi window features. On handheld devices, two apps can run side-by-side or one-above-the-other in split-screen mode. On TV devices, apps can use picture-in-picture mode to continue video playback while users are interacting with another app.Lets discuss how developer has to cope with new changes

Types of  Multi-window Support 

• Split screen Mode - In this mode, the system fills the screen with two apps, showing them either side-by-side or one-above-the-other. The user can drag the dividing line separating the two to make one app larger and the other smaller.

• Picture in Picture Mode - On Nexus Player running Android N, apps can put themselves in picture-in-picture mode, allowing them to continue showing content while the user browses or interacts with other apps.

• FreeForm Mode - Manufacturers of larger devices can choose to enable freeform mode, in which the user can freely resize each activity. If the manufacturer enables this feature, the device offers freeform mode in addition to split-screen mode.

Configuring Your App for Multi-Window Mode  Android Multi-window support provide attributes to customise your application 

• android:resizeableActivity - True or False decide either you want your app to support Multi-Window
• android:supportsPictureInPicture - Boolean value decide this feature is supported or not. This attribute is ignored ifandroid:resizeableActivity is false.
• Layout attributes - Layout width, height can  decide how much minimum space your app required to run.You can query either your application  running in picture in picture mode or running in Mult-Window support