Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google has been engaged on a revamped chat bubble expertise for large-screen units since early final yr, however the characteristic has solely now began to work.
- Android has had native assist for Messenger-like chat bubbles since Android 11, however the characteristic presently doesn’t scale properly on large-screen units like tablets.
- Though the brand new chat bubble expertise isn’t accessible but, I managed to activate it a bit early to indicate off what it’ll be like.
Messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram are a number of the hottest apps on Android, so it’s no shock that the OS has options designed particularly to enhance the messaging expertise. A kind of options is definitely a replica of one thing Meta’s Messenger app pioneered years in the past: chat bubbles. Android added a chat bubbles API over three years in the past in Android 11, however the characteristic has just about stayed the identical since its preliminary launch. That’s set to alter within the close to future, as Google is lastly getting ready to replace the chat bubble expertise on large-screen units like tablets.
An APK teardown helps predict options which will arrive on a service sooner or later based mostly on work-in-progress code. Nevertheless, it’s attainable that such predicted options could not make it to a public launch.
In the event you open a dialog in a chat bubble proper now on an Android pill, it’ll look and performance precisely the identical as on an Android cellphone. Which means the chat bubble will probably be anchored to the left or proper aspect of the display, which makes it arduous to succeed in on wider tablets. Google’s answer to this drawback is so as to add a “bubble bar” — a small bar that’s anchored to the underside proper nook of the display. Chat bubbles are pinned to the bubble bar when created, and by default, aren’t proven on the display till you swipe up on the bar.
After swiping up on the bubble bar, you’ll be able to swap between lively bubbles by tapping their dialog icon. You may as well faucet the “+” button to see latest bubbles and dismissed bubbles. Lastly, to dismiss a bubble, you’ll be able to faucet on its title bar to indicate a pop-up menu with three buttons: Don’t bubble dialog, app settings, and dismiss bubble.
Android’s bubble bar has been in growth since early 2023’s QPR2 launch of Android 13, but it surely’s solely with the latest launch of the primary QPR3 beta of Android 14 that the characteristic has lastly began working. Sadly, the bubble bar characteristic isn’t enabled by default but, so I needed to manually tinker with the replace to indicate it off for this text.
It’s unclear when Google plans to launch the bubble bar characteristic, but it surely’s attainable it might go dwell within the steady launch of Android 14 QPR3 in June or with the total Android 15 launch later this fall. The bubble bar will seemingly come to large-screen Android units just like the Pixel Pill first, however Google may also allow it on different Android units with the taskbar enabled, such because the Pixel Fold.
