When Google talks about foldable phones, does it mean Surface Duo, too? Yup.

Surface Duo 2 Yelp Googlemaps Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central

A few weeks ago, Google announced Android 12L, which was previously known equally Android 12.i. According to Google, the OS update is due sometime in the first half of 2022. Merely what makes it a big bargain is this iteration of Android is the kickoff to really focus on foldables and dual-screen devices.

Aye, I said dual screen. Despite the calorie-free-on-details PR blog mentioning foldables, many have tried to decipher that Google means phones similar the Samsung Galaxy Fold iii and not Microsoft'south Surface Duo. After all, if Google intends to include dual screens, why not mention it?

It turns out Google does. Let's get through the developer guides to settle this once and for all.

How Android "sees" Surface Duo

Surface Duo 2 Gutter Screenshot Android fills in the gap via software when doing a screenshot on Surface Duo 2. Source: Windows Fundamental

Earlier we get started, I desire to analyze something virtually Surface Duo (currently on Android 10) and Surface Duo 2 (currently on Android 11). Both operating systems "see" these phones every bit single-screen devices. Indeed, on Android xi, the Bone now draws the gutter — the physical space between both screens. You can encounter this in screenshots where you get the whole sheet.

A lot of the "magic" with Surface Duo and dual-screen apps is a philharmonic of Microsoft Launcher, firmware, and, increasingly, Android itself. A lot of what Microsoft is doing today on Surface Duo is being built-in to time to come iterations of Android. That's the big news.

Every bit a side commentary, I believe this is one reason Microsoft is not heavily investing in customizing Android to maximize Surface Duo's efficacy today. While the user experience currently lags compared to the vision, it is articulate from Android 12L that Google is baking a lot of this stuff into the OS. If Microsoft were to invest resources into Os customization, information technology would be redundant and useless within a yr. Why invent the wheel when someone else is already doing the work for y'all?

What is Android 12L?

12l Multitasking Case of split screen and new taskbar for foldable devices in Android 12L. Source: Google

Android 12L, co-ordinate to Google, is "a special characteristic drop that makes Android 12 even better on large screens." More than specifically, the OS update optimizes the arrangement UI for new form factors and gives developers new tools (APIs) to improve apps for foldable displays. Information technology's the formalization of what Samsung, Microsoft, LG, Huawei, and others have been forcing to happen over the terminal few years.

The motives should be articulate as to why Google would want to implement these variations. Samsung is driving a lot of this with its Fold and Flip serial of phones. Microsoft is in that location, besides, with Surface Duo. Merely Google expects more devices in 2022, noting that this characteristic drop is timed "for the adjacent moving ridge of Android 12 tablets, Chromebooks, and foldables."

Even Google is rumored to make its own foldable phone(due south) next year, presumably launching with Android 12L.

Features similar a two-column notification shade with notifications on one side and Quick Settings on the other are one example of a UI alter. The power to span apps and have apps shift over to one side of the brandish is another. This latter power is what Microsoft does today on Surface Duo, but instead of being part of Launcher and firmware, it can exist built directly into the Bone. Google Play will as well highlight apps that are optimized for these new form factors.

Y'all tin read more almost it from Google'southward 12L summary, simply it'due south in the developer documents where information technology gets interesting.

Google defines foldables as including dual screens

Surface Duo 2 Galaxy Z Flip Are these both foldables? They are. Source: Daniel Rubino/Windows Key

Simply Google just talks about foldables, right? That's the wrong question. What you should be asking is: How does Google define foldables? Considering the company gives a definition.

Let's start with Google'southward Textile Pattern three — the adjacent evolution of its UI aimed direct at "adaptive experiences." On its folio, Google thoughtfully characterizes the term, which I recall is essential for this conversation. When it comes to foldables, hither is the straight definition, explicitly referring to hinges:

There are 2 types of hinges on folded devices:

Seamless hinges are barely visible, although some users may feel a tactile difference on the screen surface

Hinges that physically dissever the device effectively into two screens

Indicate #2 is the most relevant and seemingly ends the word: Foldable includes dual screen. But if you lot desire more, Google goes on to say:

In an unfolded posture, the device'south folding hinge can exist noticeable on some models. In the unique case of Microsoft's Surface Duo, the hinge divides the screen physically.

Android Material Design 3 Dual How Google defines foldable screens. Source: Google

So, Google calls out Surface Duo when talking about the new Material Pattern 3. Google then gives examples of how developers should design their UI around such constraints:

On devices with a physical hinge, designing the screen as two distinct halves allows a composition to piece of work well beyond the seam and screens … Avoid placing cardinal actions, such as dialog buttons, along the center hinge.

The complete overview of Cloth Blueprint iii is highly fascinating, and so I encourage y'all to read it if you lot're interested in this topic.

Turning to Android app development and 12L, Google lays out quite a lot in its Android developer guides. Here are some samples explaining foldable and dual-screen:

Nether "Learn nigh foldables:"

Foldable devices can fold in many means, such as inward (with the display folding into the interior of the device) or outward (with the display wrapping around the device). Some foldables have ii screens; others, such as foldable flip phones, only one.

Foldable devices have a fold in the display that separates ii portions (typically halves) of the display. The fold has dimension and can split up the two portions with an occlusionType, which defines whether the fold occludes part of the display (a full apoplexy is reported for dual screen devices).

This occlusionType is essential, as this is what helps define that software gutter for dual-screen devices like Surface Duo. It's again referenced under "Make your app fold aware," where the documentation gives further information on what "foldable" refers to:

A FoldingFeature is a type of DisplayFeature that provides information related to the fold of a foldable brandish or the hinge between the ii concrete brandish panels of a dual-screen device.

A FoldingFeature also includes information similar occlusionType, which indicates whether the fold or hinge conceals part of the brandish, and isSeparating, which indicates whether the folding feature creates two logical screen areas. This data can be used to decide where to position on screen elements to back up dual screen devices and avoid positioning active elements similar buttons on occluded folding features.

More references to Surface Duo are found nether Jetpack WindowManger, specifically under the codelab section, which gives a tutorial on edifice such apps:

This applied codelab will teach you lot the nuts of developing for dual-screen and foldable devices. When you're finished, you'll exist able to heighten your app to support devices like the Microsoft Surface Duo and the Samsung Milky way Z Fold3.

As should at present be evident from Google'southward definitions and examples in the official Android documentation, dual-screen devices are a subset of foldables. Android 12L goes a long way to formalize this distinction in the OS, apps, and UI.

Microsoft also has a blog that summarizes what's new in Android 12L and how it ties into its ain work to help developers, which is worth a read.

Surface Duo and Android 12L should be heady

Surface Duo 2 Pen Onenote Inking Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central

Hopefully, this walkthrough has sufficiently demonstrated that Android 12L, and future versions of Android hardware, absolutely include dual-screen devices under the rubric of foldables. I don't see this as debatable once i reads the supporting documentation (and not just a PR blog summary).

Of course, none of this means Surface Duo suddenly turns into a slam douse. Microsoft needs to address touch sensitivity issues sooner than afterward, which has nothing to do with Android 12L. Other "quirks" with the camera app, updating its own apps, and improving the inking experience all need to be fixed, too. Lump in concerns over pricing and even just convincing people to want this device are other significant obstacles.

But Android 12L is a big deal, too. By the time it comes out, the Surface Duo experiment will be budgeted its tertiary year. That means the Os may finally catch up to where Microsoft is with the hardware, especially for overall OS design, features, and app compatibility. Android 12L too begins to mainstream these new folding phones and devices, giving Surface Duo a much-needed halo issue.

The $64,000 question is can Microsoft deliver Android 12L in a timely fashion? My gut feeling is the visitor may pass over Android 12.0 and button 12L instead (as it should), but information technology needs to practise so chop-chop to avoid replicating the Android 11 fiasco with the original Surface Duo.

We'll come across what happens in the coming months as all eyes are on Android 12L.

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