One feature we were hoping Google would show off with Android M on Thursday was the inclusion of multi-window functionality that would let you have multiple apps open at once on the same screen. While that sadly didn’t come to pass, Android Authority has done some fine detective work and has discovered a hidden multi-window feature in the Android M developer preview that Google never mentioned during its big Google I/O presentation. Even better, the website has put together a guide for enabling this feature on your Nexus 5, Nexus 6 or Nexus 9 device right now, although it warns that this is still a very experimental feature that will likely be riddled with bugs.
RELATED: 10 hidden Android M features Google didn’t discuss in its I/O keynote
With that out of the way, here’s what you’ll need to do according to Android Authority:
- First, edit your build.prop and change the user type to “userdebug.” This will cause multi-window to show up in your developer options.
- Next, go to Developer options and find the box for Multi-window mode. Switch this mode to On.
- Finally, to fine tune the layout of your multi-window mode you’ll have to access your phone’s recent menu, which shows the apps you’ve most recently opened in a stacked card format. On the upper-left hand side of each card you’ll notice a new icon that’s next to the “X” of each one. Clicking on this will give you different layout options you can choose.
If you want to see screenshots that show what multi-window mode looks like in action, then you should really check out Android Authority’s full post by clicking here.
