Close to last night’s keynote that opened Google I/O 2023, the Mountain View giant has unveiled some Important news about Android apps on tablets and foldable devices – form factor which is now of primary interest to Google itself, given that it presented the Pixel Tablet and Pixel Fold. Synthesized to the extreme, the company and several key partners have worked to optimize the layout of several popular apps to the new form factors (well, Android tablets are far from new, but we can tell they are seeing a period of resurgence after being neglected for years).
A good starting point can be the Play Store for a variety of reasons. Google explains that its app store will allow you to view video game trailers in full screen, for example, and will show ratings based on the type of form factor in use. Also mentioned is the ability to use one device to quickly install the app on all of your Android devices. Additionally, curated collections by an editorial team of apps that work well with tablet-specific features, such as stylus and split screen, will appear on the homepage.
Google reports that already over 50 of its apps have been optimized for larger tablet and foldable screens; the latter two are Calendar and YouTube Music. A fully dynamic layout will debut in Calendar, capable of showing more information on large displays – for example the month and day view at the same time. A new navigation bar at the top will allow you to choose between various combinations. In case of foldable devices, the app is able to switch between compact and expanded layout with nice transient animation.
YouTube Music focuses on the playback screen: on one side remains the album art with the main controls, alongside, for example, the lyrics of the song or other related content can be viewed. The two-column layout also allows you to better manage playlists, which can be reordered and edited while keeping the main controls always visible.
As we said, there is also news from third-party developers: Google cites Calmwhich now implements a more ergonomic vertical side menu navigation system on tablets and foldables, Candy Crush Soda Sagain which the interface now takes full advantage of the available space and rearranges itself based on the orientation of the device, and pelotonwhich also includes a specific layout for leaflets in the so-called “tabletop mode”, ie with the screen folded at 90° and oriented like a portable PC.
Google explains that it says it’s “just the beginning” of the process of optimizing the Android app park for foldables and tablets; there will be many other developments over the course of the year. In any case, the news discussed in this article will arrive in the coming weeks.
