Android 15 contains code for a mini taskbar that works on phones

With foldable phones and Android tablets making a comeback, Google has been rolling out features designed for larger screens. One standout is the persistent taskbar, first seen in Android 12L, which brings a desktop-like setup to tablets and foldables. Interestingly, Android’s flexibility meant that users with regular-sized devices running Android 12L and 13 could access this feature through developer options. However, this led to compatibility issues with different OEMs. To address this, Google seems to be tweaking the taskbar so it works smoothly on smaller screens without the need for manual adjustments like display scaling.

Mishaal Rahman, writing for Android Authority, has discovered that the latest Android 15 Beta includes a compact taskbar for regular phones. Just like on foldables and tablets, you can activate the taskbar on these phones with a partial swipe up from the bottom. But it’s simplified, showing just four apps and a shortcut to the app drawer.

Though the feature isn’t available through the usual settings, Rahman managed to unlock the hidden taskbar functionality. A demo video shows this taskbar letting users run two apps at once on the screen.

The taskbar sits over open apps, letting you switch between them without going back to the home screen. Its main job is to support split-screen and floating window multitasking. Although different Android phone makers might customize it, the core features should stay the same. To save space, you can set the taskbar to hide automatically or keep it always visible.

This experimental feature brings back vibes from Google’s first gesture navigation in Android 9.0 Pie, especially with how it handles the app drawer. It used a pill button that acted as both a home button and a swipe gesture target. You could tap it or use basic gestures similar to what we have now. Swiping up once brought up a multitasking view with a dock showing your five most recent apps, looking like part of your home screen thanks to Google’s “quickstep” feature. Swiping up again revealed the app drawer, as if you were swiping up from the dock.

However, the quickstep feature never played nice with third-party launchers in Android 9.0—it only worked with root mods. Google moved to full gesture navigation in Android 10, allowing third-party launchers to integrate, but they removed the expanded app drawer feature. And that system still has its quirks.

Android phones might get a taskbar makeover from tablets and foldables down the road

These days, taskbars are a common sight on Android tablets, like the Pixel Tablet, and large foldables like the Galaxy Z Fold series. But its large design doesn’t fit smaller screens well. Rahman’s find hints that Android 15 might bring a compact version of the taskbar, making it more useful for a wider variety of devices.

While the mini taskbar in Android 15 looks promising, there’s no official word on when it’ll be publicly available. Still, the potential benefits of this feature are clear.