Rumors of a split-screen upgrade to Android 16 could prove that Three is a crowd pleaser

I wondered why Android Intelligence polled people on whether or not they use split screen on Android. It appears that Google is testing whether the tablets will work with a future version of the Android 16 should allow more screen sharing than ever before. According to Mishal RahmanA famous code sleuth with a knack for catching what’s next on Android, this year’s software update will allow big Android screens to split into three! This means using three apps side by side, side by side. What more could you want?

Rahman took a small screenshot of the current developer preview to show off the interface quirk that suggests this is coming soon. “When I opened two apps in split-screen mode and then tried to drag and drop a third app, I noticed that there were previews for three positions I could drop the app in,” he wrote. “This suggests that Google is indeed working on implementing three-way multitasking split-screen support in Android 16.”

Rahman has been pretty on the money with his code in the past, which makes it all the more believable. The latest version of the operating system, Android 15, added support for desktop windows in last year’s update, so it’s clear that Google is considering a possible multi-app future.

This is the first time Android will include three apps in one directly in the source code. Other manufacturers figured it out themselves. For example, the Open Canvas UI from OnePlus is considered to be the inspiration behind it, as Android fans vociferously praise how OnePlus Open handles multitasking. Open Canvas lets you do the same thing: run three apps simultaneously. OnePlus splits the screen three ways, with the two dominant apps taking up 45% and 45% of the screen space, and the tertiary app waiting for your touch to bring its 10% portion to the fore. The idea is that all three apps are ready when you need them, without visual overload.

Samsung devices also perform this kind of OneUI software split-screen magic, although it’s not as streamlined as a three-part screen. On Galaxy Z Fold 6you can split two apps vertically on one side of the 7.6-inch internal display and one on the other half of the screen, thus running three apps. But you can’t run them side-by-side across the screen, probably because of the 4:3 aspect ratio of the internal display. Like OnePlus’ Open Canvas feature, the feature is only available on Samsung devices.

Google hasn’t yet confirmed a three-screen mode, but it’s likely something similar will be added to Android’s multitasking offerings. With foldables and tablets making up a larger portion of the platform’s product lineup, the source code needs to keep up with the way people want to use their devices.