Mishaal Rahman / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google has been working on a revamped chat bubble expertise for large-screen gadgets since early final 12 months, however the feature has solely now began to work.
- Android has had native help for Messenger-like chat bubbles since Android 11, however the feature at the moment doesn’t scale nicely on large-screen gadgets like tablets.
- Although the new chat bubble expertise isn’t obtainable but, I managed to activate it a bit early to indicate off what it’ll be like.
Messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram are a few of the hottest apps on Android, so it’s no shock that the OS has options designed particularly to enhance the messaging expertise. One of these options is definitely a copy of one thing Meta’s Messenger app pioneered years in the past: chat bubbles. Android added a chat bubbles API over three years in the past in Android 11, however the feature has just about stayed the identical since its preliminary launch. That’s set to alter in the close to future, as Google is lastly getting ready to replace the chat bubble expertise on large-screen gadgets like tablets.
An APK teardown helps predict options which will arrive on a service in the future based mostly on work-in-progress code. However, it’s doable that such predicted options might not make it to a public launch.
If you open a dialog in a chat bubble proper now on an Android pill, it’ll look and performance precisely the identical as on an Android cellphone. That means the chat bubble shall be anchored to the left or proper facet of the display, which makes it arduous to succeed in on wider tablets. Google’s answer to this drawback is so as to add a “bubble bar” — a small bar that’s anchored to the backside proper nook of the display. Chat bubbles are pinned to the bubble bar when created, and by default, aren’t proven on the display till you swipe up on the bar.
After swiping up on the bubble bar, you may change between energetic bubbles by tapping their dialog icon. You can even faucet the “+” button to see latest bubbles and dismissed bubbles. Lastly, to dismiss a bubble, you may faucet on its title bar to indicate a pop-up menu with three buttons: Don’t bubble dialog, app settings, and dismiss bubble.
Android’s bubble bar has been in growth since early 2023’s QPR2 launch of Android 13, nevertheless it’s solely with the most up-to-date launch of the first QPR3 beta of Android 14 that the feature has lastly began working. Unfortunately, the bubble bar feature isn’t enabled by default but, so I needed to manually tinker with the replace to indicate it off for this text.
It’s unclear when Google plans to launch the bubble bar feature, nevertheless it’s doable it may go reside in the secure launch of Android 14 QPR3 in June or with the full Android 15 launch later this fall. The bubble bar will doubtless come to large-screen Android gadgets like the Pixel Tablet first, however Google may also allow it on different Android gadgets with the taskbar enabled, resembling the Pixel Fold.