Android lets you “bubble” apps for easy access now – how it works

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Android 17 introduced App Bubbles.
• You can isolate an app so that its icon is always on top.
• It’s a Pixel exclusive for now, but coming to other phones.

A few years ago, Android introduced the ability to “bubble” a text conversation, or move that app to a floating bubble on your home screen. It’s a handy way to keep a conversation easily accessible.

Now you can also bubble apps.

As part of the Android 17 rollout, users have the option to use app bubbles. When you splash an app, it sits on top of everything else on your screen, so it’s easy to access when you need it. You can place up to five apps in your bubble.

Also: This hidden Google Messages setting will prevent you from texting the wrong person

How to jailbreak an app on a Google Pixel

The ability to inject an app onto Android will start as a Pixel exclusive, but the feature will come to other manufacturers over time. There is an existing, similar feature for Samsung called Smart Pop Up View, and the instructions for that are below.

1. Go to your home screen or app drawer

To get started, select the app you want from either your Apps screen or your Home screen.

2. Long press the app you want to blow up

Press and hold on the app until a pop-up menu appears.

3. Select bubble

The menu shows options like App Info, Add App to Home Screen, or Pause App. Select the bubble option.

4. Find a place

Your selected app will shrink to an icon that you can move around on the home screen. You don’t have the freedom to place it anywhere, but it can go anywhere along the left or right side of your screen. The app stays on top of everything else on your screen, and you can spawn multiple apps at once, but they’ll always move together.

Like an app on a Samsung Galaxy Bubble

Samsung has a similar feature called Smart Pop-Up View, which allows you to respond to notifications on selected apps without leaving the app you’re in.

1. Open settings

Navigate to your Settings app, open it and select Notification Settings.

2. Select Advanced Settings

Once you are in advanced settings, find and select Floating notifications. Then select Smart Pop-Up view.

4. Select the apps you want

Now just choose which apps you want to prioritize.

Artie Beatty

Contribution writer

Artie Beaty is a freelance writer, based just outside of Charlotte, with a passion for smart home tech and tech news. He has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from UNC Charlotte and has been writing for over 15 years. On weekends you can find him leading haunted ghost tours of Uptown Charlotte.

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