this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2023
36 points (90.9% liked)

Android

27317 readers
215 users here now

DROID DOES

Welcome to the droidymcdroidface-iest, Lemmyest (Lemmiest), test, bestest, phoniest, pluckiest, snarkiest, and spiciest Android community on Lemmy (Do not respond)! Here you can participate in amazing discussions and events relating to all things Android.

The rules for posting and commenting, besides the rules defined here for lemmy.world, are as follows:

Rules


1. All posts must be relevant to Android devices/operating system.


2. Posts cannot be illegal or NSFW material.


3. No spam, self promotion, or upvote farming. Sources engaging in these behavior will be added to the Blacklist.


4. Non-whitelisted bots will be banned.


5. Engage respectfully: Harassment, flamebaiting, bad faith engagement, or agenda posting will result in your posts being removed. Excessive violations will result in temporary or permanent ban, depending on severity.


6. Memes are not allowed to be posts, but are allowed in the comments.


7. Posts from clickbait sources are heavily discouraged. Please de-clickbait titles if it needs to be submitted.


8. Submission statements of any length composed of your own thoughts inside the post text field are mandatory for any microblog posts, and are optional but recommended for article/image/video posts.


Community Resources:


We are Android girls*,

In our Lemmy.world.

The back is plastic,

It's fantastic.

*Well, not just girls: people of all gender identities are welcomed here.


Our Partner Communities:

!android@lemmy.ml


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

I have a Razr flip phone that I often use folded halfway (laptop style) and watch videos on the top half while I do other things.

Certain video apps center the content across both halves of the screen and I have to activate split screen and put a random app on the bottom half of the screen.

Long story short, is there a way to split screen only 1 app to only the top half of the screen? I've tried to search for something but I'm coming up empty.

top 24 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] evo@sh.itjust.works 15 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

Try tapping the app icon on the app switcher screen.

[–] Mananers@lemmy.world 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

What kind of phone are you using? My Samsung has that 'freeform' option but it's called pop-up.

My wife's pixel 6a only has split screen, and that forces 2 apps.

[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 7 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

How can all these Android versions have this, meanwhile AOSP (Lineage, GrapheneOS,...) have nothing...

Edit: okay I found this feature, but it crashes my damn Launcher

[–] panmeek@lemmy.sdf.org 10 points 10 months ago (1 children)

there's an option for freeform windows in AOSP (tested on Pixel 7), but it's hidden in developer options

[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yes I saw that, but is there a way to actually modify the size and open apps?

[–] panmeek@lemmy.sdf.org 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

yes, you open apps like the first level comment showed

[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Thanks, tried it but on GraphenOS it simply crashes the launcher. Freeform works but is a bit useless currently

[–] panmeek@lemmy.sdf.org 3 points 10 months ago

oh that's too bad, it works pretty good on AOSP

[–] peter@feddit.uk 3 points 10 months ago

I find that custom roms are quite disappointing feature wise these days

[–] xyguy@startrek.website 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I see the freeform option and I have tested that out. It's the closest to what I want to do.

I just wish I could click the split screen mode and only choose 1 app to run in the top 50% of the screen and have the other half just be black.

[–] sucricdrawkcab@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

What RAZR do you have? I have a RAZR + and can see this and the screens split right on the crease.

[–] xyguy@startrek.website 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I have the Razr+ as well. I was just looking for an option that rather than split between 2 apps, have only one app running on the top half of the screen.

[–] sucricdrawkcab@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

I don't know if that will be a thing. The only phone I've been able to do anything even remotely close to this was an LG Wing.

[–] PainInTheAES@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago

This is so cool! I didn't even know this was a thing.

[–] kniescherz@feddit.de 11 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Install Android Studio on your PC and create a new empty app. Plug in your mobile and deploy that app. Now select that app as the second one for the lower half. It should be all black, if its all white, change the background color.

Or look if there is an all black app in the store, probably a screen tester app.

[–] xyguy@startrek.website 3 points 10 months ago

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=sasha.zay.blackscreen

Found this app. Does more or less what I'm looking for.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[–] Aethr@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Or download an all black image and use your image viewer

[–] kniescherz@feddit.de 2 points 10 months ago

Y do ez when complicated do trick?

[–] BackOnMyBS@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'm using Android 14 on a Pixel and gesture navigation. To get split-screen, I gesture up to open the app switcher, then long-press on the icon for the app I want to split-screen. This pulls up a menu that has an option for split-screen.

[–] xyguy@startrek.website 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I am able to do split screen in this way. What I am looking for is to run only 1 app but just in the top 50% of the screen.

[–] BackOnMyBS@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago

ohhHHhh! Sorry, I just tried and have no idea.

[–] Synnr@sopuli.xyz 4 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I'm not sure if it's an Android feature or Samsung feature, but try hitting the sideways hamburger menu (3 vertical lines button that's always on the bottom} and then holding your finger on the app you want to half screen. See if you notice anything happen... if not it's a Samsung thing.

[–] alphacyberranger@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

It's samsung one ui only I believe

[–] xyguy@startrek.website 2 points 10 months ago

Must be Samsung only. I'm not able to get this to work on my Motorola RAZR+.