Android is a versatile operating system perfectly suited for multitasking. Even on non-foldable phones, you canrun apps in a split-screenview, or have one app constantly displaying over others using Picture-in-Picture mode (PiP). Windows 11 users can also run Android apps like native programs now, thanks to theWindows Subsystem for Android(WSA). Although multitasking is present, Windows users are only now getting a taste of native PiP support.
Windows 11 allows scaling and resizing apps in a grid view with other programs using layout switcher, much like split-screen on Android tablets and smartphones. The other critical multitasking feature, PiP, hasbeen on Android since v8.0 Oreo. Using this, you could watch YouTube videos or track your food delivery driver while using any other app on your device.WSA finally supports PiPwith version 2303.40000.3.0.
Every time you open an app in windowed mode, you should see an option to shrink it to PiP. Like on Android, you’re able to move this tiny PiP window around, so it doesn’t obscure UI elements of the main program you’re running.
Native support for pinning an Android app on Windows 11 atop any other program replaces rudimentary workarounds likeMicrosoft PowerToys’s Always on Top feature, or a custom script programmed using something like AutoHotKey. Android apps in PiP on Windows 11 will help get more work done. It also takes Microsoft closer in principle to the Android ecosystem’s capabilities.
The new feature is rolling out on all Windows Insider channels now. The update includes a new system setting slashing app launch times without hogging system resources in the background. It also packs a Linux kernel update, Android 13 security patches, and a few other stability fixes. Meanwhile, major WSA pain points remain unaddressed, such as the extremelylimited geographic availability of WSAin the stable channel, and the limited selection of apps on the Amazon Appstore. It would be great if Microsoft made WSA more widely available before going deeper down the Android feature parity rabbit hole.
