Gone are the days when smartphones were tiny and cramped, and multitasking on them was a distant dream. With the adoption of larger screens and more flexible software, smartphones are making it easier than ever to do more at once. Split screen, a native Android feature, already lets you work with two apps at the same time. Now Google is reportedly working on a way to make multitasking even easier, with a new App Pairs feature to launch two apps simultaneously.

Split screen multitasking on Android 11 (left); Android 12 app pair mockup (right)

As shown in the picture above, a pair of apps would be treated as one Single and users will also be able to switch to another app or pair of apps – currently it is not possible to switch to another app without disrupting the existing split screen setup. The divider also adopts new features and should be able to swap the positions of apps with double taps quickly.

If this feature rings a bell, it’s because some smartphone manufacturers have already implemented something very similar. For example, Samsung launched its own version in 2017 on the Galaxy Note8. Microsoft’s first Android phone, the Surface Duo, also had a similar feature that allowed users to open different apps on its two screens at the same time.

Google might be a little late to the party, but we’re still happy it shows up.