Android will support natively devices with folding screens

Google officially announces technical support for a category of Android devices. He decided to call "Foldables". Speaking today at the Android Developer Summit, Vice President of Engineering, Dave Burke, said that Google "optimizes Android to take advantage of this new form factor with as few If you wish, these improvements are for the moment just a hint allowing developers to start using existing features built into Android.

If you have not heard, devices with folding displays are about to become a thing. Today is the day that Samsung will stop joking and start showing its phone with a flip-up screen at the developer conference, which will run concurrently with the Google summit. Google said it was working closely with Samsung on how Android would develop foldable media. But the goal of Google is to make it a platform-level solution for Android, usable by any OEM.

This is important because Google is fighting an endless battle against Android fragmentation and a new form factor is a potential inflection point. As manufacturers strive to create devices, they will need software that can support them. This race has already begun: just a few days ago, The edgeNick Statt saw the Royole Flexpai, a Chinese Android phone that turns into a tablet.

If Google had no opinion on the operation of this software, each manufacturer would propose its own solution and the ecosystem would become very messy very quickly. Director of Product Management Sagar Kamdar said Google "worked closely with our OEM partners to ensure the establishment of a common API surface for developers".

At the moment, Google primarily supports foldable screens by directing developers to an existing feature called "screen continuity". This is the API used by Android apps to know when the screen size has changed – for example, when you rotate your screen or if you use it. Android in Windows on Chrome OS. "This new form factor therefore simply adds new use cases to this existing model," says Kamdar. For Android apps to support folding views, developers should make sure to use this feature.

Kamdar says that is already the case for most applications created by Google. But if you've used Android apps on Chrome OS, you know that many third-party apps are not as cool in windowed mode, which might be a problem for foldable software. I asked if we would try to solve this problem beyond the simple update of the developers. Kamdar said Google "explores many different ways to ensure users a seamless collapsible experience – more to come, but nothing to announce today."

Android is not the only platform that pushes for foldable display devices. Last month, we looked at the prototype devices that Intel is working on. The devices that Intel was willing to show us were dual-screen and non-collapsible, but it is clear that the same ideas would apply.

The rumor also wants Microsoft to work on multi-screen devices, which would realize the dream of the old Courier concept. Microsoft Surface's chief, Panos Panay, said a Pocket Surface device was "absolutely my baby."

As for Google, there is surely more to come in terms of Android support for this new category. The company is not yet ready to tackle some of the most fundamental questions, as will Google create a default home screen for foldable screens? Will better support for drag and drop on a full screen display be available? Will device manufacturers need to sign a different type of Android license to create a foldable phone?

Nevertheless, the most important question is whether Google is on the right track to prevent the fragmentation of this new form factor. The answer seems to be yes.

Samsung will present more of his projects (and hopefully his camera) to his speech today. Burke also announced that Google is already working closely with Samsung on a new device they plan to launch early next year. We will of course have some coverage on this later today.