The Android taskbar could soon be upgraded to show recent apps

Ryan Whitwam / Android Authority

Android tablets are usually large enough to comfortably fit multiple apps on screen, which is why the Android taskbar was introduced a few years back to speed up the process of launching new apps or switching between them. Google now wants to make multitasking even faster on Android tablets by upgrading the taskbar to show recently used apps.

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Google first introduced a taskbar in 2022’s Android 12L release. The original taskbar was initially a large bar that sat persistently at the bottom and spanned the entire width of the screen. To make it take up less space on book-style foldables, Google hid the taskbar by default starting in 2023’s Android 13 QPR2. The newer taskbar is temporarily revealed by swiping up on the gesture navigation handle, earning it the name “transient taskbar.” With the release of Android 15, Google added a way to switch between the older “persistent” taskbar and the newer “transient” taskbar, optimizing the experience for both book-style foldables and tablets.

Both versions of the taskbar are part of the system launcher app, which is why the apps it shows are synced with the home screen dock. On Pixel devices, the Android taskbar currently shows up to 6 apps pinned to the dock as well as 2 suggested apps. Although the apps that the Pixel Launcher suggests are based on your recently used apps, they’re also based on those you most frequently use, as well as your “routines.” Thus, the taskbar may not always show your most recently used apps, which would force you to open the app drawer, open the recents screen, or swipe right on the navigation handle to switch to them.

While digging through Android 15 QPR1 Beta 2, though, I found code for a new feature that swaps the app suggestions on the taskbar with recently used apps. Specifically, the 2 suggested apps are replaced with the 2 most recently used apps, as demonstrated in the video embedded below:

Google hasn’t enabled this feature yet, and I don’t know if the company ever plans to. However, I hope it does, as I think showing recently used apps in the taskbar is more useful than showing suggested apps. Several Android manufacturers like OnePlus and Samsung already highlight recently used apps in the taskbar, but Google bringing this change to AOSP will benefit tablets and book-style foldables from other Android manufacturers that haven’t implemented this change on their own.

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