Nov 6, 2020
What’s interesting about the Bubble Notification in the Android 11
Today, most android users prefer multitasking features. In the early days of Android OS, multitasking meant being able to switch between applications quickly using the overview (recent) button. Today, this has led to the introduction of the Split-screen and Floating window feature for multitasking purposes, In Google, I/O introduced an advanced multitasking framework called Bubbles in Android 10. But this feature is available only in the developer options for a few devices.
With the release of Android 11, this feature is activated for all devices by default and it will support all messaging applications in nature.
If you don’t know what bubbles refer to, read ahead.
Bubbles help you minimize your application into a small icon, which can be moved around and placed anywhere on the screen and floats to the top of all other applications.
This feature is aimed at allowing users to engage with apps (mostly messaging apps) without having to exit the apps. When tapping on a Bubble, it will open a small window allowing the user to perform actions related to an application. It works exactly like the Facebook messenger chats Bubbles feature.
Bubbles feature was built on the top of the Android notification system. Thus, it works like a pop-up notification. And also it comes up with a portable interface (Notification API) that can work for your chat, notes, translation, or visual reminder of task-based applications. Moreover, we have the option to disable this feature.
Creating Notification Bubbles
When a notification arrives for a messaging-based application in the conversation section, just long-press on the message notification and tap on a “show in a Bubble” option, now get your Bubbles for that application. If you chose “priority” for that conversation in the notification setting too, then a new message arrived for that conversation will be received in both the notification bar and the Bubbles icon.
When we tap on the Bubble icon, then the floating window will open with the conversation thread. Textbox and media-based tools will be added to the bottom of the floating window to help reply to the message.
Interacting with the Bubbles Notification
When the Bubble icon is active on screen, then a new message that arrives for that conversation will appear as a popup in the Bubble along with the ongoing message in the notification tray. On the other hand, If Bubbles is activated in multiple applications, only the app icon of the most recent message will appear on your screen. However, when you tap on the Bubble, it will show each conversation thread, where you can switch to using its corresponding icon. Also similar for different conversations within the same app, which have their own icon.
Best Practices for use
Using Bubbles for all types of notifications will not work well for you. Before implement the Bubble feature need to consider a few things:
- If the notification needs to be sent as a Bubble only for very important cases, the user has the option to enable Bubbles for notifications like a messaging conversation
- You must make sure that the Bubble works as a normal notification because this feature can be disabled by the user at any time
- Try to avoid complex functionality and navigation within the Bubble notification, also make sure that it is light-weight.
In conclusion, This feature will be the best alternative for overlay view content (SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW) and also allow users to easily perform multiple tasks from anywhere on their device.
And, that’s on bubble notification. Stay tuned for more mobile updates.
Author: Vimalathithan.A
Stream: Mobile
