How to enable multi-window in Android O and P

Android N introduced a hidden feature called multi-window. In Android N, this feature was easily enabled through the developer settings. Multi-window carried over to Android O and P, but Google hid it behind special permission access, thus making it more difficult to unlock.

Please note that this is only for Sentio Desktop and not for Andromium OS.

Multi Window

This guide will teach you how to grant special permission access and unlock multi-window on Android O and P.

This guide assumes that you are not a developer and do not already have the Android Device Bridge (ADB) installed. If you have ADB installed, open Terminal and skip to step 7.

On your laptop or desktop (not a mobile device), open Chrome and install the ADB for Chrome extension.

ADB for Chrome extension on your computer’s Chrome browser

Ensure that your mobile device has Developer Options enabled. If you do not have it enabled, you will need to enable it by following these steps. Make sure to plug your phone into your computer after this has been enabled but not before.

1. Open “Android Settings” on your mobile device.
2. Scroll to find “About Phone” or “About Device”. Click it.
3. Scroll to find the “Build number”. Note that it might be under the system tab.
4. Click “Build number” 7 times until it tells you that “Developer options” are now available.
5. Developer Options should now appear in the first Settings screen.

Go into “Developer Options” and enable USB Debugging.

USB Debugging

Connect your device to your computer.

Launch ADB for Chrome. You should be able to see 3 options

Device Connected

You may get a “No devices found” error when on this screen sometimes. When that happens, click the “Stop Server/Start Server” button and make sure the Server is running.

• Please note that certain Type C cords may not work. Please try a couple different cables

No Device Found Error

Click on the icon that looks like a big black box. It will take you to a terminal screen similar to what is pictured below.

Terminal

Note: For those of you who can’t seem to get ADB for Chrome working on your laptop/desktop (this guide won’t work for mobile/chrome os users), you will have to set up ADB standalone tools.

Here is an extensive guide on how you would set that up on your own:

https://www.xda-developers.com/install-adb-windows-macos-linux/

Once you’ve set up the above tool, you will need to open up your terminal (or command prompt for Windows) and run the command from Step 7. The only difference is that you have to add “adb shell” in front of the command.

Type

settings put global enable_freeform_support 1

or for adb stand-alone tool:

adb shell settings put global enable_freeform_support 1

into the terminal and click enter. No message will appear, but it should have successfully applied the setting.

Should be successful

Reboot the phone through the terminal by entering the command

reboot

and enter. This will give you confidence that the terminal actually worked.

Congrats, you now have the multi-window feature enabled for your Android O and P device!

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For support questions, you can ask at support@sentio.com

Our undying love,

❤ Sentio Team