Mention of multi-window functionality found in Android code commit

Google has just announced Android 5.1 Lollipop, which brings HD voice support, a new Device Protection mode and a number of bug fixes to the mobile OS. If you’re thinking that the enhancements made in 5.1 don’t satisfy enough of your needs, you may want to be patient. Google seems to have a bigger feature in the works, which will possibly make its debut in a future version of Android.

In a new discovery found in an AOSP framework commit, Google references the term “multiwindows” numerous times. As you can see from the image below, the Android commit doesn’t unveil too many details regarding the new multi-window functionality. It references a bug caused by tapping outside of the “stack boundary”, but details beyond that are few and far between.

Other than this screenshot, we unfortunately have no other clues as to what this will bring to Android. As for a timeframe? Google I/O is coming up in May, so there’s a possibility we could hear something about it then. However, that’s all just speculation at this point.

While TouchWiz may not be everyone’s favorite Android skin, Samsung has proven that its multi-window functionality can be extremely useful in some cases – especially on devices with large screens. This could really benefit Google’s Nexus 6, seeing as how the handset barely has any features that take advantage of its giant screen.

So what do you think, could you get some use out of a multi-window feature if it came to AOSP?