I hated multitasking on my Pixel — until I tried Android 17's app bubbles

Software experience can make or break a smartphone for me, which is exactly why I keep gravitating toward Pixels. Google’s handsets feel easygoing in a way very few Android phones manage, and I love it.

So naturally, the moment Android 17 started making headlines with features like app memory limits, more granular controls, and improved location transparency, my curiosity kicked in. I get irrationally excited about new software updates, so resisting the beta was never really an option. I installed it on my Google Pixel 10a just to see how these features would actually feel in day-to-day use.

Simply put, this has turned into one of the more interesting beta experiences I’ve had in a while. There’s a surprising amount to explore beneath the surface, and I’ve spent days poking around every little corner of it. But somewhere in the middle of all that experimenting, one multitasking feature took over how I use my phone.

My phone now multitasks like my brain

The bubbles feature in Android 17 has fixed one of the biggest multitasking frustrations I’ve always had with slab phones. Before moving to the Pixel 10a, I was using the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, which has completely changed my expectations around multitasking. When you get used to having multiple apps open side by side on a large folding display, going back to a “normal” phone suddenly becomes much more limiting than you’d imagine.

No, I am not comparing them, but that shift hit me immediately on the Pixel 10a. Whenever I needed to jump between apps, I found myself constantly relying on the recent apps menu — close one, scroll through the app carousel, open another, then repeat the whole process. It worked, sure, but it never felt smooth after experiencing how effortless multitasking could be.

That’s where Android 17’s app bubbles have changed that rhythm for me. I’ve pinned the apps I use most, and now switching between them feels absolutely instant. I just tap a bubble, jump into the app, swipe over to another one when needed, and continue whatever I was doing without constantly breaking my flow.

What surprised me most is how usable they actually are. Yes, I know — at first glance, these small floating windows seem like they’d feel cramped or restrictive, but once you actually start using them, they rarely come across that way. For quick replies, checking information, copying across apps, or even casual browsing, the experience feels more convenient than I expected; almost like carrying a tiny slice of foldable-style multitasking on a slab phone.

One bubble for work, four bubbles for distraction

This feature lets you pin up to five apps at a time. I know, that sounds a little restrictive at first, but five apps are just enough to stay productive without turning my screen into a chaotic pile of floating windows fighting for survival — which, knowing me, is exactly what would have happened with no limit.

Over time, the setup itself has started to feel like a tiny snapshot of my daily routine. My current bubbles setup on the Google Pixel 10a includes Instagram, WhatsApp, Chrome, Slack, and YouTube Music — basically a mix of work and distractions. I strongly believe in work-life balance, which, in my case, means replying to Slack messages while simultaneously watching reels I absolutely did not need to see.

Naturally, Instagram and WhatsApp sit right at the top because they are the apps I use most often. And look, I know myself well enough to admit there is not a single phone session that does not somehow end in doomscrolling. Instagram opens instantly through the bubble, and from there, it is business as usual — scrolling through reels, sharing memes with friends, and reacting to stories. The experience feels absolutely normal, too. Even though the app layout is more compact than usual, it doesn’t feel stripped down.

That convenience becomes even more useful with WhatsApp. Unlike Instagram, I rarely open it on my own unless a notification pops up. But since literally everyone I know exists there — friends, family, work people, and random groups — notifications never really stop. So instead of digging through my app drawer every single time, I just tap the bubble and jump straight into the conversation.

What surprised me, though, is how quickly Slack grabs my attention despite all of this. I know this sounds unbelievable after hearing how emotionally invested I clearly am in Instagram, but the second a Slack notification appears, I instinctively tap the bubble, skim through the message, decide whether it is an actual emergency, and either jump into work or move on with my life.

And once the chaos of notifications settles down, Chrome and YouTube Music quietly round off the setup in a functional way. My brain refuses to let random thoughts go unsearched, so Chrome is there for every curious moment that absolutely cannot wait another minute. Meanwhile, YouTube Music mostly stays in the background doing its thing. But whenever I hear a song I like or suddenly remember a track from 2017 at 2 PM on a Tuesday, the bubble makes it ridiculously easy to jump in, play it, and add it to my favorites before my goldfish attention span moves on to something else.

While I mostly use app bubbles to maintain some form of work-life balance, if you’re one of those productivity superheroes, you can turn all your work apps (like Gmail, Docs, and Slack) into bubbles and multitask endlessly. Somebody has to keep the productivity economy alive.

This is what it really comes down to. The best part of Android 17’s bubbles feature is not just that it lets me multitask across multiple apps on a regular slab phone — it’s that it somehow manages to do everything without making me feel overwhelmed.

That is exactly why this feature has brought a strangely unbalanced balance to my workflow. The apps I use the most are always floating there within reach, and instead of constantly opening, closing, and hunting for things, I just move between them throughout the day.

And that shift has completely changed how the Pixel 10a feels in daily use. It’s still compact, still lightweight, and still has that easy-to-live-with charm I liked from day one. The real problem, it turns out, was never the hardware; I just needed software that could keep up with a brain constantly juggling five things at once.