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Taskbar - PC-style productivity for Android?
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I imagine it's peaked the interest of a handful of Googlers because of its ability to enable freeform window mode on Android 7.0+ devices. They must be using it to test freeform on Android 7.1 or something like that.
Hey guys! A couple weeks ago, I released an app that adds a PC-like taskbar and start menu to your Android device, and since then I've been steadily improving it with new features. It's (unimaginatively) called Taskbar, and I wrote it after wanting to better take advantage of Android Nougat's multi-window mode on my Pixel C.
I know that there are already several other apps out there that try to provide something similar, but I was pretty dissatisfied with all of them. I particularly wanted to write something that worked well on Android tablets that are used with a keyboard and mouse. So hopefully others out there can get some use out of this as well.
Features:
Start menu - shows you all applications installed on the device, configurable as a list or as a grid
Recent apps tray - shows your most recently used apps and lets you easily switch between them. This uses the UsageStatsManager API introduced in Lollipop.
Many different configuration options - customize Taskbar however you want
Pin favorite apps or block the ones you don't want to see
Special support for Android Nougat freeform window mode - if you're brave enough to enable freeform support on your device via ADB, there will be an option within the app to allow Taskbar to stay in the freeform window workspace, even with no other windows running.
100% free, open source, and no ads
Play Store Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar
Source Code: https://github.com/farmerbb/Taskbar
> Tablet is basically a phone with a bigger screen
That's exactly what a tablet is, the rest is your subjective impression, which I don't see being very relevant when Android tablets are capable of things like taskbar.
News flash: Android 7.0 (and 7.1) is out! This entire thing got revolutionised!
I personally think Taskbar does a really good job too. It also gives you a lot of options, you can open apps in popup mode directly and you have some quick settings toggles 😁
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar&hl=en_US , it is already included in androidx86, I just changed some settings around (for example i don't use freeform mode at all).
I'm the dev of this app, here's a link if anyone else is interested in trying it: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar
It really goes a long way towards giving the Pixel C a more desktop-like feel.
I was looking for the same and found a perfect solution! Install the app Taskbar, which is incredible by itself.
Once installed you have the option to set 5 apps as quick settings buttons. When you tap the button the chosen app will be opened directly as a popup app! 😁
Try it and tell me if this solved your issue ☺️
I just tried it on a few different phones and I couldn't resize on any of them while in landscape. Try Taskbar, it can do what you are wanting.
You can actually download Taskbar from the playstore while you wait for the update. Go to good lock, multistar, I love my foldable, set all ratio to 4.3 then on the same menu, adjust compatibility app location to either left or right depending on where you want the Taskbar to show on the the Taskbar settings Taskbar
Given Sentio is abandonware at this point, and there are fundamental aspects of it which remain broken or hobbled, I'd not bother with it.
Instead, I recommend Taskbar. Even better if you have Lineage OS based on Android 10 so you can leverage the desktop mode framework that's baked into Android 10/11. You would need an unlocked bootloader to do this though.
XHaloFloatingWindow, which requires Xposed (which unfortunately means no Pie or PoGo or SafteyNet). I've also has some luck in the past using the app Taskbar to make a floating window of an app. Another alternative is creating a clone using App Cloner and editing the clone so that it doesn't pause - but this won't work for apps which verify their signatures (so no Ingress/PoGo again).
What I haven't tried yet is making a clone of a virtual environment like Island or VirtualXposed to make it floating, and then launch the game within that environment and see if it works. Would be cool if it did, even if its clunky. :)
Apps don't run in draggable windows by default, however, you can enable this by installing Taskbar and enabling freeform mode within the app.
Not sure if this would help, but maybe try Taskbar?
It allows freeform multiwindow, so you could have the image open in a regular gallery app in a freeform window, then the other app(s) in another?
Dunno, might not be what you're after. I have the app installed, but I never really use it.
I always say, start with the newest available, currently based on Android 9 and try it in live mode - this will run it off a flash drive - skip the Google account step, just connect to Internet and try the hardware - keyboard, touchpad, camera, display, etc. - if that doesn't work or doesn't boot (system requirements sometimes go up with every new release) then go one version down to 8, etc. As long as what you end up is relatively new - I could be mistaken but I believe KitKat (4.4) or newer is needed for Play Store access.
For the desktop-like experience, there are a few launchers that mimic a kind of desktop mouse/keyboard focused control. Some builds come with a home screen called Taskbar as an option, which if you look at the screenshots on the listing it's a lot more similar to the kind of thing you're talking about.
That's good to know. I think this would be a useful for me. I normally use Taskbar App
I have it automatically activated using a Bixby routine whenever I connect my Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. I call it Chromebook mode. Having the taskbar being baked in one UI is beneficial because the taskbar app is just an overlay so it can look congested because apps do not shift up when it's activated. See image Taskbar over icons
Well there was a concept called Project Linda. I was just asking if it is possible to enable it. But looks like it was just a concept and not a real thing. At least the sources for this feature were not published for use.
>If anyone knows of apps and ETC that would optimize the RP2 in desktop mode, I'd like to know.
You can use app like Taskbar for that.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar&hl=cs&gl=US
They're closed source as far as I know.
Android's native desktop mode framework can be built out to make a third party desktop mode launcher, but none have actually done it yet. The closest we got was Flow Desktop which was abandoned.
Now, all you have is Taskbar, but it's not really comparable.
I see. The Taskbar can be updated from the Play Store - I wonder if there's a specific bug you're experiencing that may have been fixed already, if not may be worth reporting. Here's a link to the Play Store version: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar
Android-x86 comes with two home screens. One is the standard Android screen people are used to on phones and tablets, the other is a homescreen called Taskbar, which you can download from Google Play as well, here is the link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar - Taskbar is a lot more like a mouse and keyboard oriented PC-style interface, the standard Android home screen is usually optimized for touch.
You can't. You also can't easily use the developer options desktop mode baked into Android because it requires an external display, which Tab A doesn't support.
Best you can do is something like Taskbar launcher: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar
Using Taskbar and the freeform windows developer option, you can actually open as many of the same app as you want. It's very buggy, but it works.
Not exactly what you asked for, but there’s the app TaskBar, which adds such a bar and tons of options, maybe something for you ☺️
Which video? Can you link it please? 😁
Yes, the screen resolution is nice, but could be better. For me personally it’s not an issue, everything looks good 😄
I never used Opera, but with Samsung internet and chrome you can have several tabs as windows. I’m not sure about discord, but you could use secure folder to have another instance of discord.
I tested Sentio… it’s a nice idea, but the app isn’t working well 😅 I always landed on my launcher, apps crashed and many glitches. If you didn’t already tested try the Taskbar app, it’s similar, but much better, works in portrait mode too and you also get several quick settings button to instantly launch apps in pop-up view 😘
Nice to meet you too ❤️
There's actually a developer option in Android to enable freeform windows. It's very buggy, but has a surprising number of features when paired with this app.
I have a Samsung Dex device. But I have this app bookmarked for if I switch away from it. I can't speak to it from experience, but it has good reviews
Hey, just wanted to let you know that I released the update to Taskbar adding desktop mode support for any launcher. Grab the update here.
Something like the feature from here. It's natively supported on Android, but it needs something to launch it that way.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar
Samsung devices have multi-window by default in One UI.
Hey, I'm the person that created that modified version of Lawnchair. Glad to see you're enjoying it :)
Basically what I did was, I took the Lawnchair source code and merged my Taskbar app into it as a library. All the UI that is being drawn on the external display is done via Taskbar.
I do have an update coming soon that will let you use this with any third-party launcher installed (not just Lawnchair), so stay tuned!
Try taskbar https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar&hl=en_US it’s free to dl!
It’s essentially the same without a launcher but the actual taskbar is more powerful imo and is updated more often I use ATV as my launcher.
You should get button mapper and map individual keys on your keyboard as well Try tasker as well??
I'm also on nova launcher and am happy with it. I just find it uncomfortable to up-swipe with a mouse to open the app drawer, so that's why I installed taskbar. It just adds a (hidable!) windows-like start button in the bottom left corner which opens an alphabetical list of all apps.
Reducing the DPI is great, because it gives you more of a notebook feeling instead of a enlarged smartphone feeling. Especially browsing and reading texts is way more comfy.
>The task it's triggered by the Display Link notification via AutoNotification. I have to work a little bit more on it but I think it works well enough. There's an exit task which inverts all the settings when the notification is destroyed.
Clever! I didn't even think of checking the notification, but that might work. I'll have to confirm displaylink anyways so there's no additional effort. Great, thanks!
Yeah, burn in happens very quickly, in my experience. Not the most elegant solutions, but you could rotate the phone or use Taskbar (resize game window, move it).
I've got a Nougat ROM on my Galaxy Note 10.1 2012, and with the pen, the keyboard dock, and this app, it's like a shitty Android Surface Pro. Best experience I've ever had with an Android tablet, I'd even say it's better than Remix OS on my laptop. I wish OEMs did stuff like this.
I developed an app called Taskbar that has a "hidden" feature that will give you exactly what you're looking for. One of the features of the app is the ability to override the search key on the Pixel C's keyboard to bring up the app's start menu while it's running. However, since it has to override Google Now as the search assistant, I also built the feature to pop up the Google search bar overlay when the app is not running.
So, download the app, enable the keyboard shortcuts feature, set Taskbar as the assist app, and boom. You don't even have to use the app itself (although it is quite useful on the Pixel C)
Yes, Android 10 and 11 come with a hidden desktop mode. Activate it in developer settings and use the taskbar app to add a taskbar.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar
You need an app called Taskbar.
Edit: Taskbar, not Tasker.
The main thing to find out is if your USB-C port on your phone supports using it for video out, and not just for charging/data. If is does you could connect to a display with a USB C to HDMI adapter. In addition:
Bluetooth keyboards like the Logitech K480 is a good choice in my opinion will work as keyboards in Android - any app including Gmail, Docs, Office, etc. will work fine. The Logitech K400 Plus is both a keyboard and a touchpad if you don't want to get a separate mouse, but it's not Bluetooth it has a USB-A dongle. Grab a home screen like Taskbar when you connect to a display. You can pick up a little dongle like this Anker USB-C hub which has USB-A ports (if you're not doing bluetooth) and HDMI out which you can send to a monitor.
Far as I can tell, both Google Docs and Microsoft Office support common keyboard combinations like CTRL+C, CTRL+V, CTRL+B for bold, etc.
You may run into two issues with apps:
- Some apps are locked to a specific screen orientation. If the app developer has set the app to work in Portrait mode only (only if their landscape mode looks terrible) you're not going to have a good time with that app.
- The mouse scroll wheel automatically gets translated to scrolling on Android like you would with your finger, but some apps will scroll backwards instead of how you expect.
Taskbar on google play should do the trick https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar&hl=en\_US&gl=US
You can use Taskbar to open apps in freeform mode alongside fullscreen apps.
Yes you can! This app should be exactly what you're after: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar
If it's running Nougat, Taskbar can do this.
I think you're looking for something like this: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar
Taskbar, Android tablets + keyboard + mouse is a great setup! (Never tried, but it sounds good.)
Taskbar lets you open apps in freeform floating windows.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar
No built in screen recorder in q?
Also, if you want to try this without q https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar (It's pretty buggy though)
Enable hardware buttons and install an overlay for launching apps? For example, this one.
- Enable freeform multitasking
- Install Taskbar
- Get a USB-C dock
- ???
- Profit
Do you use Taskbar? https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar
Nice little alternative to Dex
Try Taskbar. It's multiwindow can accomplish a similar thing though not the same
I heard you have a Samsung phone, but not flagship. You may want to buy an adapter similar to the one featured here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44-jXexQ8Kk
FOR MORE ADVANCED USERS: If you are familiar with ADB and have Android 11 or later, you can change both the resolution and DPI without the use of a PC. Don't attempt this with other manufacturers without checking online though as you might risk experiencing a boot-loop. As for Samsung, I tested as far back as Nougat (Galaxy S6) and the system handles resolution and DPI changes just fine. I recommend changing the resolution to 768x1366 and DPI to 160. Always recheck the values! You can reset those values later. Those should also remove black bars if you have a 16:9 monitor. The phone should be set to landscape as well. Use Taskbar for a multi-window experience.
BEGINNER FRIENDLY: Just use the adapter by itself and utilize Taskbar. Things will appear bigger on the monitor as usual, but you can change "Minimum width" to 768 from Developer options. You should now have more screen real estate. Remember the previous value for reset later or you may reset it by changing "Font size and style" and "Screen zoom" from Display settings. You'd have top and bottom bars unfortunately as there's no easily accessible setting for changing the display aspect ratio. Screen resolution will remain as is.
From my understanding, Dex is just a launcher. You can achieve something similar with (Taskbar)[https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar]
Try TaskBar
A lot. Check It out in The Google play store. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar
An application from The play store https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar
Try Taskbar for Start menu and a Recent apps taskbar https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar
It's in the developer options.
It's pretty shitty but they're are apps that make it work much more like dex.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar
How about this ?
The following app actually does a better job than the default behavior. Much faster/more utilitarian multitasking.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar
>It's actually 4. Also I personally implemented a change letting maintainers select value >4 or even further restrict it: https://review.lineageos.org/q/I8f01b4e0385b35f4ed93aab2619839e5b40ee0c7
Thanks, that's pretty nice!
​
>We have restored that in 17.1/18.0.
Great to know!
​
>They didn't remove anything, they just restricted it so that user installable apps can't do something possibly unsafe.
I'm not that sure that there's a likely security risk but that's okay, I suppose most people with LOS anyway have root.
​
>Pretty easy to restore but is it really worth it...?
Would it be possible to explain how to get it back? My stock Moto ROM indeed does appear to get laggy if I don't reboot it for more than around ~200 hours.
More importantly: Is there some resource for learning how to add/edit such (presumably systemUI) resources? There's a ton of stuff I'd love to customize, and I'm sure there are others too who'd be interested.
​
>Eh.
I guess you've never opened 6 windows on a 5" phone using something like Taskbar, huh? (I'm kidding, 6 windows is of course too many, but split screen is honestly pretty handy at times.)
Anyway thanks for your replies, it seems that LOS still keeps a lot of things Google decides to remove.
Taskbar <- this
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar
Works with full screen or popups, depending on your setup.
Maybe Taskbar? Not sure if it lets you keep the dock on screen permanently, though...
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar
Hey, thanks for your hard work on writing this Tasker task!
>This works perfectly fine on my dying Galaxy S6 Edge running Android 7.0 Stock ROM. I heard newer versions of Android have different implementation of freeform windows especially Android Pie. You may refer to this XDA article.
Yes, this is correct. Google changed the way freeform mode works starting with Android Pie, and as a result this task won't work as-is on Pie or later. One additional change needs to be made, which is calling setLaunchWindowingMode on the ActivityOptions via reflection.
I'm not sure how to translate this into Tasker's Java Function commands, but here's some plain Java that should hopefully help you out. /u/joaomgcd, feel free to also use this as well, if you'd like to implement native support for launching freeform windows in Tasker:
For Android 7.0 - 8.1, I personally found that setting a different value via reflection helps with getting apps to launch in freeform mode more consistently:
One more thing to note: As of the latest update, Taskbar now supports launching freeform windows directly from a home screen shortcut, and this functionally can also be used from Tasker! When creating a task, use Tasker's "Shortcut" action, then choose the "Taskbar: Launch app" shortcut using the magnifying glass. Taskbar will then ask you to select an app and choose the window size you'd like to use. It should be super easy for me to expose this as part of Taskbar's Tasker plugin, so I'll make sure to do that in the next update :)
The easiest way might be to just go ahead and download Taskbar and then wait for the update to arrive via the Play Store. (It'll come as an update to Taskbar, not to the proof-of-concept APK that the OP is using.)
You could also follow me on Twitter where I'll announce the update there when it's ready. If I remember I can also just ping you here on Reddit when it's released.
I do want to say that making desktop mode work with any launcher has a couple of caveats. To do this Taskbar itself actually needs to be set as the system's default launcher (this is an Android 10 requirement for third-party apps to register themselves as the default desktop mode launcher, as well). Taskbar will then let you select a "primary launcher" which it runs whenever your phone's home button is pressed.
This means that you'd lose access to app shortcuts when long-pressing on an icon on your home screen, since due to another Android requirement these are only available for use by the default launcher. There are also some minor issues with animations which is a side effect of Taskbar basically immediately starting another launcher whenever the home button is pressed.
I'm also not 100% sure when this update will actually drop (hopefully within the next month or so), due to some ongoing family commitments that are taking priority. But hopefully you'll like it when it does! I'm pretty excited about it myself.
It doesn't look like Progressbar95 (sadly), but if you want a Windows-style launcher for your Android device, give Taskbar a try.
No it's not the first.
Taskbar is.
You can use Taskbar to launch multiple apps into freeform floating windows: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar
Hey guys,
I'm the developer of Taskbar, a PC-style app launcher with support for opening apps in freeform windows. I've been working hard on a solution for improving the Android 10 Desktop Mode experience, and I'm excited to let xda spill the beans on what I've been working on 🙂
Basically, I've turned Taskbar into a library that any third-party app launcher can integrate, that will provide a plug-and-play solution for these launchers to support Desktop Mode on Android 10. As a proof-of-concept, I've built a modified version of Lawnchair that automatically launches Taskbar onto an external display on devices with Android 10 with Desktop Mode enabled.
You can download this modified version of Lawnchair here: https://github.com/farmerbb/libtaskbar-Lawnchair-Example/releases. To my knowledge, this is the first custom launcher for Android 10's Desktop Mode that's been publicly released and available for anyone to download and try for themselves.
Also, if you're a launcher developer, you can get all the juicy details on how to integrate this solution yourself here: https://github.com/farmerbb/Taskbar/blob/master/lib/README.md
Have fun!
Hey guys,
I'm the developer of Taskbar, a PC-style app launcher with support for opening apps in freeform windows. I've been working hard on a solution for improving the Android 10 Desktop Mode experience, and I'm excited to let xda spill the beans on what I've been working on 🙂
Basically, I've turned Taskbar into a library that any third-party app launcher can integrate, that will provide a plug-and-play solution for these launchers to support Desktop Mode on Android 10. As a proof-of-concept, I've built a modified version of Lawnchair that automatically launches Taskbar onto an external display on devices with Android 10 with Desktop Mode enabled.
You can download this modified version of Lawnchair here: https://github.com/farmerbb/libtaskbar-Lawnchair-Example/releases. To my knowledge, this is the first custom launcher for Android 10's Desktop Mode that's been publicly released and available for anyone to download and try for themselves.
Also, if you're a launcher developer, you can get all the juicy details on how to integrate this solution yourself here: https://github.com/farmerbb/Taskbar/blob/master/lib/README.md
Have fun!
Something a little different, Taskbar.
https://f-droid.org/packages/com.farmerbb.taskbar/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.farmerbb.taskbar
It's winning feature for me is being able to place the home, back, and recents (navigation)buttons in a place I can easily reach with my thumb.
I choose not to use it's recent apps feature and just have the nav buttons and app drawer (yes, you can hide apps). Can also have a widget or two display at the tap of a button.
It's a great alternative for those wanting a minimalist option - no internet permission, and really friendly developer from my experience over the last few years.
Chromebook users: it's a nice way to quickly access your Android apps, trigger Bouncer, keep that damn shelf hidden, and according to a report on r/chromeos also display widgets.
edit, adding: https://www.reddit.com/r/chromeos/comments/aslxme/_/
This is what I use: Taskbar
Taskbar can do this.
NewPipe: website with a GitHub and F-Droid link.
iYTBP: XDA page, AFH page, most recent version.
Taskbar: if you don't want to use either of those, Taskbar can put any app in a freeform window.
The easiest way would be to use Taskbar.
Taskbar might be able to help.
My Taskbar, Notepad, and SecondScreen apps all have support for launcher shortcuts. (Taskbar can also launch other apps' launcher shortcuts as of the latest update)
Lemme guess, they just stole Taskbar from the dev and slapped it on.
It's amazing that anyone in this sub still condones buying Moto phones and giving a company all about making spyware, more money.