Your Android phone comes with a setting that can make multitasking easier

If there’s one Android feature that puts iPhones to shame, it’s multitasking. The iPhone has been releasing models since 2007, and yet none of the regular non-foldable iPhones offer specific multitasking features. On the other hand, Android devices have supported split-screen since the introduction of Android 7.0 in 2016. Over these ten years, multitasking on Android has only improved.

On the one hand, you can now adjust the space occupied by each application on the split screen. You can set the ratio to 90:10, for example, where one app takes up 90% of the screen, while the other app is largely hidden but still easily accessible. Then you have the option to save split-screen apps as an app pair. This allows you to quickly reopen the two apps together without needing to reconfigure them.

Besides these cool features, there is also a hidden Android setting that lets you open a notification in a pop-up window. This window sits above other active applications, so you can quickly respond to messages while still keeping your original task visible on the screen. The setting is usually already enabled by default, but here’s how to check if it’s enabled on your device.

Each major Android phone brand offers different ways to let users open notifications in a pop-up window. If you are using a Samsung phone, follow these steps:

1. Launch Settings.
2. Go to Notifications.
3. Tap Advanced Settings.
4. Select Floating Notifications.
5. Switch from Bubbles view to smart pop-up view.
6. Open the included apps.
7. Enable the apps you want to open in a smart pop-up view. If you don’t see an app in the list, it doesn’t support multiple windows.

Meanwhile, on Motorola devices, here is what you need to do:

1. In Settings, go to Gestures.
2. Select Sidebar.
3. Go to the gear icon at the bottom.
4. Open Settings again.
5. Enable Open free-form notifications.

For ASUS phones, you can also find multitasking functionality in settings. Just go to Advanced and choose Open floating windows via warnings and turn it on. Xiaomi devices also come with this feature, but it cannot be disabled from settings. You can, however, view a tutorial on how to use pop-ups by going to Additional Settings in the Settings app and choosing Floating Windows.

Once your Android phone is set up, you can start opening your message notifications in a pop-up window. The exact process for starting over varies slightly depending on the phone manufacturer. On Motorola, ASUS, and Xiaomi, you simply swipe down on the notification banner that appears at the top of the screen.

On Samsung, whenever you receive a message from the apps you selected, the corresponding app will appear as a floating icon on your screen. Tap it and the message will open as a pop-up window where you can then move around and type your response. If you receive notifications from multiple selected apps at the same time, the app icons will stack on top of each other. You can tap one to expand it and select the notification you want to open. But there is also an option to open all notifications in a pop-up window at once by tapping the overlapping squares icon.

What you can do with the floating window from here depends on what your phone manufacturer allows. On Samsung, for example, you can minimize the window to the floating icon, open the window in split-screen mode, maximize the window to full screen, or close the window. Just tap the blue handle bar at the top to bring up these options. Closing the window is also as easy as simply dragging it to the Close symbol at the bottom of the screen.