Android Q – 1. preview

Google has just recently introduced the first preview of Android Q and there are some changes that I have a headache from. So what’s going to affect Floating Apps on Q:

Draw over other apps – This permission is critical as it allows Floating Apps to draw floating windows. Without this permission, the app just can’t work. While testing Android Q, I noticed that the permission is automatically disabled when the phone is rebooted. It means that every single time you turn your phone off or reboot it, you have to re-enable the permission. I hope this is just a bug in the early preview version and Google will manage to fix it.

Your privacy and the clipboard – This seems to be the biggest problem Floating Apps have to face. Google is blocking access to the system clipboard for all apps except for keyboard in Android Q. Our copy/paste mechanism shouldn’t be affected but the Floating clipboard will no longer be able to monitor clipboard operations in other apps. That’s pity – thanks Google! The app can still monitor copy/paste actions inside Floating Apps, so it’s still a kind of useful for some purposes.

Some clipboard managers already announced that they will go out of business.

And the good news: the free-form mode – In Android P, the free-form mode has undergone a lot of changes and it now works in a bit different way. It seems that the free-form mode in Android Q works in exactly the same way as in P. Again, it’s just the early preview, so we can’t be sure yet. However, there are some sings that the free-form mode is going to receive more attention from Google and will be better integrated into the system. Finally!