The conventional taskbar, which arrived with Android 12L, is getting another upgrade as per Mishaal Rahman. Android 13 DP2 introduces a new app drawer shortcut to pull up all the installed apps quickly. However, the app drawer icon only appears when the DPI levels are higher than 600. So it will take some work to replicate this on your Pixel device, even if it’s running Android 13 DP2. Interestingly, the app drawer icon only appears when the user is running an app. It disappears when the user returns to the home screen. As Android Police points out, the app drawer icon was replaced by the swipe-up gesture with Android 7 Nougat. So its arrival is somewhat surprising.
Google is likely to offer more information on Android 13 at I/O 2022 this May
The screenshots provided by Rahman show the new app drawer when the Settings app is open. This feature could significantly boost multitasking on larger screens by allowing users to seamlessly access all their apps regardless of the app they’re on. It’s a relatively simple addition to Android 13 DP2, one that we hope makes the final cut with the stable release in the fall this year. In addition to this new inclusion for larger screens, Android 13 DP2 is also bringing tweaks to provide more information about apps’ battery usage. While this isn’t a new feature on Android, Google is improving the way notifications are sent, thus allowing users to take the best course of action. Android 13 DP2 also brings modified line heights for non-Latin scripts, new Text Conversion APIs, Japanese text wrapping, plus built-in support for Bluetooth LE Audio. The first Android 13 betas should give us a better idea of the more significant inclusions. Google is likely to shed more light on the upcoming iteration of Android at the annual I/O event on May 11-12.
