Android 15 could make floating chat bubbles better

Google just released the latest Android 14 QPR3 Beta 1 update, so it doesn’t seem like the company is working on Android 15. However, that’s not the case. News about the next Android upgrade is starting to become more abundant. For example, Android 15 could make app archiving better on Android. According to a new report, Android 15 could make floating chat bubbles much better.

For a while, Android allowed you to house your chat conversations in floating bubbles on the display. This is something popularized by Facebook Messenger. Now, you’re able to place message conversations as chat bubbles by default on Android. What’s neat is that you can house multiple conversations inside the chat bubbles, and they will just take up a small part of the UI.

But, Android 15 could make folding tap bubbles even better

Since we are still so far away from Android 15 even hitting the developer preview stage, you’ll want to take this news cautiously. Right now, we’re not quite sure what features Google is going to bring or test out.

Surprising no one, this bit of Android inside baseball comes to us via Mishaal Rahmen via Android Authority. Hidden within the Android 14 QPR3 beta 1, Rahmen found code alluding to a chat bubble bar. Currently, your chat bubbles will float above the UI and remain there consistently until you get rid of it. However, it appears that Android 15 may give you the ability to hide the chat bubbles, at least on tablets.

He was able to get this feature activated and post screenshots. Looking at the screenshots, we see that the chat bubbles will collapse into a little bar on the bottom right of the screen. In order to access it, you have to swipe up on that bar. Then, you’ll see a little UI element that houses the chat bubbles. Simply tap on one of the bubbles to bring up a chat window.

This is a bit different than what we have now where, when you tap on a bubble, a floating window takes up most of the screen. With the new implementation, you’ll see a small chat window open up, but it looks like it will be anchored to the bubble bar. It will take up less of the screen, as you’re dealing with a bigger canvas.

It’s a tablet feature

Right now, we’re not quite sure if this is only going to be for tablets, as the code indicates that. We’re all wondering if this will be available for foldables as well. Hopefully, it is, as foldables and tablets go hand in hand.

Also, it would be neat if this came out for phones as well. Rather than having a bar on the bottom right of the screen, it could probably be on the top right or top left. Simply swiping in from the left or right could bring out a shelf holding the chat conversations. Hopefully, Google makes this available for phones as well. Only time will tell.