Android Q Beta 2: How to enable ‘Bubbles’ for notifications using ADB

Ben Schoon | Apr 3 2019 - 2:19 pm PT

One of the unexpected and big new features in Android Q is the addition of Bubbles for notifications. This new multitasking option has a lot of promise, but it’s not enabled on anything just yet. However, thanks to a handful of ADB commands, we can take a closer look.

Hidden beneath the surface in Android Q, there are a few ADB commands which allow us to mess around with the platform’s new Bubble feature. Of course, you’ll want to do this all at your own risk, but relatively speaking, this is a pretty safe process, albeit very buggy.

The most important command we’ll talk about here is one that enables Bubbles on messaging apps specifically. When enabling this command, Android Q should enable Bubbles for any notifications that involve messaging applications. We’ve tested this with Hangouts and Google Messages and it seems to work fine, but your results may vary. Not all messaging apps may work, but in theory, this should only open messaging notifications in Bubbles, leaving emails and system notifications in the traditional system.

Also to keep in mind, keyboards seem to barely work with this feature.

adb shell settings put secure experiment_enable_bubbles 1

adb shell settings put secure experiment_autobubble_messaging 1

Messaging apps drop into bubbles while other notifications stick in the traditional system

You can also enable Bubbles for all notifications with a similar command, listed below. I wouldn’t recommend this, however, as the actual notifications themselves aren’t reliable and cause a lot of UI-related problems. As you’d expect, you can drag around these bubbles all around the screen as you’d like, with a swipe down dismissing the group.

adb shell settings put secure experiment_autobubble_all 1

We also discovered a command which lets you adjust the placement of how these Bubbles are opened. The ADB command below lets you choose between having the bubble above the notification instead of below it.

adb shell settings put secure experiment_enable_top_bubbles 1

Despite being buggy, Bubbles have a lot of potential

If you turn this on and want to revert the change, simply use the ADB commands below depending on what you enabled above.

adb shell settings delete secure experiment_enable_bubbles

adb shell settings delete secure experiment_autobubble messaging

adb shell settings delete secure experiment_autobubble_all

adb shell settings delete secure experiment_enable_top_bubbles

Dylan and Kyle contributed to this article