Galaxy Z Fold 4 adopts Android 12L’s excellent taskbar with One UI 4.1.1, coming to Fold 3 too

Ben Schoon | Aug 10 2022 - 7:00 am PT

Google released Android 12L earlier this year with an updated focus on tablets and foldables, and now it’s finally getting the chance to flex that muscle. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 ships with Android 12L and its stellar taskbar, and the same is coming to the Galaxy Z Fold 3 too.

The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a device full of refinement, from a wider display to a better camera, but improvements also extend over to the software.

Case in point is the adoption of the taskbar that Google debuted in Android 12L. Samsung’s first device to offer the Android 12L taskbar will be the Galaxy Z Fold 4, and the implementation is similar to Android 12L previews. “The Taskbar,” as Samsung refers to it, appears alongside the typical navigation buttons or gestures and pulls from the bottom row of your homescreen as well as some recent apps. The Taskbar disappears when you go to the homescreen, and it reappears when you open up any apps.

When it’s on screen, the Taskbar also allows you to pull apps from it to either side of the screen for multitasking. It’s quick and easy, and you can simply tap on one of the app icons to move back and forth between them. There’s also a shortcut to open the app drawer.

Of course, it’s also worth noting that Samsung had a similar feature on the Galaxy Z Fold 3 last year, but it was mounted to the side of the display and resulted in some clunky software changes. Even in just the few minutes we’ve played with this iteration, it feels far better.

Samsung further explains:

The new Taskbar provides a layout similar to your PC, offering access to your favorite and recent apps. Multitasking is also more intuitive, thanks to new swipe gestures. Instantly switch full-screen apps to pop-up windows or split your screen in half for more ways to multitask.

Notably, the new swipe gestures Samsung refers to are found in the Labs section and are not enabled by default. The Taskbar should be enabled by default on the main screen.

In speaking with Samsung, the company was able to confirm to 9to5Google that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 will get One UI 4.1.1 and the Android 12L taskbar eventually, but no exact timeline was provided. It stands to reason that the Galaxy Z Fold 2 will also see the same change as will any large-screen Samsung devices running One UI 4.1.1 and up.