Will the SDK or the device provide a functionality to include other Microsoft apps in asplit screen?

[tscholze]

Abstract

In some of my scenarios for Surface Duo centric apps play other Microsoft owned apps a huge role to utilizes the large screens of the Duo.

For example

You have on the right side a lot of dashboard-ish key value metrics like performance graphs, sales figures, etc.

On the left, you have a more detailed view of a selected value. Now it would be great to split the detail page vertical in half and embed Microsoft OneNote, Excel or Outlook to “work with the detailed information” without leaving the app. This would allow to take notes in OneNote or write an email with a summary of some information that are available in the app.

Question

Will the SDK provide a functionality to embed such external apps into the developer’s own app? If not, will the customized version of Android support this feature? It’s like the split screen feature of some large Samsung phones but the user should not have to do this step by hand. The app should request opening another app in a split screen on one of the both screens.

Thanks for any tips and insights!

- Tobias

[#2 · Accepted solution]

Let me see if I understand your idea:
1) Your app is spanned across the entire screen real-estate (on Duo that means it is "spanned" across both screens).
2) You want your app to be able to open another app INSIDE the spanned area of your app, sort of hosting it as a container in your UI.
Is that it? If so I am actually not sure how to do that. What I do know is that our SDK does not have this capability. In fact our SDK is really just three things: DisplayMask API, the hinge angle sensor and the Duo "capability" ID. Everything else is just Android OS so if the Android OS allows such app-in-app hosting then we would not prevent it. :)
Let me know if you'd like more concrete info on this and we can do a little digging but we do not plan to evolve the SDK further alone but rather we are working with Google to get dual screen devices supported natively in Android R.

[#3]

Hi @Hakon_Strande,

thanks for your try to understand me. :)

I already tought that this will be not a part of the SDK.

Just to keep it save that you understand me - I think you did. :)

My idea was that you are able to split a pane of the TwoPaneView vertical in half and embedde a container that hosts another android app.

Maybe this could be done by the PiP feature, but this is a feature of the Neo SDK isn't it?

Nevertheless, this seems to be a Android / Xamarin.Forms "feature" and not a Duo SDK one.

Thanks for your reponse,

- Tobi