Surface Duo Blog

Activity Embedding preview for large screens and foldables

November 3, 2022 Nov 3, 2022 11/3/22

Cesar Valiente

Hello Android developers, The Jetpack Window Manager (JWM) library helps you build adaptive UIs that work well on any device form factor (i.e. single screen, dual screen, foldable, and large screen devices). Jetpack Window Manager provides you with the information that you need to adapt your app’s UI, so it works well on any device...

Android 12L for developers on Surface Duo

October 27, 2022 Oct 27, 2022 10/27/22

Guy Merin

Hello Android developers! We're excited to see that Android 12L is being rolled out to Surface Duo devices, and equally keen to see what the Android developer community builds to support it. Android 12L for foldable app developers The good news for developers is that dual-screen APIs have not changed and foldable app ...

Persisting and sharing ink

October 20, 2022 Oct 20, 2022 10/20/22

Parker Schroeder

Hello Android developers! We have some updates to the InkSDK that we would like to share with you, as well as some general guidance on persisting ink and open ink standards. Overview While Android provides different canvases for rendering ink, there is little guidance on how to store that ink or what format it ...

Foldable Navigation Rail

October 13, 2022 Oct 13, 2022 10/13/22

Sorin Albu

Hello Android developers! This week we’re excited to share with you a new library to make it easy to support Navigation Rail on foldable devices like Surface Duo. Navigation Rail package One of the tricks when building mobile apps for Surface Duo devices is to avoid your UI being obscured by the hinge. Controls that aren’t...

Designing for foldable and large screens

October 6, 2022 Oct 6, 2022 10/6/22

Yuran Liu

Hello app designers! Today we are going to talk about designing for foldable and large screens. We’ve been practicing responsive web design for a long time - let's use those concepts to optimze your mobile app for different platforms and devices. Mobile apps can use adaptive designs to deliver a consistent app experience. In today...

Show off your apps with Phone Link

September 29, 2022 Sep 29, 2022 09/29/22

Ionut Stirban

Hello Android developers! This week we’re going to share some tips and tricks to help you show off your development work in meetings, livestreams, recordings, blog posts, or anywhere else you want a video or still of your app! Demo-ing with Phone Link Your phone’s screen can be mirrored on Surface Duo and other ...

Jetpack Compose Accompanist TwoPane

September 22, 2022 Sep 22, 2022 09/22/22

Kristen Halper

Hello Compose developers! This week, we’d like to talk about the TwoPane layout from Google’s Accompanist Adaptive library! Not to be confused with our own Microsoft Compose SDK TwoPaneLayout component, TwoPane from Accompanist is a fold-aware UI component that works great for cases when you always want to show two pieces...

Improving app accessibility with Jetpack Compose

September 15, 2022 Sep 15, 2022 09/15/22

Kristen Halper

Hello Jetpack Compose developers! This week, we’d like to share how we started improving the accessibility of our Compose samples. Accessibility in Android can relate to many different aspects of your apps, ranging from content descriptions and color contrast to layout hierarchy and touch target size. Regardless of where ...

Surface Duo Design Kit 2.2 update

September 8, 2022 Sep 8, 2022 09/8/22

Yuran Liu

Hello app designers! Our Surface Duo Design Kit is now updated to version 2.2. If you haven’t heard of this kit before, Surface Duo Design Kit is the go-to place where you can find all our UX design suggestions and UI components for both Surface Duo and Surface Duo 2. It includes many of the interface components which you can ...

Dual-screen example adds Jetpack Compose to the experience

September 1, 2022 Sep 1, 2022 09/1/22

Alin-Mihai Argeanu, Kristen Halper

Hello Compose developers! This week, we’re excited to announce two big updates to our dual-screen experience example: a Compose refactor of the catalog page and a brand new order history page. The dual-screen experience example provides an end-to-end experience centered around a travelling guitar salesperson, with options ...