Multitasking (WIP/Brainstorm)

How people switch from one application to another in GNOME Shell. At present the Activities Overview manages application windows and workspaces and is the interface for multitasking.

Problems

The Activities Overview has a few shortcomings as a multitasking hub

• The effectiveness of the Overview diminishes as more applications are opened and window previews crowd the screen, the task becoming managing windows instead of getting to what you want to do next
• The windows previews in the overview lack any kind of obvious hierarchy or organization that makes finding the right window simple
• The Overview does a poor job prioritizing windows for the task at hand, instead it shows all windows regardless of task relevance or recency
• Traditional window/workspace management is cumbersome and idiosyncratic; i.e. how people manage windows and workspaces is unpredictable and a form of habit more so a product of the UI being up to that task
• Switching between apps quickly takes longer the more applications you have open

Proposed Goals

• improve on the ability to quickly get between applications via touch/mouse input
• improve on the organization of applications presented in the overview/multitasking
• lessen the task of window/app management

Proposed Solutions

• Move away from managing windows and workspaces towards applications/tasks. Applications previews in the overview would then consist of either individual fullscreen apps and groups of apps "bound" together (e.g. a pair of apps in split screen would appear as that pair in the overview). Multitasking becomes then about switching between apps and "app groups"
• Traditional workspaces/virtual desktops are made redundant?
• Apps tile instead of exist as floating windows on a desktop (there will need to be some thought as to how to handle small apps, like calculator)
• Sort these application "tiles" in the overview by recency in a large scrollable lists, grouped applications replace workspaces. There is no more window management.
• applications UIs become more adaptive and suited to tiling (i.e. being fullscreen or in a split screen format) but tiling is limited to a few configurations/layouts

Relevant Approaches on Other Platforms

iOS on iPad

Multitasking overview consisting of app previews, sorted by recent-ness/relevance and quick launch bar. Control centre also pictured.

Application splitscreen

Windows 10 "Timeline"

A mix of application and webpages "activities" display in chronological order–a historical view of tasks than can be scrolled through