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SamsungPatent applicationPhones & computersInterest 4/10

Samsung patents drag-and-drop way to open two apps side-by-side

Patent drawing
Patent drawing from the official filing.

Samsung describes a method for users to open two apps side-by-side by dragging one app icon onto another in the recent apps view. As you drag, the screen shows a preview of how the two apps will fit together, and releasing your finger opens that split-screen layout.

Why it mattersThis offers a more intuitive way to manage multiple tasks on a phone, similar to dragging files into folders on a computer.

In the filing’s own words

A method of displaying a screen of an electronic device, may include: entering a multi-window preview mode in response to receiving, an input of a recent screen view, a second input on a first recently used screen displayed on a display; displaying at least some of the plurality of recently used screens in the multi-window preview mode; while the second input is maintained in the multi-window preview mode, when the first recently used screen is moved to a specific position for a target recently used screen, according to the second input, displaying, as a preview image, a layout of a multi-window in which the first recently used screen and the target recently used screen can be displayed together; and displaying, when the second input is released, the multi-window including the first recently used screen and the target recently used screen and corresponding to the preview image.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. An electronic device comprising: a display; memory storing instructions; and at least one processor, comprising processing circuitry, wherein the instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, individually and/or collectively, cause the electronic device to: display a user interface of a recent screen view, enabling browsing a plurality of recently used screens, on the display by executing the recent screen view, based on a first input, each of the plurality of recently used screens indicating an execution screen of an application previously executed or currently being executed in the electronic device; enter a multi-window preview mode in response to receiving a second input to a first recently used screen displayed on the display among the plurality of recently used screens through the user interface of the recent screen view; display at least some of the plurality of recently used screens in the multi-window preview mode and, based on the first recently used screen moving to a specific location for a target recently used screen among the displayed plurality of recently used screens according to the second input while the second user is maintained in the multi-window preview mode, display a layout of a multi-window, enabling displaying both the first recently used screen and the target recently used screen, as a preview image; and based on the second input being released, display the multi-window including the first recently used screen and the target recently used screen and corresponding to the preview image.

Facts

Company
Samsung (SAMSUNG ELECTRONICS CO., LTD.)
Official title
ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND SCREEN DISPLAY METHOD
Publication number
US20260319816A1
Application number
19689635
Filed
May 27, 2026
Published
Oct 15, 2026
Inventors
7
Claims
19

Classified under

G06F 9/451 Physics & computingG06F 3/04817 Physics & computingG06F 3/0482 Physics & computingG06F 3/0483 Physics & computingG06F 3/0484 Physics & computingG06F 3/0488 Physics & computing
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.