Android "Floating" Apps

AirCalc (on-screen calculator) by MBFG (free) - A floating calculator. Drag the title bar to move the calculator to a different position, and drag the bottom right corner to resize the window. The "Copy" button will copy the current contents of the calculation box to the Clipboard. The "Paste" button will paste the contents of the Clipboard into the calculation box, starting a new calculation (any calculations in progress will be lost). The "Ins" button will paste the contents of the Clipboard into the calculation box, continuing the current calculations in progress. The "Clear/Backspace" button will clear out the calculation box to start a new calculation (if the text on the button is "CLR"), or it will do a backspace (if the text on the button is "<=="). At the top right corner of the calculator, the first round button (blue) will minimize the calculator, and the second round button (red) will close the calculator. In your phone's notifications area, the "AirCalc" notification allows you to pop up a second, third, fourth, etc., calculator, and the "Calculator" notifications allow you to re-open any calculators which you had minimized.

Caller Notes by schustovd (free) - Tap the "+" icon at the top right corner of the screen to add a new note, then select one of your contacts that the note applies to. Type in a note, then tap the "checkmark" icon to save the note. When that person calls you, the note will be displayed. This is very handy for reminding yourself where you met the person, or something that you needed to remember to say to the person, and so on. Tap a note to edit it, or long-press a note for more options.

DicePlayer by INISOFT_DEV (free) - A floating or non-floating video player. After launching the app, navigate and tap a video file. While the video is playing, tap the player to see the controls. At the top left corner of the window, the "lock" icon allows you to lock the player so the other icons won't appear when you tap the player. At the bottom of the window are the standard player controls (rewind, pause/play, fast forward). The rectangular icon at the bottom right corner allows you to change the aspect ratio of the player window. On the right side of the window, the "up arrow" and "down arrow" icons allow you to speed up or slow down the playback. The rectangular icon at the top right corner of the screen changes the player into a small floating window which can be dragged to any position.

Dock4Droid by Urbandroid (free) - A flyout window (on the right side of the screen) which can contain icons for your favorite apps and contacts, as well as your recently-used apps. In the Settings menu, select whether you want to see your recent apps, or whether you only want to see "launchers" (i.e. icons for your favorite apps). In addition to app icons, you can also select shortcuts from the list of shortcuts on your phone, and you can select contacts (but only if the contacts have pictures associated with them). In the free version you can add up to four apps and four shortcuts and four contacts. After your apps and shortcuts and contacts are setup, the flyout window can be activated by sliding your finger down from the top right corner of the screen where the floating blue bar is visible (the size and shape and location of the blue bar can be configured in the Settings menu). As you slide your finger down the right side of your screen, each icon will be highlighted one at a time by displaying the text for each icon. To launch an app or shortcut or contact, simply lift your finger off of the screen when the appropriate icon is highlighted. To close the flyout window without launching anything, move your finger away from the edge of the screen before lifting your finger off of the screen. For similar apps, see Floating Banner (below), Sidebar Lite (below), Smart Taskbar (below), Swapps (below), and Trigger (below).

Floating Apps FREE - multitask by LWi s.r.o. (free) - The free version contains these floating apps: Applications, Bookmarks, Browser, Calculator, Countdown, Dialer, Flashlight, Launcher, Search Google, Search Wikipedia, Stopwatch, System Information, and Video Player. The full version also contains these apps: Contacts, Facebook, File Browser, Google Map, Google Plus, Image Viewer, Music Player, Notes, Paint, PDF Viewer, Task Killer, Translate, Twitter, Wifi Manager, and Youtube. Also allows you to create your own floating apps.

Floating Banner 2.0 by Gpc (free) - A floating window which can contain shortcuts for your favorite apps and widgets. When you launch the app, it opens up to the Settings menu. To add apps and widgets, tap "Floating Panel Editor." To add apps, tap "APP 1" at the top of the screen so it's underlined, then tap the "Add Selected" button. In the list of apps which pops up, tap the apps which you want to see in the floating window (only three apps are allowed in the free version), then tap the "Add" button. The selected apps are now displayed in the Floating Panel Editor. Tap the "Save" button, and the floating window will be displayed (tap the "down arrow" icon in the top right corner of the floating window to minimize the window). To add widgets, tap "Floating Panel Editor" and then tap "Widget" at the top of the screen so it's underlined, then tap the "Add Selected" button (only five widgets are allowed in the free version). If a widget has some settings then its Settings menu will pop up when you select the widget. In the list of apps or widgets in the Floating Panel Editor, tap the "circle with a slash" icon to delete the app or widget from the list, or tap the far left side of an item to drag the item to a different position. Tap the "Save" button, and the floating window will be displayed. The app icons are displayed on the left side of the floating window, and you can scroll them up or down to see all of the icons. Double-tap an app icon to launch the app. Scroll the widgets to the left or right to see and use all of the widgets. At the top of the floating window, drag the rectangular icon at the far left to resize the floating window. The "right arrow" icon is a "play" button which launches the Super Video floating media player (below). The "magnifying glass" icon launches a Floating Web Search window, which displays the search results in the Floating Browser (below), although on my phone this only works if the Floating Browser is already displayed on the screen. The "plus sign" icon launches the Floating Panel Editor so you can add or delete apps and widgets in the floating window. The "curved arrows" icon doesn't do anything on my phone (perhaps it's a "refresh" icon?). The "down arrow" in the top right corner of the floating window minimizes the window, placing a small floating "up arrow" icon at the bottom right corner of the screen. Tap this icon to open the floating window, or drag the icon to a new position, or long-press the icon to minimize the floating window or hide the minimized icon or terminate the floating window. In your phone's notifications area, you can tap "Floating Banner" to open up the floating window. For similar apps, see Dock4Droid (above), Sidebar Lite (below), Smart Taskbar (below), Swapps (below), and Trigger (below).

Floating Browser by Gpc (free) - A floating web browser. Drag the title bar to move the browser to a different position, and drag the bottom right corner to resize the window. Use pinch-to-zoom to resize the text. Tap the "world" icon at the top left corner of the browser to hide the body of the browser so that only the title bar is visible (tap the "world" icon again to show the body of the browser). At the top right corner of the browser are the typical "Minimize" and "Maximize" and "Close" icons, just like in Windows (after minimizing the browser, use your phone's notifications area to restore the browser). To the right of the address bar are some more icons, depending on how wide the browser is. The first icon (which looks like a magnifying glass) is the "go" icon, which will load the URL that's in the address bar. The "left arrow" and "right arrow" icons will return you to the previous and next pages (respectively). Tap the "bookmark" icon to display a list of bookmarked pages (tap the icon again to hide the list). Long-press the "bookmark" icon to bookmark the current page. The "clock" icon displays a history of the pages you've visited, which only works in the paid version (tap the icon again to hide the list). The "menu" icon brings up a menu of options, such as refreshing the current page, and opening the Settings menu, and opening a new browser window, and opening a new tab, and deleting all but the current tab, and so on.

Floating Stickies by Mohammad Adib (free) - A floating "sticky notes" app. Drag any part of the note to move it to a new position, and use pinch-to-zoom to resize the window. Tap the text area to enter text. At the top left corner of the note, the "+" icon will add a new note with a different background color (yellow, blue, or pink). The "V" icon opens a menu which allows you to copy or paste or share the text. The "X" icon closes the note without saving the text. In your phone's notifications area, tap the "Floating Stickies" notification to save and close all of the current notes. The next time you launch the Floating Stickies app, your saved notes will be opened automatically. In addition, the notes will be saved automatically if your phone shuts down or gets rebooted. To minimize a note, drag it to the left side of the screen and then lift your finger off of the screen. The note will be hidden, and a small pencil will be displayed at the left side of the screen (the pencil can be dragged up or down to a new position). To restore the note, drag the pencil away from the side of the screen. After trying numerous "sticky notes" apps, this one is my favorite.

Floating Timer / StopWatch by Floob Labs (free) - A floating stopwatch. Drag any part of the window (but not the buttons) to move it to a different position, and drag the bottom right corner to resize the window. Tap the "Start" button to start the stopwatch, and tap the "Stop" button to stop the stopwatch, and tap the "Reset" button to reset the stopwatch. There's also a countdown timer which is only available in the paid version. When you tap the window (but not the buttons), an icon appears in each corner of the window. The "V" icon minimizes the window (tap the "Floating Stopwatch" notification in your phone's notifications area to restore the window). The "X" icon closes the stopwatch. The "wrench" icon opens the Settings menu.

GPlayer by Gpc (free) - A floating media player. After launching the app, navigate and tap a video or audio file. The video or song will play in a floating window. While it's playing, tap the player to see the controls. At the top of the window are the typical "Minimize" and "Maximize" and "Close" icons, just like in Windows (after minimizing, use your phone's notifications area to restore the window). At the bottom of the window are the "pause/play" icon, and a "previous video or song" icon, and a "next video or song" icon, and a "screen capture" icon (if a video is playing), and a "repeat" icon (which allows you to specify whether the video/song should start over from the beginning after it finishes, or whether it should play the next video/song, etc.), and a slider bar showing the current position in the video/song. The rectangular icon at the top left corner allows you to change the aspect ratio of the player window. Drag the center of the window to move it to a new position, and drag the bottom right corner of the window to resize it. Slide your finger up or down on the right side of the window to change the volume. Slide your finger up or down on the left side of the window to change the brightness. Slide your finger left or right on the bottom of the window to rewind or fast forward.

hovernote by mjlim (Mike Lim) (free) - A nice floating notepad. Drag the title bar to move the window, and drag the bottom right corner to resize the window. Tap the "three dots" icon in the title bar to get a list of options, such as displaying an edit toolbar, and saving the note, and opening the Settings menu, and closing the notepad, and so on. Double-tap the text area in the notepad to display the edit toolbar. Tap the "four arrows" icon in the title bar to minimize the notepad. A hovernote icon will appear at the left side of the screen when the notepad is minimized, which can be moved up or down or be moved to the right side of the screen. Tap the hovernote icon to restore the notepad. Tap the "underscore" icon in the title bar to hide the notepad. The notepad can be restored by tapping the appropriate notification in your phone's notifications area. Create a new notepad by tapping the "hovernote" notification in your phone's notifications area.

Sidebar Lite by Mohammad Adib (free) - A flyout window (on the left side of the screen by default) which can contain icons for your favorite apps and toggles (e.g. WiFi on/off). The flyout window is activated by sliding your finger from the left side of the screen toward the right. To add icons for apps or toggles, tap the "plus sign" icon in the flyout window. To close the window without launching anything, tap anywhere outside of the window. For similar apps, see Dock4Droid (above), Floating Banner (above), Smart Taskbar (below), Swapps (below), and Trigger (below).

Sidewalk Buddy by theSOULwithin apps (free) - A floating window which displays a live video feed from your rear-facing camera. This allows you to text someone or surf the Web, etc., while you walk, because the floating window shows any obstacles in your path. Tap the "Start Camera" button to open the floating window, then drag it anywhere on the screen. Double-tap the floating window (or go to your phone's notifications area) to return to the main screen of the app. Tap the "Window Settings" button to re-size the floating window, or tap the "Stop Camera" button to close the floating window.

Smart Taskbar by Kiumiu.CA (free) - A window for launching apps or widgets. The window is activated by tapping the floating light gray icon on the right side of the screen, and it allows you to launch any app or widget. You can also add five icons along the top of the window by tapping the five "plus sign" icons and selecting the desired apps. For similar apps, see Dock4Droid (above), Floating Banner (above), Sidebar Lite (above), Swapps (below), and Trigger (below).

Snap Swipe Drawer by fbarrosodev (free) - Makes it easy to access your favorite widgets from any app, without taking up space on your home screens. After adding some widgets to Snap, simply pull down your phone's notifications area from the right side of the screen to see and use your widgets. Some widgets will automatically hide the Snap pull-down when you tap the widget, but you can manually close the Snap pull-down by swiping up from the bottom of the screen (just like closing your phone's notifications area). You can still pull down your phone's notifications area by swiping down from the left side of the screen. To add a widget, open the app and tap the yellow "plus" icon at the bottom of the screen, then tap a widget.

Swapps! All Apps, Everywhere by SchizTech (free) - A flyout window (on the left side of the screen by default) which can contain icons for your favorite apps. The flyout window is activated by sliding your finger from the left side of the screen toward the right. To add icons for apps, tap the "plus sign" icons in the flyout window. To close the window without launching anything, tap anywhere outside of the window. For similar apps, see Dock4Droid (above), Floating Banner (above), Sidebar Lite (above), Smart Taskbar (above), and Trigger (below).

Tiny Apps (multiwindow) by Carsten Drösser (free) - Displays a list of floating utilities to select from, such as a note editor, a web browser, a music app, a calculator, and so on. In the floating window, tap the "arrow" icon at the top left corner of the window to see a list of options. Tap the "X" icon to close the window (or tap the notification for the window in your phone's notifications area). Drag the bottom right corner of the window to resize the window. Drag the title bar of the window to move it around the screen. Drag the window to the left side of the screen to minimize it (an icon will be displayed on the left side of the screen). Drag the icon toward the middle of the screen to restore the window.

Trigger by Varience Apps (free) - A floating icon for quickly launching apps or performing other functions. The trigger can be activated by dragging the icon in a specific direction (N, NE, E, SE, S, etc.), which will launch the app that you've associated with that direction in the Settings menu. The trigger can also be activated by tapping the icon, which opens a window so you can draw a gesture, then the associated app will be launched. The app's main screen allows you to draw a gesture (e.g. "E") and associate this gesture with an app (e.g. a text editor app). The Settings menu indicates that the icon can be double-tapped and triple-tapped, but these don't seem to work on my phone. The icon can be moved by long-pressing it and dragging it to a new position. You can show or hide the icon by tapping the "Trigger Toggle" notification in your phone's notifications area. For similar apps, see Dock4Droid (above), Floating Banner (above), Sidebar Lite (above), Smart Taskbar (above), and Swapps (above).

• February 09, 2016 - Added Caller Notes, Floating Apps, and Snap.
• January 14, 2015 - Added hovernote and Tiny Apps.
• June 09, 2013 - Added Sidewalk Buddy.
• April 30, 2013 - Added Sidebar, Smart Taskbar, Swapps, and Trigger.
• February 11, 2013 - New page.