Android 14 may let you bring back the old taskbar on the Pixel Tablet and Pixel Fold

While digging through Android 14 Beta 3 released earlier this month, I discovered a new launcher flag labeled ENABLE_TASKBAR_PINNING that, when enabled, lets the user switch between the new “transient” taskbar and the old “persistent” taskbar behavior. The toggle to do so is accessed by long-pressing on an empty spot on the taskbar. A pop-up will appear with the options to “always show taskbar” or “change navigation mode”. The former swaps between the two taskbar styles, while the latter opens navigation settings.

This launcher flag isn’t enabled by default at the moment, however, so users on the Android 14 beta are stuck with the “transient” taskbar for the time being. Hopefully when Google releases Android 14 for the Pixel Tablet and Pixel Fold, the company flips this flag, so users can choose the taskbar style they prefer. Personally, I’d like to use the old “persistent” taskbar when I need to multitask but the “transient” taskbar otherwise, as having to swipe up every single time to access the taskbar feels like it will slow things down.>