Something I have always wished for in a mobile UI is multitasking that is as effortless as on desktop. That is, being able to use a single click (or tap) to switch between any open/running app. It would be fantastic quality of life to not have to use swipes, gestures or hidden UI elements for this.
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Describe the solution you'd like
My suggestion is to add an option to always have the dock visible at all times and show apps above it (so the dock never covers part of the app). This would enable one-click app switching, easy access to launching new apps and other functions like pinning.
This would have minimal impact on the apps themselves: modern smartphones have much more vertical space than is really needed, so taking up a small part of it on the bottom of the screen like this would not be a problem. Furthermore this would improve accessability: for some people multi-finger gestures are hard to perform and for others anything that is hidden becomes forgotten (for example, if you suffer from aphasia). In these situations having more parts of the UI visible at all times could be important.
Users who navigate their phone with a stylus would also benefit, as it would make navigating more efficient. Multi-finger gestures are not possible to perform with a stylus either.
Describe alternatives you've considered
This part is not really relevant for this suggestion.
Additional context
Short answer is I would like to make it possible to make the mobile UI a bit more desktop-like. :)
Is your proposal related to a problem?
Something I have always wished for in a mobile UI is multitasking that is as effortless as on desktop. That is, being able to use a single click (or tap) to switch between any open/running app. It would be fantastic quality of life to not have to use swipes, gestures or hidden UI elements for this. -->
Describe the solution you'd like
My suggestion is to add an option to always have the dock visible at all times and show apps above it (so the dock never covers part of the app). This would enable one-click app switching, easy access to launching new apps and other functions like pinning.
This would have minimal impact on the apps themselves: modern smartphones have much more vertical space than is really needed, so taking up a small part of it on the bottom of the screen like this would not be a problem. Furthermore this would improve accessability: for some people multi-finger gestures are hard to perform and for others anything that is hidden becomes forgotten (for example, if you suffer from aphasia). In these situations having more parts of the UI visible at all times could be important.
Users who navigate their phone with a stylus would also benefit, as it would make navigating more efficient. Multi-finger gestures are not possible to perform with a stylus either.
Describe alternatives you've considered
This part is not really relevant for this suggestion.
Additional context
Short answer is I would like to make it possible to make the mobile UI a bit more desktop-like. :)