michaelwasserman
commented
2 years ago This is a reasonable area to explore in the future, as multi-screen form factors emerge and OS/WM paradigms for window placement in multi-screen environments shift. See also #35
See our API Design Risks doc for more thoughts in this vein, but I believe the current API shape is a responsible incremental step towards supporting web applications making opinionated use of generalized multi-screen environments on the web.
I'm going to close this issue for now, until there is more actionable feedback.
What window placement affordances are granted to applications on dual-screen or foldable devices? I have vague impressions, but no definitive knowledge regarding OS/WM behavior for such devices.
Android is used by some vendors for dual-screen and foldable devices. Android also supports split-screen, picture-in-picture and freeform multi-window modes, but doesn't generally support application requests for specific window bounds beyond those requested at launch via setLaunchBounds, setLaunchDisplayId, and FLAG_ACTIVITY_LAUNCH_ADJACENT.
Lenovo's X1 Fold runs Windows, but it reportedly offers somewhat restrictive window management options with "single full-screen view or a dual-screen mode with an app pinned to each half of the display", and it's unclear if application windows can occupy or request freeform bounds, similar to the 'restored' windows in a more traditional desktop environment. The pre-release Windows 10X Emulator generally behaves similarly, but apparently also runs Win32 apps in a container that supports freeform placement of 'restored' or 'windowed' application window bounds.
As clear patterns emerge we'll want to ensure the web platform APIs for window placement keep pace with those afforded for non-web applications.