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I would like to create a floating app - an app that floats/hovers over other apps. Something along the lines of what the good folks at Floating Apps have achieved. But i am lost as to where to begin with such an effort.

I understand the conventional way of creating an app but i am at a loss thinking about how to get started on creating a floating calculator.

Can anyone point me in the right direction or get me started? Appreciate your inputs. Thanks.

VJ Vélan Solutions
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    I'm author of Floating Apps. You should have a look at WindowManager and its methods addView, removeView and updateView. You also need to set correct flags in LayoutParams, most notably TYPE_SYSTEM_ALERT and similar. However, we've spent years developing and improving the app. It's way different from normal Android apps and many things are not working as expected. – Václav Hodek Feb 10 '17 at 16:09

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While I don't know how your particular example works, if you've been paying attention to various UI/UX experiences on Android you might have heard about Facebook Chat Heads which has a similar float over existing app feel.

You may want to start here for your investigation:

What APIs in Android is Facebook using to create Chat Heads?

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Morrison Chang
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  • I have not been paying much attention to the UI aspects lately. Thanks for the tip and getting me started. Appreciate that. – VJ Vélan Solutions Jan 31 '14 at 17:03
  • This is different thing. In landscape mode Android oreo+ i think you have the ability to float the entire app instead of just an image, button etc. Like when you are using youtube in landscape you can open Bluntfox android app above it. – Sahil Deswal Aug 30 '18 at 17:26