Want to reply to a message, check a score or keep a video running without leaving the app you are in? On a Galaxy phone you do not need a new Android release for that. Pop-up view has been part of One UI’s Multi window feature set for years, and it puts any compatible app in a small floating window that sits on top of whatever else is on screen. Introduced years before the current One UI 9 redesign, it is one of the most useful things One UI does that most Galaxy owners never turn on, largely because the fastest way to trigger it sits behind a settings toggle that many people never come across.
Why use pop-up view instead of split screen
Split screen divides the display between two apps, both locked to their halves. Pop-up view is different: the second app floats, you can drag it anywhere on the screen, resize it, and shrink it down to a small bubble when you are not using it. The app underneath keeps running at full size. That makes pop-up view the better choice for short interruptions – a quick reply, a calculator, a tracking number – while split screen suits longer side-by-side work.
It also works on ordinary slab phones, not just foldables. A Galaxy S-series or A-series phone runs pop-up view exactly the same way a Z Fold does, just with less room to play with.
The fastest method: turn on the swipe gesture first
Samsung’s quickest route to a floating window is a corner swipe. Check whether it is already enabled, and if not, turn it on. Per Samsung’s own support documentation, on One UI 6 and later:
- Open Settings.
- Tap Advanced features.
- Tap Multi window.
- Turn on the toggle for Swipe for pop-up view.
From then on, open any app, then swipe diagonally inward from either top corner of the screen with one finger. The app collapses into a floating window in place. This is the method worth building a habit around, because it takes one gesture from inside the app you are already using.
The method that always works: the Recents menu
If the gesture is unavailable on your One UI version, or you want to float an app you are not currently in, use Recents instead:
- Tap Recents (the button to the left of Home, or swipe up and hold if you use gesture navigation).
- Swipe across to the app you want to float.
- Tap the app’s icon at the top of its card – the icon itself, not the card.
- Tap Open in pop-up view.
The same menu also offers Open in split screen view, so this is the single entry point worth remembering if you only memorise one path.
Controlling the floating window
Drag the handle at the top of a pop-up window to move it anywhere on screen. Touch its edges and drag vertically or horizontally to resize it. Tapping the handle reveals a row of controls, which Samsung documents as pin options to top, open in split screen view, minimise window, maximise window and close app.
Minimise window is the one to know. It shrinks the app to a small floating icon you can park at the edge of the display and tap to reopen later – the app stays running, out of the way, without going back through Recents each time. Maximise window returns it to normal full screen.
If an app refuses to float
Not every app cooperates. Some apps declare themselves non-resizable and either refuse pop-up view or open with black bars. Camera apps, some banking apps and a number of games block it outright, and no setting on your phone overrides an app that has opted out. Some One UI versions have exposed an experimental option to force multi window for all apps; where your phone has it, expect layout glitches in apps that were never built for floating windows.
Menu names also drift between One UI versions and, occasionally, between carrier firmware builds. If a path above does not match your phone, search Settings for “Multi window” rather than hunting through menus.
Worth knowing before you rely on it
Floating windows cost memory and battery like any other running app, and stacking several of them on a mid-range phone with 6GB of RAM will get the background apps killed sooner. Keep one or two open at a time and use the minimise-to-icon control instead of leaving windows expanded. On phones with smaller displays, a pop-up window that covers most of the screen is not buying you much over just switching apps – the feature pays off most on large-screen and foldable Galaxy devices, which is exactly where Samsung has spent the most effort refining it.
