One feature that all Android smartphone owners use and probably love is the recent apps menu. One of the three standard buttons found on most Android smartphones and tablets, also known as multitasking or app switcher. In the new LG G3, this menu is customizable and we’ll explain how to do it here.
The latest apps option allows users to quickly and easily navigate from app to app with the push of a button. Tap the button that overlaps the two rectangles (bottom right on LG G3 by default) and you will see a 3×3 grid of all your recently used apps.
It’s a nice way to show all your recently opened and used apps, and while it’s a simple way to go from app to app, it’s been completely swapped out from stock Android. On almost all smartphones and tablets these are displayed in a vertical layout, and you can instantly swipe to close apps. But the G3 has a 3×3 grid and the system isn’t nearly as user-friendly as it used to be, so read on to find out how to replace it.
Most Android phones give you a single layout for the latest apps menu, but the LG G3 actually has three different skins to choose from. There’s a popup that you probably quickly ignore on first use, but that task switcher menu is customizable to your liking, he explained.
With the LG G3, the phone displays the last nine apps you’ve opened, with the most recent at the top left. For most, it’s the one farthest from your thumb when holding the device. This makes it quite difficult to reopen recent apps on a large 5.5-inch screen, but luckily you can change it if you want.
If the new 3×3 layout shown above isn’t your liking and you just want the recent apps button to show used apps similar to stock Android or the way the LG G2 does, here we’ll explain in a few quick ways how. screenshots and video below.
Instructions
It makes sense to have it at the bottom for instant hand-held access to recently opened or used apps, but with the G3 they’re at the top and pretty far. Fortunately, you can change the layout to offer a larger, easier 2×2 grid, or even the traditional layout that most other Android phones and tablets use.
You probably didn’t know that quickly pinching your fingers, similar to pinch-to-zoom, will instantly change the multitasking menu to one of three different layouts. Check out our video below.
As you can see from the video above, all it takes is a quick pinch of your fingers (a slight pinch) and the multitasking or task switcher menu instantly changes from a 3×3 grid to a 2×2 grid, even the standard vertical layout we’re all familiar with. Personally, I like the stock Android look with the big tiles, but some might enjoy the 3×3 grid used by LG here.
Showing 9 apps seems a bit too much if you ask us, and a 2×2 or standard stock Android layout should suffice. That being said, everyone is different and each has their own. Hopefully one of the three different options and variants mentioned here will be right for you.
The new LG G3 is highly customizable like many custom ROMs and allows the user to change anything and everything. From on-screen buttons and layout, on-screen button background color and much more. LG does a good job offering lots of customization right out of the box, and stay tuned here to find out more of how the LG G3 will show you everything possible.
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