The Android taskbar, originally introduced with the release of Android 12L, is nothing new, but there have been some recent changes.

This is the taskbar you see when you pick up a Pixel Tablet or Pixel Fold, but it may not last long.

As Mishaal Rahman of Android Police points out, the presence of a temporary taskbar has not erased the fixed version from Android's code. That option is still hidden under the surface, there is just no way to switch between them. If the code in the latest beta release is certain, that may change with the release of Android 14.

Rahman discovered a new launcher flag labeled "ENABLE_TASKBAR_PINNING" while examining the Android 14 Beta 3 code. The main difference between the old and new Android taskbars is that the temporary model must be called by swiping up from the bottom of the screen, whereas the old version is fixed at the bottom of the screen, like the default Windows taskbar.

According to Rahman, this new toggle allows users to switch between the two options, which can be accessed by long-pressing on an empty spot on the taskbar itself. The toggles for the "Always show taskbar" and "Change navigation mode" options appear.

Both taskbars have their advantages, and the preference is up to the user. The hidden taskbar takes up a little more screen space and is less obtrusive if you don't want to see it constantly. The fixed taskbar has the obvious advantage of always being immediately available and not having to be called up with a specific gesture.

According to Rahman, this flag is not enabled by default. However, one would hope that this flag will be enabled later this year with the general availability of Android 14.

Of course, there is always the possibility that this flag will be ignored or even removed altogether. Beta software is not a final product and there are many reasons why it could be removed from a stable release. We just have to wait and see how this plays out and whether the upcoming releases of Android 14 beta 4 and 5 can provide more insight into what will happen in the future.