I wonder, is there a way for AS to allow us to have multiple instances of a tool window open at the...

# android-studio

[Stylianos Gakis]

I wonder, is there a way for AS to allow us to have multiple instances of a tool window open at the same time?
My use case is I was testing something on a couple of API versions at the same time, so having multiple emulators open at the same time, however I can only see one of them at the same time as the “Running Devices” tool window only shows one tab at the same time. I tried undocking the window, choosing all “View Mode” but none seem to allow me to see multiple at the same time, preferably even side by side if not as separate windows. Am I missing something or does this feature simply not exist?

[Chris Sinco [G]]

It’s a known limitation of the tool window system in IntelliJ Platform. We’ve explored how to do side-by-side through other means but unfortunately haven’t been able to prioritize completing the work. For now, the workaround is using emulator in standalone mode.

[Stylianos Gakis]

Ah that’s understandable, hitting IntelliJ platform limitations here then.
What you suggest as a workaround is to go to Tools > Emulator > Launch in a tool window and deselect that, to get the “old” style right. Damn I thought I’d never have to use this old style again 😅
Thanks a lot for the response Chris! 😊

[Chris Sinco [G]]

Yep that is the workaround for now 😞

[Chris Sinco [G]]

Interestingly, Fleet has the concept of having multiple instances of the same tool window, so there is hope I think for IntelliJ to evolve 😉

[Stylianos Gakis]

Ooh nice! At the same time, Fleet is built from scratch, so I'm sure there will be things that work there that for IntelliJ it may be almost impossible.

I wonder how you know about that fleet detail, in the AS team do you have any access to Fleet too, or just from personally using it? I wonder if we imagine 5 years in the future, do you envision Fleet having any place in android development or don't see a reason for it?

[Chris Sinco [G]]

do you have any access to Fleet too, or just from personally using it?

Yes, I’ve had access to Fleet for some time though now anyone can try it out (don’t need to be in a preview program anymore). I use it from time to time personally but there’s some features it it still missing that forces me back to VS Code or other tools, depending on the task.

[Chris Sinco [G]]

do you envision Fleet having any place in android development or don’t see a reason for it?

It’s possible and something we are keeping in the back of our minds long-term. But Fleet itself has to mature more as an editor first.

[Chris Sinco [G]]

We collaborate a lot with the IntelliJ Platform UX team, which includes some designers that also work on Fleet. It’s no coincidence that the new UI in IntelliJ and the UI in Fleet look similar 🙂

[Stylianos Gakis]

Heh yeah that makes a lot of sense 😅 Let’s come back to this in 4 years and see what has happened in the meantime 😅