Multi-Display overview

An Android device always includes a primary (default) display, which is identified by the ID DEFAULT_DISPLAY. This primary display is public and lets users launch arbitrary tasks. In addition to the primary display, there can be multiple secondary displays, each identified by a display ID other than DEFAULT_DISPLAY. The configuration of secondary displays varies widely, depending on whether they're virtual displays created by specific apps or system setups for local or wireless displays. You can configure a secondary display to:

  • Be private so only the app that created it can see and use the display.
  • Mirror another display's content.
  • Let user tasks run on it, provided it's trusted.
  • Let the system manage its content directly, rather than the user.
  • Support the Presentation API.
  • Let users switch between mirroring and running tasks on the display.

Organization

Multi-Display (MD) content is organized as follows:

Topic area Article
Developing and testing Recommended practices
Testing and development environment
Frequently asked questions
Collections of related articles Display support
System decorations support
Input method editor support
Individual articles Multi-resume
Activity launch policy
Lock screen
Input routing
Multi-zone audio

Terminology

Throughout these pages, primary and secondary displays are defined as follows:

  • Primary (default) display has the display ID of DEFAULT_DISPLAY.
  • Secondary display has a display ID not DEFAULT_DISPLAY.