Sidebar Plus Adds Multitasking Bars for Android

If you think there’s not enough room on your phone’s screen for all the shortcuts you want there, Sidebar Plus will help you by adding useful bars which can include shortcuts or widgets. This should allow you to get more things done and make multitasking easier.

Using Sidebar Plus

You can install the basic version of Sidebar Plus for free, from the Google Play Store, at this address.

After installing the app, you’ll be able to decide the height and the width of the gesture area. This is very important, since you’ll be “calling” your bars by swiping your finger across that area of the screen. I suggest you experiment until you find a position and width which are comfortable without getting in your way when using the device.

Once you’ve set up the dimensions, you can go ahead and manage your bars. Managing them is easy, with only your imagination as the limit. For example, you could create a bar that includes all of your apps, for easier access, like the one below.

You can also create a bar that shows multiple types of content. The example below includes the widget for Music Player (Remix), which is an app that lets you play your favorite tunes, the weather, an area allowing you to toggle settings like the data or WiFi connections, favorite contacts, as well as a Gmail notifier.

Each bar can be easily edited at all times. Just tap the menu button on its top right side and go to Edit. You can then move items around and add whatever you like.

There’s only one thing I found rather strange – removing bars you’ve previously added. The only way to do so that I’ve come across involves tapping the Add bar in the menu, and then hitting the back button on your device. That will send you to a Manage Bars screen like the one below, where you can Hide and Show, Rename or Delete bars.

There’s one more important thing to mention. When you start using Sidebar Plus, you get a full featured trial of five days, during which you can use all of the features of the app. After that, you’ll be limited to two bars, provided you don’t purchase one of the upgrade options – there are quite a few, priced from 0.99 Euro (around $1.33) to 2.49 Euro (around $3.33).

Sidebar Plus adds more functionality to an Android device and can help you get a little more organized and makes multitasking easier.