Windows and Appearance

Windows and Appearance

Android apps on Mac.apk get real Mac windows. They show up in the Dock and in ⌘Tab, and they follow your Mac's settings.

Going back

Every app window has a back button (‹) in its title bar, next to the red, yellow and green buttons. It's Android's Back button: it goes back one screen, closes a menu or dialog, or does whatever the app does on Back (a game might open its pause menu). Esc and ⌘[ do the same.

On an app's main screen, Back hides the app, the way an Android phone sends it to the background. Click its Dock icon to bring it back where you left off.

Resizing and rotating

Drag an edge or corner, tile the window with macOS window tiling, or click the green button for full screen. The app re-lays itself out for the new size, the way an Android app does when a tablet or foldable changes shape.

View → Rotate (⌘R) turns the window between portrait and landscape at any time. An app opens at a size that suits your display and the app's own orientation, so there's no screen size to pick first.

Dark mode

Apps follow your Mac's light or dark appearance, live. Switch macOS between Light and Dark while an app is open and most apps change right away, just like flipping dark mode on a phone. Apps with their own theme setting keep using it.

To keep an app light whatever your Mac uses, set MACAPK_FOLLOW_SYSTEM_APPEARANCE=0. See Flags.

Copy and paste

Copy and paste work both ways between Android apps and your Mac. Text an Android app copies lands on the Mac clipboard, and anything you copy on the Mac can be pasted into the app.

Dock icons

Each app's Dock icon is its own Android icon, shaped to match other Mac icons. The MACAPK_ICON_ROUND and MACAPK_ICON_SCALE flags change that if you prefer. See Flags Reference.