Which Android version introduced Chat Bubbles?

Android 11 introduced Chat Bubbles as a generally available system feature.

Bubbles let supported conversations appear as floating circular overlays that users can open without leaving the current app. Android 11 integrated them with conversation notifications and gave users more control over which apps and chats could use the format.

The important nuance is that bubbles were not completely unknown before Android 11. Android 10 included them as an experimental feature that users had to enable through a developer option. Android 11 made the system experience broadly available and removed that developer-option requirement. It also improved bubble performance and changed the implementation requirements for developers.

For apps targeting Android 11 or later, a bubbled notification generally had to meet newer conversation requirements, including association with a sharing shortcut. This is why “introduced” can be misleading if it means the first experimental appearance; Android 10 deserves credit for the experiment, but Android 11 is the canonical answer for the mainstream Chat Bubbles feature. Android 11 was released in 2020 as API level 30.