I am trying to learn about the Android OS and while I was reading the Google I/O 2014 app, I came across the WindowInsets . If anyone can explain what they are then it would be a great help. Thank you. You can learn all about WindowInsets here. WindowInsets provides you with the area on the window that is usable by the application. By itself it's of not much use. It's true purpose comes when you either override View.onApplyWindowInsets or implement View.OnApplyWindowInsetsListener . You can read about them here: View.onApplyWindowInsets and View.OnApplyWindowInsetsListener Listener for