Android 16 Bringing Native Desktop Mode To Rival Samsung DeX

With smartphones getting extra highly effective every technology, it is sensible to harness that energy and put it to good use perhaps whilst a private pc, and the oldsters at Mountain View are additionally fascinated by that, not less than accordning to this newest piece of reports.

Google is actively growing a local desktop mode for Android, aiming to supply an built-in different to Samsung DeX. This upcoming function, hidden inside the code of Android 16, was not too long ago examined by Android Authority, which managed to activate it for the primary time.

Whereas the mode seems to be in a complicated stage of improvement, it isn’t but full. Its official rollout may occur in a future quarterly replace for Android 16 or presumably solely with the discharge of Android 17.

What units this native desktop mode aside is its absolutely practical interface, which resembles Samsung DeX however presents the distinct benefit of being constructed instantly into the Android working system. This implies it might be accessible to a a lot wider vary of Android gadgets, reasonably than being restricted to Samsung {hardware}.

Throughout early testing, the interface revealed a number of desktop-like components, together with a taskbar, standing bar, and a vertical app drawer designed to be used on horizontally oriented screens, very like conventional pc displays.

The mode already helps key multitasking options resembling pinning favourite apps, switching between duties, and opening functions in free-floating, resizable home windows. These capabilities echo the freeform window mode launched on Android tablets with model 15, now tailored for a broader desktop expertise.

Probably the most notable enhancements is the flexibility to handle a number of shows. Customers will have the ability to make the most of the cellphone’s display as a secondary show, permitting them to maneuver and place content material between the exterior monitor and the cellphone in a manner comparable to what’s present in desktop working programs like Home windows.

Though Google has but to formally announce the function, it’s possible that the corporate will introduce it quickly, particularly given the upcoming main occasions scheduled for Could. The event of this desktop mode additionally aligns with Google’s broader technique to unify Android and ChromeOS.

For this convergence to succeed, Android should evolve to raised help productivity-focused interfaces, and this desktop mode is a major step in that path.

Nonetheless hidden from public view, the Android native desktop mode stays in improvement. Nonetheless, its present stage of polish means that it has the potential to alter how Android smartphones are utilized in work and productiveness contexts. By making desktop-like performance out there to all appropriate gadgets, Google may democratize a function that has thus far been unique to pick producers.

Filed in Cellphones. Learn extra about Desktop and Google.