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 laptop, and the oldsters at Mountain View are additionally occupied with that, a minimum of accordning to this newest piece of stories.

Google is actively growing a local desktop mode for Android, aiming to supply an built-in different to Samsung DeX. This upcoming characteristic, hidden throughout the code of Android 16, was lately examined by Android Authority, which managed to activate it for the primary time.

Whereas the mode seems to be in a sophisticated stage of growth, it isn’t but full. Its official rollout might 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 totally purposeful interface, which resembles Samsung DeX however presents the distinct benefit of being constructed immediately into the Android working system. This implies it might be accessible to a a lot wider vary of Android units, somewhat than being restricted to Samsung {hardware}.

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

The mode already helps key multitasking options akin to 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.

One of the notable enhancements is the power to handle a number of shows. Customers will be capable of make the most of the cellphone’s display screen as a secondary show, permitting them to maneuver and place content material between the exterior monitor and the cellphone in a method related to what’s present in desktop working programs like Home windows.

Though Google has but to formally announce the characteristic, it’s seemingly 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 higher 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 growth. Nonetheless, its present degree 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 obtainable to all suitable units, Google might democratize a characteristic that has to date been unique to pick out producers.

Filed in Cellphones. Learn extra about Desktop and Google.