Android’s Desktop Mode Inches Towards Release
I’ve been making videos and talking about Android’s desktop mode for so long now I can hardly keep track of where we are and what’s happened. With news breaking recently via Android Authority, I thought it might be useful to take a step back and give a quick overview on Google’s slow progress at producing a desktop mode for Android that can compete with the likes of Samsung’s Dex and Moto’s Ready For.
The Long Ignored Desktop Mode
In 2019 Google added a barebones, mostly useless desktop mode to the developer options of Android 10. I should say, mostly useless to the end user. Despite the fact that it comes up in my comments all the time, it was simply not intended to be used by people like myself. It was intended to be used by developers as a way to test their apps - nothing more. After all these years, it appears as though that is finally about to change..
Display Out
Did you know that for years Google’s Pixel phones did not have the ability to be plugged into an external monitor or TV and have their image be displayed there? For whatever reason, this just wasn’t something that Google felt the need to do with their phones. Perhaps they were intent on getting you to just cast your screen via Chromecast, perhaps they just didn’t think anyone needed it.
Regardless, back in March of 2024 Google pushed through an update that somewhat randomly enabled Video Out on the Pixel 8 line of devices and subsequent devices have also supported the feature. A major prerequisite for a desktop mode has finally been met.
So Many Rumors..
What makes this story so hard to tell and also what makes it so hard to know exactly what’s going on is the fact that it’s been going on so long. All the way back in June of 2023 there were posts on Android Authority which speculated about not only Google’s enabling of the Display Out function, but predicted that a Desktop Mode could launch with the Pixel 8. Obviously, that did not happen.
Things got much more interesting mid-2024 when we finally got to see a bit more clearly what this desktop mode could look like. After tweaking some flags in an Android 14 Beta, Mishaal Rahman was able to enable the features seen in the embedded video. We have the ability to launch apps, fullscreen them, window them, resize them and even snap them to one side or the other to align them to a grid like a proper desktop OS.
Obviously, there’s a lot more work to be done, but what Mishaal was able to demo here looked quite useable already.
An Official Release?
Credit Android Authority
Then with Android 15 QPR1’s second Beta, Google did something quite interesting. They released a full blown desktop system for use on their Pixel tablets. As seen in the next video, you have a little handle at the top of the screen that allows a user to transition into this new mode, complete with a functional taskbar. The only catches were that this mode runs directly on device, not on an external display and it’s apparently only for the Pixel Tablet.
Android 16
Now with Android 16’s Beta it appears as though one of the final steps is being taken. Once again via Android Authority, Google has added several strings that indicate that a new Desktop Experience is coming and that it could be useable on secondary displays as well as on device itself.
Amazingly, Rahman was able to do some tinkering under the hood and actually enable this toggle inside developer options for the new Desktop Experience.
The Chrome OS Connection
It has also been reported that a big part of Google’s sudden ambition to make Android much better at pretending to be a desktop operating system is their end goal of merging Chrome OS into Android. Reportedly, Google wants an OS that can truly compete with the iPads of the world and one way to do that is to build out its large screen capabilities. Having one OS that can run happily on a small screen - with a UI that makes sense there - but also on larger screens that might be better suited to have windowed apps and a taskbar makes a lot of sense.
We’ve also recently seen Google adding new capabilities that reinforce Android’s ability to use a mouse and keyboard properly and we’ve seen new monitor management settings being tested as well. All signs point towards Android being much more competent on large screens sooner rather than later.