The latest beta for Android 16 just landed, and we’re starting to see what Google has planned for Android devices. The folks at Android Authority were able to dig into the software and find out that Google is looking to bring a new desktop mode named Desktop View. This could bring a Dex-like experience to more phones.
Most of the time, we feel like we need a powerful computer to do all of our work, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes, we can get by with a large screen and just enough processing power. This is the thinking behind products like Samsung Dex and other desktop modes. These power a desktop experience using your phone as the processor. Over the years, it’s gotten better as smartphone processors have increased in power.
The thing is that not all companies offer a desktop mode with their phones, which is pretty unfortunate. The only prominent players with dedicated desktop modes are Samsung and Motorola.
Google could bring Desktop View to more Android phones
So, to be honest, Google technically does have a desktop mode… sort of. It’s hidden in the software, and it’s mostly for developers to test out how apps behave in windowed mode. So, the average Joe won’t be able to casually enable and start using it.
This could change soon, however. Mishaal Rahman was able to find some strings within the software that hint at a true desktop mode. The strings point to this feature coming with Android 16, but this is early information.
Rahman found strings pointing to an “Enable desktop experience features” option, which would ostensibly turn your phone into a faux-computer. It seems like it will use the display output feature, which just landed on Pixel phones, to connect to an external display. Along with that, users might be able to enable the feature on their device as well. That might not be useful on a phone, but it could be on a tablet. Galaxy Tabs have a Dex feature that makes their interface more like a computer. The same thing goes for the Lenovo Tab Extreme.
At this point, we don’t know what this looks like. So, we’ll have to wait for future updates to know.
