[HN Gopher] Google is building its own DeX: First look at Androi...
___________________________________________________________________
Google is building its own DeX: First look at Android's Desktop
Mode
Author : logic_node
Score : 150 points
Date : 2025-05-13 14:30 UTC (8 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.androidauthority.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.androidauthority.com)
| refulgentis wrote:
| Welcome to ChromeOS 2.0
| bobajeff wrote:
| Yeah that's what immediately came to mind. This must be part of
| their effort to merge Chrome OS into Android. On the Chrome OS
| side they already said are going to be replacing the kennel and
| other system stuff with Androids guts.
| Miraste wrote:
| That's sad news. ChromeOS is much faster and more efficient
| than Android. Turning off the Android subsystem in low-end
| Chromebooks is a huge performance boost, even when no Android
| apps are open.
| odo1242 wrote:
| To be fair, that's likely because the Android subsystem is
| a virtual machine - not running multiple sets of system
| services / CPU emulation on a computer will make it faster
| pretty much universally.
| nashashmi wrote:
| Yup, the android vm is too much for a chrome pc unless
| it's a high end device.
|
| I can't imagine android going faster than chrome at a
| native level either.
| Miraste wrote:
| It's not just the virtualization, ChromeOS has had a lot
| of work put into performance. The low-end ARM Chromebooks
| use the same hardware as budget Android devices, and
| they're noticeably faster. My Android phone uses more RAM
| doing nothing from a fresh boot than those Chromebooks
| even have.
| refulgentis wrote:
| Breaks my heart (worked on Android from 2016-2023, ChromeOS
| was a revelation. Alas, Efficiency(tm). (as in salaries,
| not the things we build))
| mdhb wrote:
| I suspect there is going to be an amalgamation between
| ChromeOS, Android and Fuchsia.
|
| There is heavy work underway in fuchsia currently to provide
| Linux kernel comparability via a subsystem they call starnix.
|
| They are already I believe looking at running a version of
| fuchsia in a vm on Android.
|
| Then there was also a lot of talk about the androidification of
| ChromeOS.
|
| It sure looks like we are moving towards some kind of cross
| device OS that is distinctly Google's without Linux in the
| future.
| nashashmi wrote:
| What's the point of running fuschia on android? It should be
| the other way around: android vm on fuschia.
| mdhb wrote:
| Fuchsia as the core makes much more sense. It replaces
| Linux for a start and completely changes the security model
| to something a LOT more defendable among a bunch of other
| benefits.
| refulgentis wrote:
| I worked on Android at Google until 2023 and can 99.999%
| confirm for you Fuchsia, as the outside understands it is
| DOA. (i.e. as some sort of next gen OS, and if not that,
| some kernel that's on track to replace Linux in Android)
|
| Long story short is you can imagine in 2019 there was X
| amount of engineers, 95% on Android and 5% on what you'd
| call Fuchsia.
|
| The central argument up top became about why the renegade
| band that split off from Android/Chrome etc. to do
| Fuchsia in...early to mid 2010s?...and if it was going to
| provide a significant step forward. This became framed in
| terms of "$ of devices shipped", in which case, there was
| no contest.
|
| Funnily enough this very article is about N dominos down
| from there (de-investment in Fuchsia, defenestration of
| head software guy of Android/Chrome/Chrome OS etc., ex.
| Moto hardware guy is in charge now)
|
| Don't read this comment _too_ closely, I was _not_ in the
| room. For example, I have absolutely no actual quotes, or
| relayed quotes, to 100% confirm some set of individuals
| became focused on # of devices shipped.
|
| Just obsessive enough to track wtf was going on, and on
| big enough projects, and trustworthy and hard working,
| and clearly without party or clique, such that I could
| get good info when asked, as it was clear my only concern
| was making things that were good and making sure all of
| Google's products could be part of that story.
| mdhb wrote:
| Thanks for that insight. Obviously there's a lot of
| context in there that isn't at all clear outside.
|
| One part I find hard to reconcile with all of that is
| that even just looking at public facing stuff alone it
| seems to be under VERY active development.
|
| I count 100 commits in just the past 24 hrs here:
| https://fuchsia.googlesource.com/fuchsia/+log and it's
| been at that pace for a LONG time.
|
| Which leads me to ask... what is up with it in your
| opinion because that's hard to match up with DOA
|
| Also I wasn't making up the idea that they were in the
| process of bringing in this "microfuchsia" VM into
| Android although it's purpose is unclear.
| simpaticoder wrote:
| This is very good news. Especially in light of recent attention
| given to the possibility of CPU shortages. Lots of programming
| tasks can be done comfortably on a smartphone. For example, no
| build front end programming. The description "desktop view" is
| unfortunate since it calls to mind a browser mode where the site
| is displayed as it would be on a desktop. And this is something
| completely different. I do hope this mode does not require an
| external display because it would be quite useful even with the
| phone's native display. Especially given their hypixel density
| and the availability of reading glasses.
| pram wrote:
| Phones also have CPUs, JFYI.
| trealira wrote:
| They could be implying it would help with shortages by making
| it so that the CPUs already in phones are better utilized,
| decreasing the demand for new CPUs.
| loa_in_ wrote:
| I don't see what else they could mean, really
| bee_rider wrote:
| I'm not sure I follow on the cpu shortage front. Phone cpus by
| their nature are attached to a degrading-over-time battery, and
| are much more power constrained... I have an already 6 year old
| i7 in my desktop... it can keep up with modern software still
| in a "I don't even think about it" manner, which is to say I
| cranks through anything other than a large numerical simulation
| (dang Intel, I would have needed to go to an i9 to get AVX-512
| back then I think).
|
| Anyway I could happily get a couple more years out of as a main
| PC, then it will probably have a few years in it as a hand-me-
| down or tv computer.
|
| That said, I generally agree that, I mean, we're going to get
| phones anyway so it is nice to get something useful out of
| them.
| dboreham wrote:
| Is this an AI-generated article? Article about novel UI with no
| screenshots??
| tecleandor wrote:
| It's weird. Android Authority already released a small article
| some days ago, with video, screenshots, and IIRC showing the
| way to enable it on the Android 16 preview [0]
| 0: https://www.androidauthority.com/android-desktop-mode-
| leak-3550321/
| matt_heimer wrote:
| Thanks for that. I hadn't seen a nexdock before.
| twiclo wrote:
| The article seems to just repeat the first couple of sentences
| over and over.
| moolcool wrote:
| > Google Is Catching Up to Samsung DeX
|
| Does anyone use DeX?
| szszrk wrote:
| Of course. Yet it's still a fraction of userbase.
|
| I chose Motorola for the same reason (they have their own
| variant of dex which works smooth).
| ewoodrich wrote:
| I use what I call "pseudo DeX" on my Galaxy Tab S8+ constantly.
| It's basically the entire DeX laptop like UI without the
| requirement to use an external monitor (there's an actual name
| for it I can't remember).
|
| It's what Stage Manager on iPads should have been: a regular,
| boring laptop mode to make multitasking on a large tablet
| screen usable without Apple unnecessarily trying to put their
| own unique spin on it.
| longtimelistnr wrote:
| Funny you mention stage manager, i remember the absolute
| online letdown/meltdown that happened when it didn't ship
| with the iPadOS version it was scheduled to. The other day i
| encountered the button for it and completely forgot it
| existed, but after launching it, I remembered how useless it
| is.
| Zambyte wrote:
| I used it fairly regularly with a device called NexDock, which
| is essentially just a laptop shell that acts as a screen, a
| keyboard, a track pad, and a battery for a USB-C connected
| device. I mostly used it for web browsing, chatting, and Termux
| (usually SSHing into another system, but not always).
|
| Since I got my hands on a Daylight Computer, I have basically
| been doing the same thing but with a tablet Android environment
| instead of DeX. It's been nice, but I would love a nicer window
| manager when I have a keyboard and mouse connected.
| NBJack wrote:
| Yes! Have been using it since my first pair of 'AR' glasses
| when I want to get work done anywhere without dragging my
| laptop (corp or personal). If I ever find a folding bluetooth
| keyboard that can "lock" to remain stable in my lap, I'll be
| particularly happy.
| 0xbadcafebee wrote:
| I do sometimes. If I go to a friend's house with a big-screen
| TV and stereo, I can connect my USB-C dock, plug in the hdmi
| cable, and control from a mouse or the phone. Nice big display
| with multiple windows. Same for when I stay at hotels. I
| believe you can still get phones that have an HDMI out that's
| not DeX, but then you just see a scrunched up mobile phone
| display on a big-screen TV and no multiple windows.
| the_clarence wrote:
| I switched from a lifetime of iPhones to an android phone last
| year, just because of folding phones. They are amazing and IMO
| the reason why Apple is going to have issues as these get cheaper
| (unless they release a folding phone too). Now that I have all
| this screen estate the current UI feels limiting often.
| permo-w wrote:
| I switched from iPhone to android a month ago and it was so
| awful that I just went back to using my old phone. I treat the
| android device as essentially a powerbank with a camera, and
| even that it's bad at. plug it into my PC to transfer pictures?
| no response
| rcMgD2BwE72F wrote:
| Curious to know what phone you got. A Pixel 9 with GrapheneOS
| is so much better than any iOS devices from my experience.
| But since users you have more freedom on Android, this will
| depend on what you do with it (e.g me, I use Syncthing to
| locally sync all my files and photos with several devices --
| no cloud / subscription needed).
| tsunamifury wrote:
| Plug it into my pc?
|
| What is this 1995?
| goosedragons wrote:
| Is your PC a Mac? Apple doesn't support MTP because they want
| iPhones to look good or something. Every other OS with a
| reasonably complete Desktop Environment will allow mounting
| an Android device as what appears pretty much as a standard
| USB drive. It's part of why I prefer Android. Using an iPhone
| on Linux/BSD is just not worth the hassle.
| joshuaissac wrote:
| > mounting an Android device as what appears pretty much as
| a standard USB drive
|
| AFAIK Google got rid of built-in support for this in
| Android Jelly Bean. Additional tricks are needed to make
| later versions of Android behave as a USB Mass Storage
| device. If it works for you out of the box, I suspect it
| may be specific to your Android distro.
| Mogzol wrote:
| They're talking about MTP, which is supported by every
| modern (and old) Android device AFAIK. It's not exactly a
| USB Mass Storage device, but as long as you're not on a
| Mac, it behaves basically the same as one.
| lostmsu wrote:
| Why would you want to plug in if you can sync them over Wi-Fi
| using Syncthing?
| chneu wrote:
| Smells like user error and bias.
|
| I've swapped dozens of users from iOS to Android in the last
| year or so and nobody has had issues. Over the years I've
| helped hundreds of people migrate. Most everyone really likes
| the freedom to use different apps or workflows.
|
| The only folks who ever have problems are people who need to
| be told how to use their devices. Choices confuse them so
| android is overwhelming, which is understandable. That's
| where iOS excels. iOS dictates how users can do things, which
| works for some people but also atrophies people's
| understanding of technology. People learn to do as they're
| told, not how to think about what's going on. Apple's walled
| garden makes people worse at technology.
|
| Also sounds like you bought a garbage bargain android device.
| Idk how something can barely work as a camera/powerbank
| unless user error is present.
| konart wrote:
| >The only folks who ever have problems are people who need
| to be told how to use their devices.
|
| While this may be the case - many iPhone users love their
| phones (and iOS) for a different reason.
|
| I've been with Android for some time: rooting, custom
| builds, different launchers, you name it. And it was fun
| back when I was in my early 20s, when had the time for this
| and when it was something new (HTC One, the very first
| model was my last Android phone).
|
| Then I've bought iPhone 6 (I had switched from Arch to
| macOS few months earlier) and tried a few android phones
| since.
|
| I simply don't need those "workflows".
|
| I need about a dozen apps (the ones I use almost daily), I
| want them to be thought through (like Drafts) and I want my
| OS to work and behave the same way at least 5 years later
| (not to mention security updates and such).
|
| This is where iPhone delivers and where Android quite often
| fails. I have iPhone 13 now and I can be sure that even few
| years from now everything will just work the same way does
| now.
| danieldk wrote:
| I have been an iPhone user since 2009, but take 'Android-
| excursions' every few years. I am currently using a Pixel 9
| and I can't see why it would be worse than an iPhone.
| Functionality-wise they are pretty much on-par. Sure, there
| are some differences, Pixels have much better AI
| functionality, iPhones better Mac integration. But I don't
| see a clear advantage of either, _except_ that Android
| hardware is much more affordable (you can pick up a still
| pretty-ok Pixel 8a new for 379 Euro here currently) and
| Android has more customizability (but good out-of-the-box
| defaults).
|
| And you have the bonus that with a Pixel you can remove big
| tech from the equation when needed with GrapheneOS.
|
| That said, I would only recommend people to buy Pixel or
| Samsung A5x or up. They are the only Android phones that have
| reliable monthly updates [1], plus they are the only two
| brands that are not vague about having a truly separated
| secure enclave (Titan M2/Knox Vault respectively). Other
| vendors don't really talk about it and probably only use ARM
| TrustZone.
|
| [1] Pixel is the only phone that gets them really on time,
| but with Samsung it's normally within a month on A5x and the
| flagships.
| edm0nd wrote:
| skills issue for sure
| moogly wrote:
| > plug it into my PC to transfer pictures
|
| In 2025? I got my first Android phone, what, 15 years ago and
| I've never transferred files over USB because why would I.
| davidcollantes wrote:
| How does this relates to the submission's "Desktop View"?
| Genuinely trying to find the connection.
| 6510 wrote:
| The desktop view is for larger screens, it is somewhat
| similar to fordable phones.
| layer8 wrote:
| The screen of foldable phones is still smaller than most
| tablets, and there's a reason iPads offer something like
| Stage Manager for (larger) external screens (disregarding
| for the moment its janky implementation). Meaning, the
| screen size of foldable phones doesn't change that much
| about the usefulness of being able to connect to a desktop-
| size screen.
| 6510 wrote:
| It at least has similar down sides -.-
| jccalhoun wrote:
| Rumors are Apple will be inventing the folding phone in a year
| or two.
| logic_node wrote:
| Haha yeah, I've heard that too! Apple might be late to the
| foldable party, but you know how they do it -- show up last
| and still steal the spotlight. If they really launch one,
| it'll probably be super refined... and super pricey. Let's
| see if they can change the game like they did with the notch!
| MBCook wrote:
| I am pretty skeptical that I would like the size but I'm
| certainly interested in seeing what they come up with.
|
| They like to wait until stuff is "ready" to their standard.
| Android had 3G, 4G, and 5G first. OLED screens too.
|
| Early folders had a lot of issues, but I know a lot of that
| has been sorted for years.
| the_clarence wrote:
| The size: its a smaller phone that becomes a tablet on
| demand. It really is the best of both worlds
| MBCook wrote:
| But is it? That's what has me wondering.
|
| If it's the size of my current phone and folds out to be
| twice as wide, that sounds kind of nice. Except it would
| be so thin I worry it would be flimsy and there wouldn't
| be as much space for battery (which the open screen would
| use faster) so wouldn't I get worse battery life?
|
| Unless you make it twice as thick. Then it's twice as
| thick.
|
| And so I'm not sure that bigger screen would justify any
| of that for me. Now if it was three times as wide that
| might be significantly nice because now you're
| approaching like iPad mini size. But that just makes the
| thinness/thickness problem worse.
|
| If it's say half the size of my current phone and then
| unfolds to be the size of my current phone (game boy SP
| style) I'm not sure that's really buying me anything
| either. My phone is fine, I don't need a twice as thick
| half as tall version in my pocket that's not really gonna
| help me.
|
| I have heard they're popular with women which makes a
| certain amount of sense to me. Because if you're going to
| just carry your phone in your bag then the fact that it's
| twice as thick doesn't matter that much but you get the
| bigger screen.
|
| I'm a phone-in-pocket person.
|
| So I don't know, it's just not making a lot of sense to
| me. But like I said I've never used one and it may be one
| of those things where after a couple of days the light
| would go on and I would totally get it. I questioned the
| Apple Watch at first and now I love it. But that's not
| always how it goes.
| hbn wrote:
| It's not like Apple hasn't had the ability to release a
| folding phone since the display technology has existed for
| years. The tricky part of releasing a folding phone is
| figuring out how you're going to handle the incredibly high
| warranty claim rate when screens spontaneously fail.
|
| Apple in particular will get to deal with all the negative PR
| when people buy their $2000 iPhone Fold and online reports
| come flooding in for all of the week 1 display failures.
| the_clarence wrote:
| Google pixel folding is great quality, I think you're
| talking about the first gen folding phones.
|
| In addition Apple would be happy if people started
| upgrading their phones more frequently.
| voidUpdate wrote:
| Multitasking on a phone? I know screens are getting bigger, but
| it seems like a bit much to me... I can understand this on a
| tablet, but having two windows that im interacting with at the
| same time on a phone would feel really cramped, unless its one of
| those fold phones that are 2 or 3 in 1
| bgnn wrote:
| This is for when you connect it to a large screen
| alias_neo wrote:
| You plug in a USB-C cable with DP-Alt mode (or whatever phones
| use) and you have a (4K) display of any size, keyboard and
| mouse (via the USB hub in the monitor), and webcam, speakers,
| whatever else that's connected to your monitor/hub/docking
| station.
|
| The phone just becomes the processing power; essentially an ARM
| laptop with all of the peripherals external.
|
| I currently using Pixel 9 Pro XL (512GiB) and I imagine it's
| got more compute power than my ageing 2019 XPS 13.
|
| Conversely, I'm not entirely sure what the use-case is. It
| couldn't replace my work-laptop with a 20-core CPU and 64GiB of
| RAM and ARC GPU, running Ubuntu/Gnome that I can also connect
| to a couple of monitors, keyboard, mouse, speakers, webcam, and
| more with a single cable via a docking station; and if I was
| going to carry the peripherals needed to do this with my phone,
| when on the go, I'd just carry a laptop, like I do now.
|
| Curious to hear what the use-case is for people with these
| desktop/phone crossovers. If it's to cover the use-case where I
| haven't brought a laptop with me, forgotten it, didn't bring it
| for weight or whatever; where am I supposed to find these
| peripherals to use?
| 112233 wrote:
| A secure device. Pixel with graphene and this thing lets you
| keep all your classified eggs in one basket, but it is a
| really hard to pry open basket. At home you can do stuff on
| it with the same comfort as on PC, but you can always have it
| in pocket.
| bgnn wrote:
| So I tried to replace my personal computer with an iPad pro
| thinking that all I need is some basic apps + a browser. I
| connect it to a docking station and try to use it as a
| desktop computer, and I really love being able to take notes
| with a stylus.
|
| The problem is, the OS is very limiting. The file manager of
| iOS is extremely dumbed down, even Firefox doesn't work
| properly on it, and desktop mode with stage manager is just
| stupid. So yeah, it's not a success so far.
|
| Android though feels more open, so I would give it a try of
| their desktop mode isn't stupid. Firefox on Android is fully
| functional at least and that's a great start!
| lern_too_spel wrote:
| Even on a phone, I regularly split my screen vertically to
| research while writing without swiping back and forth between
| apps.
| enragedcacti wrote:
| Taking better advantage of a display is nice but imo the really
| exciting part of desktop mode is the planned integration with
| Google's Linux Terminal app (i.e. 1st party linux VM support). I
| have a Samsung DeX device and while you can get a basic dev
| environment working easily it can be really cumbersome to make it
| comfortable to use and integrate with your normal tablet
| workflow. Being able to install full-fat linux apps and run them
| in a window would be a complete game changer.
|
| source for planned integration:
| https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/392521081?utm_source=...
| chneu wrote:
| Dex is annoyingly close to being really useful.
|
| I think Samsung recently added a "desktop Dex" mode that's
| supposed to be less mobile-ui. I haven't tried it tho.
| asabla wrote:
| I remember when they presented the S10, with the initial
| implementation of Dex.
|
| It felt so close already back then, sluggish, but still
| usable. But that initial implementation was running some in-
| house version of Ubuntu with a custom kernel (if I remembered
| it correctly).
|
| I just wish this becomes a reality much sooner then later.
| Especially if I can have my dev environment on some remote
| VPS with either tunneling, github code spaces or Azure DevBox
| fenced_load wrote:
| Just FYI, Dex is really fluid on flagship devices.
| vizzier wrote:
| > Dex is annoyingly close to being really useful.
|
| I feel this a lot. I use it daily, mostly as a thin client
| for remote desktop use but there are little niggles that
| would make it better. Examples:
|
| - Let me control how the top bar and taskbar are viewed
|
| - Let games capture the mouse in remote desktop (for fps type
| games)
|
| - Fix the small issues that cause the mouse capture to fail
| on steam link occasionally
|
| - Fix rendering issues with firefox while in desktop mode
|
| - Let the youtube UI work in a more "desktop" way while in
| dex mode
|
| These might be mostly app responsibilities, but if they could
| fix some of this stuff dex would be a dream instead of just
| being mostly useful.
| assassinator42 wrote:
| Rumor is Samsung won't support Google's Linux Terminal (at
| least for their existing phones) since their Knox conflicts
| with the Android Virtualization Framework :-(.
|
| Honestly I'd like to see Windows 11 running under this as well,
| but that seems incredibly unlikely.
| wiktor-k wrote:
| It's interesting to hear because Samsung had a Linux feature
| previously: https://developer.samsung.com/sdp/blog/en/2017/10
| /18/samsung...
| pmontra wrote:
| They had Linux on DeX in 2018, killed in 2019. It was a
| partnership with Canonical
|
| https://9to5google.com/2018/11/09/samsung-linux-on-dex-
| andro...
|
| It was the Ubuntu 16.04 desktop running in a LXD container.
| It crashed when the tablet went in out of memory, so I had
| to be careful with what I was running.
| Calwestjobs wrote:
| Chrome OS allowed this even before 2020. So you could open
| Linux (even GUI) and android app right next to each other...
| Had whole JS dev workflow/toolchain running on that ( did not
| want to clog my main computer with that ). Problem with mixing
| apps is that for some you have to use mouse/ stylus because
| their GUI was not meant to be touched.
| modeless wrote:
| It's a shame that Chrome OS was subsumed by Android instead
| of the other way around. IMO in many ways it had better
| foundations.
| xnx wrote:
| I've tried it. I was pretty impressed. I plugged in a USB-C hub
| with a keyboard, mouse, and monitor and everything worked
| immediately, even the Windows key on the keyboard.
| jeroenhd wrote:
| Android has supported basic peripherals and screen mirroring
| for a decade at least, and several vendors have tried to bring
| plug-in phones to the market as desktop alternatives. The fact
| people still find out about this feature today shows how badly
| the feature was marketed. Samsung Dex is good enough for 90% of
| office work these days, if not more. For a short time you could
| even run fully-fledged Ubuntu through DeX, which would've made
| the phone a full desktop replacement.
|
| I wish there was a phone-laptop-dock solution that wasn't as
| expensive as an equivalent Chromebook. My phone is more than
| powerful enough to act as a travel laptop, yet its potential is
| constrained by a small touch screen..
| packetlost wrote:
| I mean, what I really want is chromebook shaped shell that I
| slot my phone into for travel with an extended external
| battery.
| stanac wrote:
| I always thought that MS will make something like that.
| Android phone with "business" app store and docking support
| for external screen and peripherals. IIRC one of the last
| windows phones was from HP with dock support. I guess after
| the windows phone they just gave up.... There was an attempt
| at making dual screen ms android phone which was a failure
| (at least from business perspective).
| rs186 wrote:
| Well, MS did make that, sort of.
|
| https://www.theverge.com/2015/10/6/9464639/microsoft-
| windows...
| xnx wrote:
| > Android has supported basic peripherals and screen
| mirroring for a decade at least
|
| I've only ever used Nexus/Pixel phones which haven't
| supported USB-C external monitors until just 1.5 years ago
| with the Pixel 8.
| Melatonic wrote:
| LG phones had a pretty good "desktop mode" that activated
| when you plugged it into a big screen.
|
| Sadly like many of their great features it was not well
| known....
| jasonlotito wrote:
| Pretty sure Windows Phone did this over a decade ago. I mean, say
| what you want about Windows Phones, but yeah, this was a thing.
| nashashmi wrote:
| They did. The lumia had this feature. It also had a liquid
| cooling system. But the windows computer was quite limited.
| This was before they migrated to windows one core.
| buzzerbetrayed wrote:
| As someone who likely never would have bought a windows phone,
| I sure wish Microsoft would have stuck with it
| runjake wrote:
| I'm not aware of any Windows Phone implementation like this
| that existed commercially. Can you point me to it?
|
| The first modern thing like this that I can recall is the 2011
| Android-based Motorola Atrix phone[1] that presented a DeX-like
| desktop (well before DeX!).
|
| It used an Ubuntu-based desktop. It was really, really good,
| but never got traction.
|
| 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_Atrix_4G
| rcmjr wrote:
| It did. I have the 950xl and the display dock. At the time,
| it was such an awesome feature that the world and how we work
| was not ready for yet. https://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-
| Display-Dock-Lumia-HD-500/d...
| runjake wrote:
| Freaking cool. I don't know how I missed/forgot this,
| having been so immersed in the Windows Phone world. Thanks!
|
| I feel like this is something that could spur
| Windows/Windows Phone adoption in modern times.
| lern_too_spel wrote:
| Display connectors were a problem back then. Now you can
| just use USB C.
| ThrowawayB7 wrote:
| The HP Elite x3 had it:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP_Elite_x3 . The phone came
| with a docking cradle with desktop ports.
| TowerTall wrote:
| It was called "Continuum" and was introduced with Windows 10
| Mobile. Worked pretty smoothly but it couldn't run win32
| application only the new modern UWP apps. Introduced 6 Oct 2015
| alongside the Nokia Lumia 950/950 XL. Discontinued when Windows
| 10 Mobile reached end of support in Dec 2019.
|
| https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/de...
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Continuum
| p1necone wrote:
| I remember when MS was pushing UWP apps _hard_. So many
| things needlessly handicapped. I 'm glad they seem to have
| kinda given up on that now.
| nashashmi wrote:
| I have been waiting for this to go mainstream for nearly six
| years now.
|
| The whole point of having USB C phones is to connect to desktop
| docks and get full featured computers. Instead we have muzzled
| devices.
|
| I would love something that I can use and maybe even use an RDP
| on, to function as a full desktop computer.
|
| But like all common sense improvements, some come just too late
| after the boat has sailed.
| lanthissa wrote:
| this done well is a transformational thing, its just no one has
| been willing to invest yet, but the compute on a phone is now
| good enough to do most things most users do on desktop.
|
| I can easily see the future of personal computing being a mobile
| device with peripherals that use its compute and cloud for
| anything serious. be that airpods, glasses, watches, or just
| hooking that device up to a larger screen.
|
| theres not a great reason for an individual to own processing
| power in a desktop, laptop, phone, and glasses when most are idle
| while using the others.
| mushufasa wrote:
| in a sense apple is already doing this, since there's shared
| chip tech in the laptops and phones.
|
| I still will prefer the form factor of a laptop for anything
| serious though; screen, speakers, keyboard.
|
| Yes you can get peripherals for a phone, yes I have tried that,
| no they're not good. Though perhaps with foldable screens this
| could change in the future.
| danieldk wrote:
| Apple is intentionally hampering the desktop experience on
| the iPad and is very late in brining Stage Manager to the
| iPhone (the rumor is now iOS 19). Until there is serious
| competition (this and/or improvements to DeX, Apple will drag
| their feet because they want to sell you three compute device
| categories (or four if you count the Vision Pro).
| logic_node wrote:
| True! Apple's already ahead with the shared chip setup
| between Macs and iPhones. But yeah, for real work, nothing
| beats a proper laptop -- big screen, keyboard, good speakers.
| I've tried using a phone with accessories too... not the same
| vibe. Maybe foldables will change that someday!
| MBCook wrote:
| They have the hardware. They don't provide ANY software for
| this kind of thing though. And there is a very real chance it
| could cannibalize some Mac sales.
|
| I've always wondered if this kind of thing is actually that
| useful, but it's not even an option for me because of the
| above.
|
| Seems surprising Google didn't act on this earlier. But maybe
| they didn't want to cannibalize the Chromebooks?
|
| I get the feeling very very few people know this exists at
| all on some Samsung phones. I've asked some tech-y people
| with Samsungs about it before and they didn't even know it
| existed.
| reaperducer wrote:
| _this done well is a transformational thing, its just no one
| has been willing to invest yet_
|
| I think we've seen this before. Back before phones were "smart"
| there was one (Nokia, maybe?) that you could put on a little
| dock into which you could plug a keyboard and monitor.
|
| Obviously, it didn't take off. Perhaps it was ahead of its
| time. Or, as you say, it wasn't done well at the time.
|
| Phones accepting Bluetooth keyboard connections was very common
| back in my road warrior (digital nomad) days, but the screen
| was always the annoyance factor. Writing e-mails on my
| SonyEricsson on a boat on the South China Sea felt like "the
| future!"
|
| Slightly related, I built most of my first startup with a Palm
| Pilot III and an attached keyboard. Again, though, a larger
| screen would have been a game changer.
| Tijdreiziger wrote:
| > I think we've seen this before. Back before phones were
| "smart" there was one (Nokia, maybe?) that you could put on a
| little dock into which you could plug a keyboard and monitor.
|
| There have been multiple attempts at this over the years.
|
| https://liliputing.com/5-laptop-docks-that-let-you-use-a-
| sma...
| jerf wrote:
| AIUI, the main problem in the cell phone era is that by the
| time you create a notebook shell with an even halfway-decent
| screen, keyboard, battery, and the other things you'd want in
| your shell, it's hard to sell it next to the thing right next
| to it that is all that, but they also stuck a cheap computer
| in it (and is therefore no longer a dock). Yeah, it's $50
| more expensive, but it looks way more than $50 more useful.
|
| What may shift the balance is that slowly but surely USB-C
| docks are becoming more common, on their own terms, not
| related to cell phones. At some point we may pass a critical
| threshold where there's enough of them that selling a phone
| that can just natively use any USB-C dock you've got lying
| around becomes a sufficient distinguishing feature that
| people start looking for it. Even just treating it as a bonus
| would be a start.
|
| I've got two docks in my house now; one a big powerful one to
| run the work-provided laptop in a more remote-work-friendly
| form factor, and fairly cheap one to turn my Steam deck into
| a halfway-decent Switch competitor (though "halfway-decent"
| and no more; it's definitely more finicky). We really ought
| to be getting to the point that a cell phone with a docked
| monitor, keyboard, & mouse for dorm room usage (replacing the
| desktop, TV, and if whoever pulls this off plays their cards
| right, the gaming console(s)) should start looking appealing
| to college students pretty soon here. The docks themselves
| are rapidly commoditizing if they aren't there already.
|
| Once it becomes a feature that we increasingly start to just
| expect on our phones, then maybe the "notebook-like" case for
| a cell phone starts to look more appealing as an accessory.
| We've pretty much demonstrated it can't carry itself as its
| own product.
|
| That would probably start the clock on the "notebook" as its
| own distinct product, though it would take years for them to
| finally be turned into nothing but shells for cell phones + a
| high-end, expensive performance-focused line that is itself
| more-or-less the replacement for desktops, which would
| themselves only be necessary for high-end graphics or places
| where you need tons and tons of storage and you don't want 10
| USB-C drives flopping around separately.
| nasretdinov wrote:
| BTW you don't even need a dock if you have a USB-C monitor
| with USB and audio ports, which is not that uncommon. The
| monitor acts like a USB hub, so if you plug in your
| keyboard and mouse that's your computer essentially
| robotnikman wrote:
| I remember there was a fad I think in 2009 or 2010 where a
| bunch of Android manufacturers released 'laptops' (just a
| display and keyboard) with a dock connector in the back that
| was meant to turn the phone into a laptop basically
|
| Obviously the trend didn't take off
| danans wrote:
| > I think we've seen this before. Back before phones were
| "smart" there was one (Nokia, maybe?) that you could put on a
| little dock into which you could plug a keyboard and monitor.
|
| Still in the "smart" era, but the Motorola Atrix allowed
| that, but with its own laptop form factor dock.
|
| https://www.cnet.com/culture/how-does-the-motorola-
| atrix-4g-...
| MBCook wrote:
| I think power was a real problem. A 2010 phone was bit as
| close to a laptop in performance.
|
| An M4 Mac is way more powerful than an iPhone 16, but the
| iPhone is powerful enough to prove a much better experience
| on normal tasks compared to what that 2010 phone could at the
| time.
|
| Basically I think everything has enough headroom that it's
| not the compromise it would've been before. The biggest
| constraints on an iPhone's performance are the battery and
| cooling. If you're plugged in the battery doesn't matter. And
| unless you're not playing a fancy game cooling may not be an
| issue due to headroom.
| lynndotpy wrote:
| > the compute on a phone is now good enough to do most things
| most users do on desktop.
|
| Really, the compute on a phone has been good enough for at
| least a decade now once we got USB C. We're still largely doing
| on our phones and laptops the same things we were doing in
| 2005. I'm surprised it took this long
|
| I'm happy this is becoming a real thing. I hope they'll also
| allow the phone's screen to be used like a trackpad. It
| wouldn't be ideal, but there's no reason the touchscreen can't
| be a fully featured input device.
|
| I'm fully agreed with you on the wasted processing power-- I
| think we'll eventually head toward a model of having one
| computing device with a number of thin clients which are
| locally connected.
| bsimpson wrote:
| This concept has been floating around for a long time. I
| think Motorola was pitching it in 2012, and I'm sure
| confidential concepts in the same vein have been tried in the
| labs of most of the big players.
| fc417fc802 wrote:
| > I hope they'll also allow the phone's screen to be used
| like a trackpad. It wouldn't be ideal, but there's no reason
| the touchscreen can't be a fully featured input device.
|
| I might have misunderstood but do you mean as an input device
| attached to your desktop computer? Kdeconnect has made that
| available for quite some time out of the box. (Although it's
| been a long time since I used it and when I tested it just
| now apparently I've somehow managed to break the input
| processing half of the software on my desktop in the
| interim.)
| dzdt wrote:
| The future of personal computing is being dictated by the
| economics of it, which are that the optimal route to extract
| value from consumers is to have walled-garden software systems
| gated by per-month subscription access and/or massive forced
| advertising. This leads to everything being in the cloud and
| only fairly thin clients running on user hardware. That gives
| the most control to the system owners and the least control to
| the user.
|
| Given that all the compute and all the data is on the cloud,
| there is little point in making ways for users to do clever
| interconnect things with their local devices.
| gwbas1c wrote:
| I've heard so many "The future of personal computing"
| statements that haven't come true, so I don't take much stock
| in them.
|
| I remember when everyone thought we were going to throw out
| our desktops and do all our work on phones and tablets!
| (Someone who kept insisting on this finally admitted that
| they couldn't do a spreadsheet on a phone or tablet.)
|
| > Given that all the compute and all the data is on the
| cloud, there is little point in making ways for users to do
| clever interconnect things with their local devices.
|
| IMO, it's a pain-in-the-ass to manage multiple devices, so
| IMO, it's much easier to just plug my phone into a clamshell
| and have all my apps show up there.
| bongodongobob wrote:
| A laptop wins everytime because I don't have to carry around
| all my peripherals and set em all up again. Unless there's
| going to be dock setups in every conference room, coffee shop,
| table in my house, airplane, car, deck, etc, a laptop makes
| more sense.
| mdhb wrote:
| @dang why is this flagged? The flagging system on this site is so
| incredibly bad. It's always a tiny handful of users trying to
| control what others can see with zero logical consistency.
| mnmalst wrote:
| I agree, can anybody just willy nilly flag any post?
| mdhb wrote:
| In practice it bears almost zero resemblance to its stated
| functionality and instead is really just an extension of
| personal preferences of a tiny minority of people. It's
| embarrassingly unfit for purpose. This happens all the time
| where stories get flagged for no reason.
| dang wrote:
| It's not a tiny minority of people. The karma threshold for
| flagging is deliberately kept low so this isn't the case.
|
| > _This happens all the time where stories get flagged for
| no reason._
|
| It's not for no reason--it just feels that way when you see
| flags on an article that you think is a good one for HN.
|
| Judging from what else the same users have flagged, along
| with the responses you got in this thread, my guess is that
| they thought the submitted article
| (https://www.squaredtech.co/googles-desktop-view-android-
| phon...) wasn't good enough for HN. Indeed, it has the
| markings of blogspam (content lifted from other sources).
|
| Normally we'd leave the flags alone on a post like this,
| but the comments in this thread are surprisingly good, so
| I've turned off the flags and replaced the URL with an
| earlier article which has the same material and which in
| fact, it (almost?) looks like the other article was cribbed
| from.
| ggm wrote:
| If flag enabling is based on a threshold test, cannot un-
| flagging also be enabled based on a threshold test?
| dang wrote:
| I'm afraid I don't understand the question. Can you
| explain a bit further?
| ChrisArchitect wrote:
| In that case perhaps the actual source article could be
| used: https://www.androidauthority.com/android-desktop-
| mode-leak-3...
| dang wrote:
| Sure! Changed from
| https://tech.yahoo.com/phones/articles/first-look-google-
| unf... now.
| jsnell wrote:
| I'm not surprised, it's a horribly written article, like a
| paragraph of content stretched out over article-length by AI.
| pndy wrote:
| Perhaps that's why: two total submissions from this site and
| both are added by same green account registered 7 days ago.
| SirFatty wrote:
| "Google's Secret Weapon Against Samsung DeX"
|
| Samsung has abandoned DeX, attempting to use it (if using Windows
| 11) the user is instructed to use Phone Link which is not nearly
| as good, imho.
| TiredOfLife wrote:
| Different things. This about the desktop mode of Dex and not
| phone to pc mirroring
| kome wrote:
| I'm against smartphones. Sure, they're a technological marvel,
| but they're also incredibly dumb in practice. They're built
| mainly for consumption, not creation. They feel like walled
| gardens that limit freedom and stifle creativity. The hardware
| might be amazing, but the software is awful. In the end, they
| mostly just make our kids dumber.
|
| What I'd really like is a personal computer I can plug into a
| screen to work, then carry with me when I'm done. That would be a
| real step forward in personal computing. It would make laptops
| unnecessary.
| danieldk wrote:
| This would be close to it. Google added a Linux VM to Android
| 15 QPR2. You can already try it on Pixel devices by enabling it
| through the developer options:
|
| https://www.androidpolice.com/android-15-linux-terminal-app/
|
| As linked somewhere else in the thread, Google wants to extend
| it to run (non-Android) Linux desktop apps besides Android
| apps. So once this is refined, plugging in an Android phone
| will give you a general-purpose desktop.
|
| Exciting times!
| thesuperbigfrog wrote:
| This is largely due to the popularity of full touchscreen
| smartphones compared to those in the past that had hardware
| keyboards (for example Blackberry and Palm Treo devices).
|
| Devices with hardware keyboards were easier to use for creation
| (especially writing) and more of the software was focused on
| creation because of the more limited media processing
| capabilities of those devices (e.g. less processing power, less
| memory, more restricted media codecs at that time).
| charcircuit wrote:
| >They're built mainly for consumption, not creation.
|
| This is true for almost all computers. That doesn't mean you
| can't use a computer built for consumption for creation.
| kome wrote:
| strong disagree, computers are built for creation and work,
| not mindless consumption.
| charcircuit wrote:
| Have you never heard of categories such as "gaming pcs" or
| "netbooks" whose name literally describes how people will
| consume using it. Laptops advertise how long you can
| consumes using it's battery life in terms of movies and
| music.
| bgnn wrote:
| What's a good form factor for that? A Mac mini is an overkill
| for most of my needs. I wish there was a smaller form factor!
| kome wrote:
| that's why i say a phone could be perfect for the job. it's
| just that current smartphones are stupid.
| ndriscoll wrote:
| Look at the ultra-compact form factor minipcs from e.g. beelink
| and gmktec. It's pretty much what you describe, and is an
| actual computer that you can run real operating systems like
| Linux on. The form factor is roughly 4" x 4" x 1.5", so fits in
| a pocket. On the low end, you can get an N150 with 8GB DDR4 for
| ~$125 on Amazon, which is still monstrously powerful for
| productive desktop use.
| carlhjerpe wrote:
| This is the only natural path if mobile chips are going to keep
| getting faster, everyone with a flagship phone is "wasting" so
| much good compute resources that never gets utilized.
|
| I wonder if we'll see USB-C docks for phones with fans blowing at
| the device for improved thermals.
|
| If they nail the Linux container UX as well as ChromeOS it would
| motivate me to buy a top-tier device rather than my sluggish
| Fairphone 4, right now I don't see the usecase other than good
| camera.
|
| Imagine thst a large userbase could just skip the laptop and
| desktop in favor of a USB-C dock and a decent display :)
| saratogacx wrote:
| The original Samsung DeX dock for the S8 was exactly that.
| USB-C and had a fan in the stand to keep the phone cool.
|
| https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/samsung-dex-first-impre...
| johnea wrote:
| Once again, goggle catches up with linux features from 10 years
| ago.
|
| Just one example article, using a chroot environment:
|
| https://www.nextpit.com/turn-your-android-device-into-a-linu...
|
| But Ubuntu touch, and other native linux phone installs have
| touted desktop mode over the years.
|
| The h/w 10 years ago was marginal at performing this task, and
| the non-corporate OSes were, and are, actively suppressed by
| goggle and the rest of the corporate "phone" development
| industry. This is an almost identical scenario as M$ dominating
| the PC manufacturing business, even though they didn't make the
| h/w.
|
| But this serves as another typical example of how long ago this
| type of feature could have been available if every new innovation
| didn't have to be vetted from the perspective of vendor benefit,
| instead of advancing on the basis of user benefit.
| lucasoshiro wrote:
| This is a concept that seems to be ressucted from time to
| time... The first I remember was Motorola Atrix, launched in
| 2011: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_Atrix_4G
| charcircuit wrote:
| And yet Android was used by billions of people without a
| desktop mode existing. Ubuntu Touch is behind in the core
| things users actually value.
| johnea wrote:
| > Ubuntu Touch is behind in the core things users actually
| value
|
| Indeed, the primary "core thing" missing is being
| manufactured and dictated to "the market" by a multi-billion
| $ monopoly...
| charcircuit wrote:
| Canonical is (currently) a multi billion company and there
| is not a monopoly in phone manufacturers
| NBJack wrote:
| If you haven't tried it, especially if your workplace allows your
| phone to have access to some corporate data, DeX + a good pair of
| AR or just integrated display glasses feels like the future.
|
| I run my S23 Ultra with a pair of XReal One's, and a folding
| Bluetooth keyboard (DeX let's you use your phone as a touchpad).
| It is really amazing in widescreen mode sitting in a coffee shop,
| reading through technical documents and answering work email.
| When I'm done, it can all fold up and fit in a (spacious) pair of
| cargo shorts.
|
| I think Samsung has played the long game on DeX, with an eye
| towards their collaborative XR glasses with Google next year. As
| great as XReal has been, I am eager to see a "first-party"
| solution.
| halyconWays wrote:
| I tried it for a while with the best AR glasses I could find at
| the time, XReal Air 2 Pros with an Xreal Beam, and although I
| could see the potential, it wasn't good enough to get work
| done. The screen size was too small, the resolution too poor,
| and it was a little too jittery and unnatural feeling.
|
| Are the Xreal One's that much of a step forward that you can
| use it for serious work? Even on my Quest Pro I find it just on
| the edge of being too annoying to do coding-work. Web browsing
| is decent.
|
| And second question, worth buying the One or waiting for the
| One Pros?
| cakealert wrote:
| Xreal One removed the biggest problems with that tech, it's
| usable now. No more "jittery and unnatural feeling" or stupid
| dongles/pucks. They put custom silicon in the glasses which
| stabilizes things and optionally locks displays in space.
|
| It's not perfect but usable.
| 2OEH8eoCRo0 wrote:
| I'm extremely interested in this use case. I can imagine a
| future where your employer ships a "company headset" and
| peripherals rather than a laptop.
|
| Why don't we have virtual offices to wander around yet?
| smusamashah wrote:
| Scrcpy recently added support for Virtual Display. This allows
| connecting your phone at any resolution e.g. 1920x1080. But
| vanilla android by default does not have a taskbar in that mode.
|
| What's strange is that vanilla OS _does_ show a taskbar (tablet
| mode) if you increase DPI to 600+. Theoretically you can get a
| taskbar now only if tablet mode taskbar could show up in
| secondary virtual displays.
|
| https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy/blob/master/doc/virtual...
|
| https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy/issues/6032
| 0xbadcafebee wrote:
| ....and it's not wireless?! even Android Auto has a wireless
| mode...
| maelito wrote:
| Worked more than one year on Dex years ago. Developed a million-
| user website with Tmux.
|
| The only thing that wouldn't work was a ruby CSS library that had
| a (if processor='arm') {crash()}.
|
| What a pleasure to have a computer in your pocket.
| SoftTalker wrote:
| Too many ads, didn't read (tma;dr)
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