When most people hear desktop mode on Android, they tend to think of Samsung’s DeX or Motorola’s platform. In fact, these two are among the most advanced custom implementations out there. However, a little-known fact is that there is a desktop mode in Google’s AOSP. It first launched with Android 10 in a very barebones state, primarily to allow developers to test their apps in multi-display scenarios.
Desktop mode has been steadily (albeit slowly) improving since then, and can now easily handle side-by-side mode with two apps on the screen. Using a so-called free-form multi-window experience allows you to have more apps open simultaneously, but there are a number of caveats.
Google is clearly working on its multi-window Android desktop experience, and it’s already making some progress. Android Authority has discovered some interesting new features by modifying the developer logo on the latest Android 14 QPR3 2.1 beta version.
You can see the new multi-window experience for yourself in the video. But basically, there’s now a new title bar that contains a little menu that appears once you tap the little handle at the top of a full-screen app. The menu contains options for full-screen, split-screen, or free-form mode. Once in free mode, windows can be freely dragged and resized. The Snap to Edges feature allows you to align windows to the left or right half of the screen. You can even skip entire menus and simply hold and drag the new handle at the top of a full-screen app to go directly to a free-form window from a full-screen app. It’s worth noting that there’s still no window positioning or keyboard shortcuts for snapping. There’s no proper desktop launcher either.
These big productivity and usability improvements are likely to arrive with Android 15. Google may even market these devices as part of the Pixel 9 experience once they launch later this fall. After all, the tech giant recently enabled Display Output on the Pixel 8 series, which seems to indicate renewed interest in the feature.
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