Feed: Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics
Feed Link: https://www.engadget.com/
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Title: Android 16 includes a desktop interface Google built from Samsung DeX

Date: Wed, 21 May 2025 21:36:11 +0000
Link: https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/a...

Devices running Android 16 will pick up a new trick when the software update
rolls out later this year: The ability to run a desktop-style interface while
connected to an external display. An early version of the idea was spotted
for phones in betas of Android 16, but as 9to5Google noticed, Google made the
feature official during its developer keynote.

According to the presentation, the new windowing and external display feature
was created in collaboration with Samsung, "building on the foundation of
Samsung DeX, to bring enhanced desktop windowing capabilities in Android 16."
Prior to this official support, Samsung DeX was a custom feature Samsung
built into One UI that allowed certain Samsung phones and tablets to display
a desktop-style interface while connected to a display.

Google's implementation seems to be aiming for the same thing, with resizable
windows and a dock for your most used apps. The company also appears open to
the feature working on tablets and phones, too. In a blog post touting the
advantages of developing adaptive apps, Google says that Android 16 offers "a
true desktop-like experience on large screens and when devices are connected
to external displays." While Google's language leaves things open-ended,
support for this desktop experience could still hinge on phone makers
enabling it and app developers making sure their apps play nice with
resizable windows.

A developer beta of Android 16 is available to download on select phones and
tablets right now. Assuming desktop windowing and support for external
displays isn't dropping in a later update, you'll be able to try the new
features for yourself when Android 16 launches in June.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/a...
interface-google-built-from-samsung-dex-213611668.html?src=rss

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