This has been hidden in developer options for a while now, but they’re now releasing it officially. Limited to Pixel 8 and newer devices and no 4k yet.
I’ve bought 1920x1200 IPS screen from temu. It is small, runs off the phone (if you want) power and works brilliantly. I’m using Windows RDP to use my desktop anywhere I want in the house. Works great for a few month, I had lower resolution for a couple updates, but the current version running on Android 17 Beta2 works just fine, at full resolution.
Could you link the screen from temu?
i hope it comes to graphene os
Its already available in developer settings on grapheneos I use it daily
That’s cool… I guess…
What I really want is to continue to use F-Droid though.
Install Graphene OS on your Pixel.
I’m not giving Google anymore money. I’m actively going to vote for their competitor, Motorola+GrapheneOS.
(Not buying used Pixel.)
Samsung has been doing this with Dex for many years ffs.
It’s good to have a non-vendor specific solution. Although samsung has switched to this and has lost some features for the time being, it should be a benefit long term.
Imagine what the world could be if we had repairable Arch Linux Phones that can go full desktop mode just like the pixel rn. Aaahhh that turns me on!🤤
I would definitely not carry my main computer around with me everywhere. Lose/brake/get is stolen and you’re seriously fucked. Too much risk. And it’s not my main computer why would I connect to screens and peripherals?
Arch user btw
Why say “Your Pixel can now…” when my Pixel can’t? Why not say “Pixel 8 and newer devices can now…”.
JTskulk, it is only your Pixel that can not. It works for older Pixels as well, but they specifically tied a few kill switches to your commonly known geo-locations and anyone who ties their shoelaces in a fashion deemed less mertiable.
Jokes on them, I wear velcro shoes!
their shoelaces in a fashion deemed less mertiable
Ian Knot ftw. Can’t beat it.
I have to deduct a merit for myself, as I now see I spelled meritable with a typo.
lol, love you 😄
What is an android PC? Is that like a boat car?
All phones are PCs, this is just connecting external displays.
The shock is that it couldn’t already.
Mobile devices tend to be much less versatile than PCs, mind you, and on purpose, due to one of Steve Jobs’ most misguided apprehensions, that it’d be a good idea to hide the filesystem from the user. (Cue someone somehow claiming that’s Good Actually in three, two, one…)
Hiding the file system is Good Actually because…
Tap for spoiler
Nope, can’t come up with a single reason. It’s fucking terrible.
It’s more than just that, it’s too slow a desktop OS like environment that’s more suited for mouse and keyboard too. It’s not just your phone screen on a bigger screen.
I guess the point is that phone hardware has been powerful enough to do it for a while. It’s surprising that no big companies other than Samsung really put any effort into making it work software wise.
Nah it’s more like a toaster fridge
Your Pixel
Limited to Pixel 8 and newer devices and no 4k yet.
Oh, so your Pixel, but not my Pixel.
Let’s be clear, for a feature that Samsung phones have had for a decade at this point.
This feature debuted on the Moto Atrix in 2011. There was even a version of Ubuntu that could use the feature.
They sure did have a version of it. But you had to run their privacy nightmare app suite on their mutilated android OS. So no one cared or cares.
Yep. Pixel 7P over here really bummed that this isn’t available because of poor choices Google made at the hardware level on this phone.
sad pixel 5 noises
I’ve been waiting for a camera bump free upgrade, the 10a might be it but I’m reluctant to continue up the phone size escalator.
My guy if you use that phone for anything remotely sensitive you should get a new one. It hasn’t received security updates in over 2 years. The 8a is about $200 refurbished with 6 more years of updates and you won’t notice the bump if you use a case.
I don’t use a case and I use Lineage. I’m not really concerned. I already need to crop the top of the screen in developer settings just so that I can reach the notification bar, I’m not really enthusiastic about getting something even bigger.
I’m not sure if lineage has this option, but on my Pixel 8, at least, there’s an option in system -> gestures called One-handed mode. If you use gesture navigation, it lets you swipe down on the navigation bar to either drag the top of the screen into reach or open the notification drawer. You can also map it to the accessibility button (and put it in the navigation bar) if you use the 3-button navigation.
I’m sure you’re content with your solution, but I just wanted to throw this out here in case you wanted to try something new. .
Yeah I’ve tried those but it seems like such a hack. Weirdly, the one handed “pull screen into reach” doesn’t allow you to swipe down across the notifications bar to open notifications, in that mode it only registers swipes that start from below the notifications bar. And the floating button gets a little unwieldy since it overlaps with the volume popup. And in the “show notifications” mode, the button opens notifications but doesn’t let you close them (once you press it twice for the “control center” it no longer does anything)
Not to mention it doesn’t really help with the phone itself being uncomfortable to hold. I’m trying my best to vote with my wallet, but that has meant sticking with a Pixel 2 up until a few years ago, and the Pixel 5 was my “only 2mm taller” compromise - I completely overlooked the fact that the Pixel 2 screen starts like 1cm from the top while the Pixel 5 screen starts nearly at the top. The Pixel 10a is almost 10mm taller, so I’m not sure if I’ll be sold on it.
I actually bought a OnePlus 6 something (t?) at one point fully intending to give in to a bigger screen but I hated it and returned it.
If you’re still making use of play store apps, I quite like Quick Cursor. I’m on a Pixel 8 Pro and I miss my 3A.
Yeah, I have a pixel 7 and was disappointed on vacation to learn that its USB-C port can’t do video when I wanted to plug it into a hotel room TV.
I don’t get why this is a Pixel thing at all and not an Android thing though. Shouldn’t any Android OS device that can do full video output over USB-C be able to do this?
I am confused.
In developer options in basic android you can simply enable the feature right?
My old Sony xperia 5 ii can do that and it definitely isn’t a Sony feature…
Video out is frustratingly uncommon. Samsung, some Sony’s, and only very recently Pixels. Google was vocally against video out for a long time. And SD cards (gotta pay for drive). You were expected to roll the dice with whether Chromecast works with a random TV and wifi combination.
Pixels were popular for two reasons: the camera and “basic black rectangle” device (RIP Nexus).
Yeah, Chromecast has been kind of a disaster for Google imho, in that it never got widespread adoption in TVs. If they’d pushed an open standard they might’ve been able to get that over the finish-line and get buy-in from 3rd parties. But instead every smart TV and smart phone has its own video streaming approach, it seems.
The LG V20 had it all, still miss daily driving that phone
I had the Nexus 6 and then moved to the V30. Both of those phones were awesome and I still miss them.
Not all USB-C are equal. They can add or remove features as they please
Right but I’m specifically referring to devices where their USB-C port is capable of full video out.
It’s supposed to be for Android 16 kn general once the feature is fully baked
Shouldn’t any Android OS device that can do full video output over USB-C be able to do this?
It will eventually. Pixels are usually the first ones to get everything because they are first-party devices.
Our Pixel ⚒️🎵
The 4 (iirc) also had USBC video out but google removed that functionality only to now have a reason to sell you a new phone. I hope its actually good and they publish source for it as part of AOSP, otherwise this news is fucking useless.
There were stability issues with the video out. People love to assume malice but most of the time there was actually good reasons
Thats nonsense, there are plenty of phones and tablets with usbc video output. Its been a feature for like a decade. Other companies have had working desktop modes for a long time and google just abandoned their work on it until they decided they could use it as a marketing feature. They probably just didnt want the pixel to cut into the chromebook marketshare.
this has been well covered by now. just cause it works in product x, doesn’t mean it was implemented correctly in product y
deleted by creator
This used to be exciting stuff about ten years ago when some of us still thought Google was doing cool things.
I think it is just supposed to be Samsung DeX
A PC where I can’t install what I want? WTF is the point of that bullshit.
Thanks but I’ll stick to my steam deck for my portable Linux computing needs where I can do what the hell I want.
I guess we’ll see how that goes come September timeframe.
I’m sure it’ll go pretty well on GrapheneOS
Not sure why everyone seems to think GrapheneOS is going to be immune and unaffected by Google actively trying to fuck AOSP to death.
Because now they have OEM support.
Oh good, so when AOSP is dead in the water, at least GrapheneOS can release hardware without an OS on it?
I guess there is logic to it, the most secure mobile device you can have is none…
It isn’t dead in the water. Google reversed that decision and also I believe part of a lawsuit against google before said it had to maintain the AOSP.
We’ll see what happens long term but they will be unaffected by the September changes.
last thing I want is an android pc. well maybe not the last but nope
I found these kind of features really useful. I had to submit some documents that I needed to do some work on before they got sent off. Everything was local, and with a keyboard/monitor/mouse I could have a browser, my email, and the document I was editing on the screen at the same time. So much faster typing and clicking.
I use my Steamdeck for that more often now if I just want a desktop while i am traveling if I don’t want to bring the laptop. I just mount the phone as a folder, so even that is easy.
I mean I get it kinda. I just have never really went for the smartphone thing. The laptop is basically my end all be all of technology. I too though love my steamdeck. I actually bought it as kinda of indulgence that I justified with the idea it would become my new laptop but I really like having gaming on a different device and just not worrying about it on my laptop.
There is no such thing as an Android PC.
Now there is
Sorry, I was being snarky. What I meant was that a computer running Android (or iOS) can’t really be counted as a PC, in the sense that Google (or Apple) control what you do with it.
No, it’s a phone with a monitor and keyboard. As far as I’m concerned a Chromebook is also not a PC, it’s a phone that’s shaped like a laptop.
That’s certainly an opinion.
I consider my phone to be a PC, and my work phone not to be, because one is clearly a personal computer, and the other a work computer.
brb… need to go send an email from the WC
A Chromebook has literally no phone related functionality. No SMS or calling.
yay, locked down unrepairable computers owned by a us company that aids in war and surveillance!
We are talking about Android, not Apple.
Android phones can be user repaired and repaired by third parties without Googles permission.
depends on what you need repaired. and upgrades are a big no too.
What part can’t be repaired? Some parts may be soldered to the board, but the board can be fixed without Googles blessing.
And upgrades were never a part of the original comment, so what does that have to do with my comment?
you seem to have answered your own question.
if i can’t cheaply repair an old board, or source parts, it’s not repairable.
upgrading is part of what makes old computers still usable.
Upgrading isn’t repairing, and I said you can repair these devices. My question is what CAN’T you repair, not what can be repaired (which is what I did answer).
It’s either Linux phone or fighting in the trenches a losing battle against one the most powerful companies in history. Android offering a desktop mode is good if taken in the context of running an open source software on hardware you own.
yeah, it’s nice in that context.
in fact, it’s something that could have been a thing for a while, they had phones doing this in 2012ish.
locked down
How? They allow users to install 3rd party ROMs and GrapheneOS
unrepairable
They’re not the best, but far from the worst. I’ve done multiple repairs on mine without much issue. There are first party parts and guides available on iFixit.
us company
I guess?
aids in war and surveillance!
You’d be hard pressed to find a manufacturer that doesn’t
This feature is a positive change. Enabling people to minimize the number of devices they need has the potential to significantly reduce the amount of ewaste people generate, and makes desktop features more accessible to people who can’t afford multiple devices.
android is pretty locked down, and being locked down further this year to allow only google-sanctioned software. following this trend will see actually unlocked and repairable computers replaced by locked phones. pixels are better than average but not available everywhere.
are the ifixit guides gonna help me replace the busted storage chip that renders my phone unbootable? i can just replace it for cheap on my laptop.
I guess?
Enabling people to minimize the number of devices they need
this is literally the biggest issue here. relying on a country that doles out sanctions and bombings like it’s parking tickets.
and increasing reliance on google and the aforementioned empire for underpowered computing is not a positive at all.
There are a lot of assumptions baked into everything you’re saying. It’s really not that deep. Google Pixels make up a tiny fraction of total mobile market share. This isn’t the start of some doomsday scenario where the only computers available are Google Pixels. You’re allowed to buy what you want. I need a phone anyway. All of them are kinda shit from an openness/repairability standpoint. And personally I’d rather have one device than two if I can.
relying on a country that doles out sanctions and bombings like it’s parking tickets.
This is a much larger issue that has little to do with anything we’re talking about
locked down further this year to allow only google-sanctioned software
This does not apply to GrapheneOS, which again you are allowed to install to these devices. Plus they allow use of the linux terminal which people have been experimenting with to run full linux apps (https://www.androidauthority.com/run-desktop-linux-apps-on-android-how-to-3586539/)
So sort of like the Continuum mode that Windows Phones had, like, ten years ago?
Like desktop mode on Librem5 in 2020, convergence on PinePhone from 2021, or Samsung Dex from a few years ago, too.
And every Ubuntu Touch device with support for external monitors for the last ten years or so. Here’s a demonstration running on a Fairphone 4.
Sadly it won’t work on fairphone 6 because it only has USB 2.0 and there isn’t enough bandwidth.
Oh the Motorola Atrix from like, 2014? I still have the lapdock. Used it with an original RPi for a while to make a terrible laptop.
Wiki says the model is from 2011, and all that functionality was implemented on Android 2.3.x, impressive! Google is only 14 versions behind.
Literally every Samsung Android phone has come with their Dex desktop for like 10 years too.
I fucking hate Google at this point. They’re just an even shittier version of apple now. Locking down their shit for no reason, and claiming decades old innovations are actually new and theirs.
Brother, Apple wrote that playbook 🤣
Yes, but even a diamond encrusted turd still gets flushed, diamonds and all.
Yes, although it will be a full ANDROID PC.
