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?
Yes, although it will be a full ANDROID PC.
i hope it comes to graphene os
Its already available in developer settings on grapheneos I use it daily
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 if it’s not my main computer why would I connect to screens and peripherals?
Arch user btw
Samsung has been doing this with Dex for many years ffs.
Yes. And now it’s native in all android! Samsung helped make it!
It’s good when things get better.
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.
That’s cool… I guess…
What I really want is to continue to use F-Droid though.
Install Graphene OS on your Pixel.
This doesn’t stop the drastic drop in popularity (and potentially development) of FOSS apps.
Lack of users means lack of donations.
We need to stop this BS instead of just trying to get a workaround.
There is no workaround for proprietary platforms other than stopping using them.
I’m not giving Google anymore money. I’m actively going to vote for their competitor, Motorola+GrapheneOS.
(Not buying used Pixel.)
I understood OP already has one.
Motorola, yes, but that’s 2027, or thereabouts. As a stop-gap, there’s Lineage OS.
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
It didn’t already do this? Why did I have phones and tablets that could do this already?
Google, a decade late to the party.
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.
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.
I knew it!
Yeah meanwhile I was over in the corner trying to figure out how all my laces are tangled in the Velcro of my roller blades. I swear whoever designed Velcro and laces to exist on the same contraption was just trying to be a dick
LOL, sorry bud, but it’s only YOUR laces that get caught in Velcro. Other people’s laces are Velcro-resistant. Your rollerblade manufacturer is just fucking with you.
damn, I knew there was an alterior motive to the knee pads, no one liked those things.
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 😄
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.
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.
I had video out via MHL back in like 2013 and a usable desktop environment on an HTC M7 or something like that. Haven’t had a phone that could do anything similar since, and it’s kind of wild with how much more powerful phones are these days that desktop modes aren’t more common. I would love to not have to carry a laptop around when my phone is more than powerful enough for what I do for work.
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).
i literally just told you.
No, you tried making the false equivalence of claiming that if it cant be fixed for cheap, then it somehow isnt fixable at all.
So it’s i can’t get a car fixed for less than $100, I guess that means cars aren’t fixable?
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 it’s known to creepily record everything we do.
and increasing reliance on google and the aforementioned empire for underpowered and closed 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/)
I have a 9a running Graphene and with a “usb C laptop dock” I can use it in “desktop mode”, but I would warn that it is still EXTREMELY buggy and finnicky.
Still neat though.
