Google is building its own DeX: First look at Android's Desktop Mode

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=...

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.

> 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.

I just wish it would do 4K resolution out of the box.

The hardware can do it, it's just that the system settings won't show you the 4K resolution option for some reason. But you can do some hacks to make it appear and then it works just fine.

You need to install a nondescript app called 'Samsung Good Lock' from the Samsung store (not available in Play store), and use that to side-load an app called 'Multistar', which is an app to tweak display settings. From that side-loaded app you need to tap the 'I Samsung DeX' which does various setting changes to "Make Dex even more friendly", it doesn't specify what it does exactly, but it'll make the 4K resolution option appear in the system settings.

This all feels real sketchy and I don't understand why Samsung doesn't just enable 4K resolution officially, because the hardware is clearly capable of it.

With every OneUI update there are rumors that it'll natively support 4K, but so far that hasn't happened AFAIK. Admittedly I haven't used Dex in a while for myself, but judging from recent Reddit posts this hack is still needed.

These instructions sound like a parody sketch about bad UX.