Android 16 is now out for Google Pixel phones, and a new beta of Android 16 has a (very) early desktop mode feature. While this kind of functionality isn’t new—Samsung’s DeX has been around for a while—this is the first time we’re seeing Google itself build something like this directly into Android. You can see it in action in my latest video.
The idea is to turn a phone into something that more closely resembles a desktop computer, complete with windowed apps and external display support.
Performance on mobile devices is getting to a point where this sort of thing actually makes some sense. Apple’s iPads, for instance, use the same chips as their MacBook Airs. There’s no technical reason a tablet couldn’t run a full desktop OS at this point. So while desktop modes might have felt like a gimmick in the past, they’re starting to feel like a real alternative—or at least a supplement—to a traditional PC.
To get this working, I had to enroll the Pixel 8 Pro in the Android 16 beta program. This particular phone had not yet received the Android 16 update, so after opting in the update was immediately available. That wasn’t the case with another Pixel 8a I tested on a different account, which had already received Android 16—it took a few days longer for the beta to show up there.
Only Pixel 8 and newer models support HDMI output via USB-C, so older devices won’t be compatible. I enabled developer mode, scrolled down to the “window management” section, and turned on the desktop mode features. After a reboot, I plugged the phone into a dock that provides HDMI, power, Ethernet, and USB input. I used that to connect a keyboard and trackpoint combo and sent video to an external display.
The result was a desktop-style interface on my display. Apps appeared in movable and resizable windows, and I could open and interact with multiple apps at once—like Google Docs and my blog—side by side. That said, the experience was clearly still in the early stages. Visual quality was disappointing, with text appearing blurry even though the display was set to 1080p. I also didn’t see any built-in options to adjust resolution or text scaling.
I tried running it on a 4K display as well, but everything was too small to be usable. Sticking to 1080p was more manageable. App support was inconsistent. YouTube, for example, didn’t scale well and maintained a layout more suited to a phone screen, even in a resized window.
There’s clearly a lot of work to be done. It doesn’t feel like something that’s close to release-ready, even as a beta. Still, I’m glad Google is exploring it. I’ll be keeping an eye on how this develops and plan to revisit it as the feature matures. There’s real potential here, even if it’s a little rough around the edges for now.