If you're a power user, one of the major selling points of Samsung Galaxy devices is the DeX experience. All you need is a screen, a cable, and your smartphone, and you'll basically have a desktop Android system that can follow you wherever you go.
Android has had a built-in desktop feature for quite some time now, but you've probably never heard of it because it is extremely basic and there's really no perk to using it. However, with Android 15, this feature is about to have new life breathed into it, and it might be worth using. Let's talk about it.
The Android 15 Desktop Mode Is About To Get A Lot Of Improvements
If you've ever used Samsung DeX to get things done, then you know it's a very valuable feature to have at your disposal. Other brands have similar implementations, such as Motorola, and they can be very useful for power users to have. Android has had a Desktop Mode built into Android since 2019, but it wasn't meant for consumer use, and instead, developers. That's why it was so basic.
However, a few years ago, Google started adding more features to this Desktop Mode to actually make it a feature worth spending your time with, and it seems they're approaching that point with the impending release of Android 15. Now, thanks to Mishaal Rahman at Android Authority, we know that when you use this feature, you'll be able to multitask a whole lot easier than before. In fact, managing app windows now seems to closely resemble the current state of things on Windows, making it very easy to handle multiple windows on screen.
This feature is currently disabled even if you're running in Android 14 QPR3 Beta 2.1, but if you have the right technical know-how, you might be able to activate it the same way that Mishaal managed to.
What Exactly Has Improved?
So what exactly has changed with Android's Desktop Mode? Well, let me break it down. The major change is geared towards window management, which is really one of the most important things because it is vital to making multitasking easy to handle. Desktop Mode gives you the option of using a single app in fullscreen or using two apps in split-screen. However, there's a third mode, and that's freeform mode.
If you've ever multitasked on a Samsung phone, you'll know you don't get anything resembling a title bar when using apps in split-screen mode, but that changes once you decide to open a pop-up window, which seems to be the equivalent of Google‘s freeform windows. There's a bar at the top of a freeform window that contains the app name, a button to maximize the window, and another to close it. It can also be used to resize and reposition it.
These are some very much-needed modifications to Desktop Mode, and if it's all you've got, then it'll probably suffice to some degree. However, implementations like DeX still lead the game, and if Desktop Mode is a major perk for you, it's best you stick to a Galaxy device, at least for the next one or two years.
