Once again, my phone proves that it's listening and watching my activities. I had just finished using my RayNeo Air 3s Pro with my Galaxy phone in Dex mode, and stumbled on several reports of a major change with One UI 8.
Samsung has officially decided to kill its classic desktop-like experience in the new version of its custom operating system. They're now replacing it with a stripped-down version built on top of Android 16’s native Desktop Mode.
DeX is getting watered down
The original DeX experience was about ownership and giving users a tightly integrated interface that adapted to their hardware choices, workflows, and improvisations. Samsung bent Android into something more than a phone UI on a bigger screen.
They layered a custom window manager, added multi-input awareness, let users drag, pin, resize, and reposition apps with the fluidity of a real desktop. It was a direct argument against the notion that mobile devices had to be limited to mobile use cases all the time.
Now that it's changing, I'm not sure how to feel about it yet. It’s interrupting a system that worked precisely because it was tailored and not generically made. Although I do understand Samsung’s justification, which is that Google is taking over the desktop experience on Android.
Matter of fact, they are taking over everything else. But maintaining a separate DeX system would only create conflicts and technical debt. Maybe I'm just nostalgic for something I've been familiar with since the Galaxy S8 series, even though I've only used it occasionally. Regardless, we'll see the update when One UI 8 arrives by the end of August.
Here's how One UI 8 is changing Samsung DeX
Apparently, Samsung had even started walking away from its own DeX foundation as early as One UI 6.0, though most people didn’t notice at the time. It's unclear whether the new mode will retain some of the old iconic elements. But here's an overview of what's being replaced:
| Feature | Old DeX (Classic) | New DeX (One UI 8) |
|---|---|---|
| Base System | Samsung built its own desktop system on top of Android. | Now it's using Google's built-in Android desktop mode. |
| Window Control | You could resize, move, and snap windows like on a PC. | Windows feel more limited. They don’t remember position or size, and snapping is clunky. |
| Taskbar | Had a full taskbar with pinned apps, clock, battery, notifications, etc. | Taskbar just shows apps. No clock, no battery, no system tools. |
| Mouse and Keyboard | Mouse could move between phone and monitor. Keyboard shortcuts were flexible. | Mouse and keyboard are locked to the monitor. Shortcuts are limited. |
| Sound via HDMI or USB-C | Audio worked through external monitors or docks. | No more. Sound only works through Bluetooth or phone speakers. |
| Multiple Displays | You could adjust scaling and screen settings for each display. | No settings for this. The system decides everything. |
| Good Lock / MultiStar | Tools like MultiStar let you tweak DeX heavily. | Those tools don’t work here anymore. |
| Drag & Drop | You could drag files and text between windows easily. | Still possible, but doesn’t work as smoothly. |
| Fullscreen Mode | Apps could go full screen and hide system bars. | Some apps can’t go full screen properly. You may see nav bars stay visible. |
| Linux on DeX | You could install Linux and use your phone like a real PC. | That feature is gone. |
| Speed and Performance | Samsung tuned DeX to handle multitasking well. | New DeX relies on Android’s default behavior, so it might slow down with many apps open. |
| Developer Features | App makers could build special layouts for DeX. | Those tools are gone. Apps have to follow Google’s basic desktop rules. |
| Updates and Control | Samsung could improve DeX anytime, even without new Android versions. | Now Samsung has to wait for Google to improve Android’s desktop mode before anything major changes. |
It's obvious that what's happening now is merely a piece of a larger, deliberate cleanup effort that aligns with Google’s long-term vision for Android, especially across tablets, foldables, and desktop-class environments.
If you haven't heard already, Google is also merging Android and ChromeOS. Soon, the Linux kernel, Android Framework, Bluetooth stacks, and display pipeline will all be unified.
That means ChromeOS will become more Android-native and the mobile software itself will receive scaling and continuity features. Developers can target one platform instead of two and devices can now perform dynamically depending on screen size and context.
