Google’s mobile operating system comes with a hidden desktop mode that opens on an external screen, mimicking what you would get from a computing interface. However, it is buried within the developer mode, and it’s far from polished to get any serious work done. 

The company, however, continues building a next-gen experience for Android’s native desktop mode. The overarching idea is to turn your phone and tablet into a desktop computing device. Mishaal Rahman, over at Android Authority, was able to enable this mode in the latest beta build of Android 16, though he warns that it might not be ready for the stable release in the coming months.

What’s changing?

The biggest difference is that the in-development desktop experience features a full-fledged taskbar at the bottom and a status bar, as well. The current barebones version shows an app tray tethered to the left edge, lacks proper tiling controls, and doesn’t allow keyboard shortcuts, either. 

In the version that is currently in development at Google, the apps are pinned alongside the lower edge of the screen, while the three core navigation controls are positioned near the lower right corner.

Rahman notes that users will be able to resize, move, and tile app windows “just like on desktop operating systems.” This approach also opens the doors for dragging and dropping content across two app windows.

The overarching theme for this desktop environment is familiar for two reasons. First, it looks almost identical to how Android handles app windows and taskbar docking on Android tablets. 

Chrome OS, is that you?

Away from Google’s vanilla Android experience, Samsung has been offering something called DeX for years. It works natively on tablets just fine, but provides an even better experience when connected to an external display. 

I even used the DeX mode driven by the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5 as my primary workstation for a couple of weeks. Even smaller players like Red Magic offer a fantastic gaming-focused desktop launcher experience running atop Android roots. 

Another reason the upcoming Android desktop mode looks familiar is because of its resemblance to Chrome OS. It’s good to see Google keeping the UI design and experience coherent, a strategy that Apple has executed beautifully for years.

Interestingly, the outlet recently reported that Google might merge Chrome OS with Android OS down the road, creating a unified experience. The company is yet to say anything about those plans, but Google could make some announcements about those plans at its I/O event later this month.