[FEATURE REQUEST] Desktop Mode for /e/OS

/e/OS Smartphone Operating System Request a Feature
1

This might be a long shot, and i know this has been asked before. but think about this for a second

Most currently supported devices support video-out via USB-C (Galaxy S8 and above, FP4/5 Google Pixel 6 and above, a couple of Xiaomi devices, and more) and while this would be alot of work on the software-side, it would be a GODSEND for us

As DankPods put it, “i’d love to live out of my phone”. which is very true. Phones are extremely powerful nowadays and would serve as desktop replacements for most average people, myself included.

There are a few options i’d suggest going for.

  1. Separate Windowed UI for Android (Bad to use, Easy to Implement)
  2. Separate Linux Install (Great to use, Hard to Implement)
  3. Remote Desktop via RDP/VNC/SSH (Bad to use, Easiest to Implement)
  4. Unified Linux/Android Bridge (Great to use, Hard to Implement)
  5. All of the above (Awesome, Hardest to Implement)

This would be comparable to Linux on DeX (which was an official thing by Samsung that they quietly discontinued, extremely angry about that one) or Termux-XFCE (XFCE setup script for Termux). While the latter should work on /e/OS, they are in fact workarounds and not the smooth experience that /e/OS tries to achieve.

As far as i know, no proper Custom ROM has a good desktop mode, the only 3 major manufacturers who support it is Samsung, Motorola and Huawei, all three of which can go die with their crappy stock systems. This would be a HUGE opportunity for /e/OS

Thank you for your time to read my shitty post. I’m getting a Pixel 8 Pro and flashing /e/OS on it very soon.

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2

A remote desktop type thing for the phone would be great especially if it could natively use all the monitor’s real estate.

In the meantime I’ve been leaving my phone hooked up to ADB with scrcpy. I actually leave my phone plugged in over USB all the time, but ADB has a wireless mode. I do everything on my PC and it’s more convenient to use the phone through the PC. The USB connection also keeps the phone charged. It works amazingly well.

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I don’t have a working phone with video output atm, but what happens when you force the developer options desktop mode?

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Honestly, can someone tell me if the experimental desktop mode on /e/OS works? The “Force experimental desktop mode on secondary displays” option is still available, but does it work? I’m thinking about switching phone mainly based on that.

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The experimental desktop mode seems to work on my FP4. At least I have it activated and I can indeed use a hdmi display and keyboard attached through a usb hub. I don’t find the setup very useful, however, as the apps I’ve tried don’t even come close to a regular Linux desktop.

I saw that there seems to be some hope for a better implementation of Linux functionality in Android 16 and later versions: Your Android phone will run Debian Linux soon (like some Pixels already can) | ZDNET so maybe desktop mode on Android will eventually become more useful than it is today. If we are lucky.

6

I have tested the desktop mode as well a couple of days ago. I used an USB-C-Hub. The two monitors, Card Reader, keyboard and mouse have been recognised. I didn’t check if the network and the printer have been detected by the phone. Both monitors displayed something like a home screen with one button only to open the App menu.
Opening the menu was backing already. I tried to open two or three apps and they were all in “screen mode” not utilising the entire screen like the apps don’t have a “full screen” mode.
All in all it is a feature that can be a game changer if it is working accordingly and come close to replacing a laptop. Right now it is not usable in my eyes.