Samsung is often accused of doing things in its own way, sometimes it significantly deviates from the typical Android experience. While criticism includes some good points, the company must also be credited to introduce new features which ultimately affect the broader Android market. From the screen divided to windowed applications to desktop mode, Samsung has done everything, and often before this type of feature is officially introduced on Android. It turns out that Microsoft can do that too, but the implementation in the surface duo device definitely requires some work.
Android 10 Desktop Mode
Although some manufacturers and developers have long tried to Shoehorn Android to the desktop and laptop, it is only on Android 10 that Google officially supports these efforts. However, however, this “desktop mode” is intended only for developers to test Android applications, not to make a complete Android desktop experience.
Android 12L will increase the flexibility of Android applications on any screen size, but the foundation has been around for years.
Can’t compete with Samsung DeX
Once activated, you can connect the surface duo to the monitor via USB-C to access desktop mode. Any application that is open will appear in the independent window that you can move and change the size, but it’s pretty much. You can also open the application on the surface duo screen that is separated from the external screen.
Unfortunately, this experience was reported by Buggy and was clearly not intended for regular use. This is far from a more mature Dex framework, which gives something close to the desktop experience built around Android.
This is clearly an opportunity that is missed if Microsoft does not increase features, but again, there are more important things that must be done for the first time, including increasing the experience of the basic duo surface software.