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Android’s desktop interface leaks

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Re: Android’s desktop interface leaks

#311

Post by jeroenhd »

LoganDark wrote: post #186
jeroenhd wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some "flagship" and higher-end-midtier phones cheap out on the USB connection. USB 2 over USB-C with USB-PD for fast charging. No video out, slow data transfers. Maybe when desktop mode becomes more common there will be an incentive to fix the shitty USB situation. Cheap phones probably won't really have the power to effectively multi-task so I imagine cheap models would rather disable the feature than leave the user…

> USB 2 over USB-C with USB-PD for fast charging. Sometimes you're lucky to even have conformant USB-PD. For example, OnePlus for a while had "Warp charging" and the phones wouldn't accept high power over regular USB-C PD.

USB-PD support has been made a requirement for GPlay Android. Manufacturers don't need to support USB-PD for their crazy 200W charging circuits, but it's been a while since you had the choice between 5-10W USB2.0 and 80W Warp Charge.

Re: Android’s desktop interface leaks

#312

Post by orthoxerox »

modeless wrote: post #179

They ought to put the status bar at the bottom. All the designers using Macs probably forgot, but Chrome's tab interface was designed for Windows where it could be all the way at the top of the screen. And in general it's more common for desktop apps designed for mouse and keyboard to have frequently accessed UI elements at the top of the window than the bottom. So desktop apps would benefit from being able to use th…

I would put all bars at the top. On a touch-enabled screen it's much easier to touch something at the top than something next to the keyboard, so I move the taskbar to the top on all my Windows two-in-ones.

Shout out to https://github.com/valinet/ExplorerPatcher for forcing this behavior even on Windows 11.

Re: Android’s desktop interface leaks

#313

Post by jeroenhd »

bigwheels wrote: post #219
jeroenhd wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Resell the 8GB of RAM and buy an even better phone then? That's 150 euros of value right there. Then use the money on a reputable second hand store to buy a used S20 5G 128GB for 150 euros, or a S22 128GB for 145, maybe an S21 Ultra 5G 256GB for 139, and you've got yourself a valiant workstation already (Samsung DeX works great out of the box, no need to wait for Google here). I can also find an S20+ 5G 128GB for 75…

Where is the $150 euros coming from? 8GB of brand new DDR3 or DDR4 is available for $20-$30 from Amazon / Fleabay, and once he sells it the laptop will no longer work.

That's the standard price for 8GB DDR4 RAM in the local major web shop. I'm sure there are cheaper options out there, but people are willing to pay more than that to get a shipping date before October.

Re: Android’s desktop interface leaks

#314

Post by mrighele »

dfajgljsldkjag wrote: post #69

This looks like it will help a lot of students and families who are on a budget. If you can just plug your phone into a screen you do not need to buy a separate laptop anymore. The browser extensions are the most important part because that is what makes a computer useful. I am glad to see they are thinking about this.

So you need to buy a phone, a monitor, a keyboard and a mouse. And you need a desk where to put the stuff, which is not a given if you are part of a poor family with several kids.

A cheap android phone and a cheap chinese laptop with 16GB of ram is about 300 EUR where I live, and you can use it wherever you want.

Re: Android’s desktop interface leaks

#315

Post by jeroenhd »

heavyset_go wrote: post #259
jeroenhd wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Resell the 8GB of RAM and buy an even better phone then? That's 150 euros of value right there. Then use the money on a reputable second hand store to buy a used S20 5G 128GB for 150 euros, or a S22 128GB for 145, maybe an S21 Ultra 5G 256GB for 139, and you've got yourself a valiant workstation already (Samsung DeX works great out of the box, no need to wait for Google here). I can also find an S20+ 5G 128GB for 75…

Why buy a used phone that will stop receiving updates, can't be fixed or upgraded and can't run whatever you want on it when you can use a real computer instead?

The chances of the 50 euro laptop getting Windows 10 updates longer than a second hand Samsung phone are slim.

As for "can't be fixed or upgraded", ask any macOS user.

Re: Android’s desktop interface leaks

#316

Post by jeroenhd »

olyjohn wrote: post #284
jeroenhd wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Resell the 8GB of RAM and buy an even better phone then? That's 150 euros of value right there. Then use the money on a reputable second hand store to buy a used S20 5G 128GB for 150 euros, or a S22 128GB for 145, maybe an S21 Ultra 5G 256GB for 139, and you've got yourself a valiant workstation already (Samsung DeX works great out of the box, no need to wait for Google here). I can also find an S20+ 5G 128GB for 75…

Why though? You can do so much more with a laptop than be trapped in Google's walled garden.

It heavily depends on where you live, but plenty of poorer areas that never had much desktop computer penetration because of affordability are going app-first. Richer countries are going app-first for things like banking and government ID too, because the security situation with locked-down phones is a lot better than on the desktop where FreeFortniteRobloxUpdate.exe can drain your savings without you ever noticing it.

You're going to need a phone anyway. Might as well save some money by not having to get a laptop for doing your taxes once a year.

Most normal people don't really care about Google's walled garden. That's a tech person thing. I wouldn't do it, but none of the people who don't have a favourite Linux distro care about any of this.

Re: Android’s desktop interface leaks

#317

Post by orbital-decay »

orthoxerox wrote: post #312
modeless wrote: post #179

They ought to put the status bar at the bottom. All the designers using Macs probably forgot, but Chrome's tab interface was designed for Windows where it could be all the way at the top of the screen. And in general it's more common for desktop apps designed for mouse and keyboard to have frequently accessed UI elements at the top of the window than the bottom. So desktop apps would benefit from being able to use th…

I would put all bars at the top. On a touch-enabled screen it's much easier to touch something at the top than something next to the keyboard, so I move the taskbar to the top on all my Windows two-in-ones. Shout out to https://github.com/valinet/ExplorerPatcher for forcing this behavior even on Windows 11.

Why not at the side, though? Better use of the vertical space and no issues with touchscreens (interactable items on top, hand reaching from the side). That's how I do it on every desktop/laptop machine I own.

Re: Android’s desktop interface leaks

#318

Post by jeroenhd »

modeless wrote: post #261
jeroenhd wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Auto-hide the task bar at the bottom, and you've basically got the Gnome UI. Works just fine. It's the permanent screen reservation of the double task bar that really eats up the usable desk space. Samsung's task bar (when you enable the DeX integration on a tablet) also supports this and it makes for a fine user experience. Edit: I've enabled "force desktop mode" on my Pixel 9 Pro and hooked it up to my laptop dock.…

Hiding the bottom bar doesn't solve the problem because it still takes the corners away. You can't put UI there because the bottom bar will come up and cover it when you mouse into the corner. The OS is taking all four corners for itself. Greedy! Apps should have that space. Apps are what we are here to use and the OS is getting in the way.

macOS doesn't seem to care and that's what all the designers use. I'm guessing people think it's pretty?

The dock would also better if it weren't stretched to the entire screen width by default but perhaps Google is planning to use that space for something. It's also possible they're going to remove the top bar at some point, that'd make the UI standard Windows-shaped.

The Gnome trick for the dock is to only show the dock when hitting the Super button which also brings up the virtual desktops and what macOS might call Launchpad (except not full screen by default). Ubuntu likes to force the dock on you the way macOS does, but you can disable that.

Re: Android’s desktop interface leaks

#319

Post by ece »

gf000 wrote: post #294
pluralmonad wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think one of the points is that all this attestation stuff does not protect against the majority of the ways users are compromised. Its just remote control with real security benefits, just those benefits largely accrue to companies and at the expense of the user.

That's the same fallacy as seeing that no one dies of certain diseases, so the vaccines against them don't work.

There are different vaccines from different manufacturers. Attestation from something like keybase should work just as well for banks or whatever.

Re: Android’s desktop interface leaks

#320

Post by jakub_g »

jakub_g wrote: post #31
monologue6894 wrote: post #11

Some "first look" It's just a slightly different showcase of the same UI shown in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzDO-GS-Bm8 That UI is available to test on any Pixel 10 (maybe even any Android 16 device?)

I do have it in Pixel 8 after enabling in developer options. It's a bit buggy and low resolution, but does the job when e.g. I want to connect some video I'm already watching on mobile to the external display via USB-C. (You can connect a mouse via Bluetooth to the phone, or via a USB dongle plugged into your monitor, to control it.) An interesting thing is that you can run apps X and Y on desktop screen while also r…

*I meant "app Z on mobile screen", can't edit anymore.
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