Turns out, Google hasn’t forgotten about Android desktop mode

By Bryan M. Wolfe Published March 14, 2025

Joe Maring / Digital Trends

Did you know that Google’s Android has a desktop mode? It’s true, and you may hear more about it in the coming months. This mode has gained some new features in Android 16 Beta 3, which indicates that Google might be trying to jumpstart the mode to make it more like Windows or macOS but for a mobile device.

With Android Desktop Mode, some Android smartphones and tablets can utilize a desktop-like interface when connected to an external display, keyboard, and mouse. This may sound like a helpful tool, but, admittingly, Google hasn’t shown it much love in recent years.

Recommended Videos

According to Android Authority, Android 16 Beta 3 includes a feature in the developer options called “Enable desktop experience features.” This feature allows users to adjust the desktop mode settings on a secondary display or simultaneously on both the phone and the external screen.

External monitor features in Android 15 are basic in their present form. The beta features, which are not yet functional, could significantly enhance its usefulness, although that could be speculation on our part.

Over the years, Google has gradually made the Android Desktop Mode more like Windows. For instance, in 2024, the company introduced the option for users to adjust the display resolution and rotation of external monitors. With anticipated changes in Android 16, this area could soon become even more exciting.

The first developer version of Android 16 was revealed in November, followed by the announcement of the first beta in January. The current Android 16 Beta 3 version focuses on improving accessibility, featuring enhancements like Auracast broadcast audio support and improved text outlines for better contrast. Android 16 is expected to begin arriving for everyday Android users later this year.

Topics

Mobile and A/V Freelancer

Bryan M. Wolfe has over a decade of experience as a technology writer. He writes about mobile.

Mobile

Google is working on a cleaner backup interface for Android users

google is working on a cleaner backup interface for android users pixel home screenf

Google is redesigning the backup page on Android to give it a cleaner and more organized appearance. This update is part of the Google Play Services version 25.11.32 beta, as reported by Android Authority.

The Android backup page can be found in the Settings app under System > Backup. It allows users to manage and control the data backed up from their phones or tablets to their Google Accounts. You can initiate backups for various data types, including apps and app data, contacts, SMS, and MMS messages.

Mobile

Android 16 will add handy productivity feature for desktop workers

It looks like Android 16 will add a feature that lets you screen record what you're doing on an external monitor. This is an expansion of a current Android 15 feature that enables you to screenshot external monitors connected to Android devices.

Spotted by Android Authority, Android 16 Beta 3 includes a third option in the screen recorder menu: "Record HDMI Screen." It works just the same as recording your device display, encoding and saving the resulting video in the same way as well.

Mobile

Android is prepping notification summaries. Let’s hope it’s better than iOS

Android notification summaries concept.

So far, Google has done an admirable job of putting generative AI tools on Android smartphones. Earlier today, it announced further refinements to how users interact with Gemini AI assistant and extended a few freebies, too. Now, Google seems to be chasing an AI tool that has worked poorly on iPhones.
The folks over at AndroidAuthority took a peek at the code of Android 13’s latest beta update and found the mention of“notification summaries.” To enable this feature, users will have to flick a dedicated toggle under the Notifications dashboard of the Settings app.

A thoughtful approach for Android
Thankfully, users will be able to disable notifications for apps that they don’t want to see summarized notifications. An analysis of the strings suggests that the feature will only summarize notifications that host conversational content, such as messages, and no other app alerts.
This is a thoughtful strategy, and will likely avoid the mess that came from summarized notifications within the Apple Intelligence bundle. Notification summaries are a useful way to catch up on the chatter in a buzzy group, like friends or workplace chats.