Android usually lags behind macOS and Windows when it comes to desktop computing. The operating system lacks some features and a suitable interface to meet the requirements of the desktop user. This may change in the upcoming Android 15, with improved features managed to be included in Android 14 QPR3.
Google first added desktop mode in the 2019 release of Android 10, but the implementation was quite primitive.The mode was not intended for regular users, but rather for developers to test how their apps behave in multi-display scenarios. However, with the release of the first quarterly update of Android 13 in late 2022, Google is working on updating the OS desktop mode. One of the areas Google is focusing on improving is window management.
Android currently supports displaying two Android apps side by side thanks to the split screen mode introduced in Android 7.0. However, desktop operating systems can easily handle a large number of apps. Google has been slow to address these issues in recent Android releases, although it has hidden its work behind a few checkboxes so that users can’t play with the new desktop mode until it’s fully ready. However, Mishal Rahman of Android Authority was able to enable the new Android desktop mode in Android 14 QPR3 Beta 2.1 to see how the windowing system has evolved.
As you can see in the video, there is a small marker at the top of each full-screen app that can be tapped to bring up a small menu. It contains the name and icon of the program, as well as three buttons to open the window in full screen, split screen, or freeform mode. In the freeform mode, the window gets a title bar that shows the name and icon of the program, a menu to open the menu to change the window mode, a maximize button, and a close button. The window can be freely moved and resized on the screen. Resizing a window temporarily hides the contents of the app so you can see the window more easily while you resize it. You can drag windows to the left or right edge to confine them to that half of the screen. When the app expands to full screen
While these changes go a long way toward making Android a better desktop platform, there’s still a lot of work to be done to match desktop operating systems. For example, Android still doesn’t have a robust desktop launcher, doesn’t support keyboard shortcuts used to control windows, and there are still many apps that don’t support advanced windowing. Currently, the best desktop experience is only available with Samsung Dex or Motorola Ready For shells, both of which already offer many features that Google has not yet implemented.