Lack of Desktop mode = iPhone Power Wasted? (Opinions)

[840quadra]

With the recent updates to iPad OS to Finally support a reasonable windowed mode, I found myself curious about the "Beta" desktop mode on my Pixel 8 pro Android phone. Finally being able to connect to an external monitor and have a reasonable desktop experience has been great, but what about on a device with nearly the same power, and something that we can put in a pocket such as a phone?

The 16 Pro and 17 Pro have processing and graphics power that can rival early M1 (and newer) devices, yet we can only mirror the main screen, and play full screen video at this point. Why not more !?

Outside of Samsung Dex which has had a similar feature for ages, on the android side in version 16, you now have an option to enable desktop mode in developer settings (which I am fine with for now as it is beta). After you do that, connecting to a Monitor will bring up a desktop that you can open windowed applications like you can on a Mac, or PC. It is beta but overall it is a nice approximation of Samsung Dex, or a light desktop operating system that is actually really stable in my testing!

Since Most Android applications are built for foldable phones, most native applications (and most 3rd party) scale up just fine, with some having a better ability to scale up to a "desktop" experience than do many ipad apps in iPad OS 26!



In the image I have 4 applications running on my Pixel 8 Pro (an older device with far less power than even an iPhone 13 Pro!!)
- Watching Foundation on Apple TV+ (Phone screen) and audio is playing through my Audioengine speakers connected to the monitor
- Working in my Microsoft Outlook for work
- Browsing MacRumors
- using Google messages

I have had 4 apps on screen + watching video on the phone and zero issues with stability. Mind you this is on a Pixel 8 Pro, a phone that doesn't even match the horsepower of the iPhone 13 Pro, a phone that came out in 2021, versus the Pixel 8 debut in 2023.

I expect that Apple thinks adding such a feature to phones will poach sales from iPads or Mac computers, but, there are use cases where you simply want a small device while out in the field, and be able to dock, and work from the same device when at home, office, hotel, etc.


Curious if anyone else would like this feature on iOS, or, am I in an extreme minority!!??

 

[Paddle1]

I could be interested in this depending on how capable or limited it is.

 

[bob_zz123]

I agree that it would be a really nice thing to have, I just wonder whether Apple feel it might impact iPad and/or Mac sales, because a phone with a docking station / USB-C hub, monitor, keyboard and mouse that could run the iPad version of apps in "Desktop mode" would provide an awful lot of the functionality you would use an iPad for (aside from larger screen portability) so rather than buying 2 devices you'd only buy 1.

 

[dmr727]

I've been wanting this for a long time, but I'm sure we'll all be waiting a lot longer, if not indefinitely.

Just think how long it took to get the iPad to where it is now.

 

[User #07242024]

The power is there but OS and apps are not there yet. Apple must allow apps from other channel than App Store like macOS because iPhone has tethers itself as the computer.

 

[Rnd-chars]

It’s a neat demo, but I’d never use it. I can’t think of any time where I needed to be extra productive (read “need a big screen”) and had a monitor, keyboard, touchpad but didn’t have an iPad or Mac.

Sure, the power is there so they could do it, but that’s not a good enough reason. As an engineer, you have to remember that every line of code (no matter how high its quality and test coverage) is debt. It’s something you need to support, maintain and extend over the years.

And it also doesn’t matter if some people would use it, because the real question is “is the ROI on this feature higher than all of the other features we already have prioritized?” In this case, I think it’s safe to assume that it’s not. Maybe this results in incremental iPhone sales, but I don’t see it serving as a significant needle mover.

That said, they could still do it when it becomes effectively free because they iteratively built it for other scenarios. For example, assuming the foldable iPhone is roughly the size of a mini, I could see them wanting a windowing management system for it. If so, that changes the ROI since that would be the primary reason for building this and you could get the external windowing support for significantly less (though it’s still not a feature I’d use.)

 

[840quadra]

The power is there but OS and apps are not there yet. Apple must allow apps from other channel than App Store like macOS because iPhone has tethers itself as the computer.

I see your point, but when you view and see the iPad ecosystem and flexibility of applications to adjust to different screens already (various phone size screens), and iPad sizes (iPad OS), respectfully that argument doesn’t really hold true.

It’s a neat demo, but I’d never use it. I can’t think of any time where I needed to be extra productive (read “need a big screen”) and had a monitor, keyboard, touchpad but didn’t have an iPad or Mac.

Sure, the power is there so they could do it, but that’s not a good enough reason. As an engineer, you have to remember that every line of code (no matter how high its quality and test coverage) is debt. It’s something you need to support, maintain and extend over the years.

And it also doesn’t matter if some people would use it, because the real question is “is the ROI on this feature higher than all of the other features we already have prioritized?” In this case, I think it’s safe to assume that it’s not. Maybe this results in incremental iPhone sales, but I don’t see it serving as a significant needle mover.

That said, they could still do it when it becomes effectively free because they iteratively built it for other scenarios. For example, assuming the foldable iPhone is roughly the size of a mini, I could see them wanting a windowing management system for it. If so, that changes the ROI since that would be the primary reason for building this and you could get the external windowing support for significantly less (though it’s still not a feature I’d use.)

Personal opinions noted, and I fully respect them!

In the same vein as I stated to the other user, your engineering argument doesn’t really work. The iPad is already allowing for resizable windows, If an application exists in both iPad and Phone form from a various entity, it would be simple for the phone to download the larger binary (for an iPad) version if the user selects to do this. Overall, binaries may eventually also have to support the rumored “foldable” phone which would make this even more trivial of a lift.

This is effectively what Google is doing with their binaries as most apps are designed for standard and foldable phones. When put into tablet mode, they execute the additional code to take advantage of the extra screen size. As a listener to podcasts on the Android side, it is baked into the API and doesn’t seem to be a heavy lift for developers to achieve this.

IF google can do it for the mass variance of Android phones, I personally feel the same capability becomes trivial for Apple. I don’t think there is a huge impact to ROI, as all the pieces are there, and many of the phones (512GB or Higher) have plenty of space for dual binaries (iPad version and standard iOS version). That could be streamlined much more if Apple comes out with a foldable as they will 100% need apps that would work in both modes.

Remember the old Plus phones, where when you turned a Plus into Landscape mode, a different UI came up with more columns, more controls, more features? Apple already baked this into iOS and so did many developers.

In my humble opinion, this is a “Pro” feature that the high end, Desktop class processor equipped devices completely lack.

The argument about poaching mac or iPad sales makes the most sense here, but as many have pointed out, there is still a strong case for a solid Mac, or iPad.

Why can I connect my iPad Pro to a monitor and have 2 screens? What is the ROI on that, as it could fully impact my interest in a new Mac Mini!

 

[pgoelz]

Ther is a use case that everyone seems to overlook. Yes, I have a laptop, an iPad and my phone. And normally if I want to use a larger screen I'll use my laptop or the iPad. But I have a couple high bandwidth apps that I use when away from home and I would much prefer using them on a larger screen with the unlimited data my phone has.

 

[Reverend Benny]

I think this is just around the corner. We will prob see this introduced with the folding iphone and iOS 19.
I'm guessing it will be the same type of desktop UI as we see when the iPad hooks up to an external screen.

Actually did think it was going to be released with iOS 18.

It would be a great backup just to hook the phone up to the USB-dock at work and continue working or as a backup.
HW is not the limitation, its prob Apple trying to figure out how to deliver it in a good way with a good user experience.
MS did it 10 years ago and Samsung is offering it on the high-end phones.

 

[I7guy]

iPhones can already be controlled with a mouse. Why doesn’t Apple support wireless display protocol? At least connect one monitor to an iPhone.

 

[ProbablyDylan]

Thermals, maybe? I mean iPhones run hot just running one app at a time on their own screen.

 

[User #07242024]

I see your point, but when you view and see the iPad ecosystem and flexibility of applications to adjust to different screens already (various phone size screens), and iPad sizes (iPad OS), respectfully that argument doesn’t really hold true.

I don’t mean screen adjustment but app capability. iOS and iPadOS apps must match desktop level in terms of features, processing (e.g. background, batch), versioning, legacy support etc. No more mobile/lite/kiddy versions.

 

[HouseLannister]

Since the rumor is that we are getting an A18 in a Macbook at some point, I see no reason not to offer this feature.

 

[840quadra]

I don’t mean screen adjustment but app capability. iOS and iPadOS apps must match desktop level in terms of features, processing (e.g. background, batch), versioning, legacy support etc. No more mobile/lite/kiddy versions.

I am not sure what apps you are using, but I don’t find many defficent restrictions on the iPad apps I use.

In some cases, I prefer the iPad versions over the desktop versions as they have faster workflows. YMMV

Thermals, maybe? I mean iPhones run hot just running one app at a time on their own screen.

Has not been an issue on my Pixel 8, a phone that is known for running quite hot to begin with. Nor on Samsung phones which have had a DEX feature for ages now.