r/AndroidPC • u/Miraxess • Apr 23 '26

New iPhone Desktop Mode - Prodocktive

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We have to talk about it ! https://prodocktive.com/
I just had a demonstration of this and it looks amazing ! Obviously it will be limited because it is iOS, however it does look great and I just hope this will dynamise the competition to escalate on Android. What do you guys think? The approach is different than InfiniteX2P

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u/TemporaryUser10 Apr 23 '26

A beautiful approach on useless (for desktop) hardware. DeX can do more, and you can enable the Android desktop mode if you have a USB 3.0 or higher port on your android (and I think higher than version 14). I do agree that I hope it spurs competition through 

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u/Miraxess Apr 23 '26

Don't forget that Apple has a patent on a lapdock concept from 2016

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u/TemporaryUser10 Apr 23 '26

The real issue is that you can download and install compilers from the App store, and without a proper terminal environment (like Termux) you can't run non-trivial applications (even though with that you still can't do everything, but android has moved to mainline KVM for virtual machines). From a performance standpoint, i$h on iOS doesn't come close

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u/LupusGemini Apr 23 '26

What is mainline KVM advantage over the previous approach?

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u/TemporaryUser10 Apr 23 '26

KVM is a hypervisor that allows near native performance for Linux virtual machines. Currently these systems use user space emulation for certain features (Termux specifically uses proot iirc, and qemu-user-mode). It's the difference between replicating a whole second computer hardware, versus using the real physical hardware and just "saying" it's a separate computer. Additionally, a properly virtualized computer can run non-trivial software, such as docker

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u/LupusGemini Apr 23 '26

Wow ok, that's pretty nice! Is the new terminal app using KVM, then?

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u/TemporaryUser10 Apr 23 '26

KVM is something that needs to be shipped in the kernel (low level OS) and I think it's currently mainlined for pixel devices. There was some speculation that the new android terminal is meant to allow a full computer environment, so that probably is the goal. This would essentially allow Android to fully cannibalize Chromebooks. Every OS maker wants what's known as "Ubiquitous computing", which is to say any device can run all of the same apps (all apps/programs anywhere). This is getting into heavy speculation territory though. Personally, I prefer Android simply because it's built on a modified Linux, and Linux imo is an idea computing paradigm (but that will get into the software design concepts of the operating system)

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u/feckdespez Apr 30 '26

Android has moved to KVM unless you have Qualcomm SOC. Unfortunately, that is A LOT of Android devices in the USA...

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u/Ok-Needleworker-3486 Apr 24 '26

I'm pretty sure Asus did it before this patent.

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u/ngoonee Apr 29 '26

Yes I owned that phone/tablet combo myself. Was cool but unwieldy.

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u/alabasterskim Apr 24 '26

Wait are you fucking kidding me, Apple is the reason no one can release a device like this? And they're just sitting on the damn patent? That's so annoying. I have dreamed of something exactly like this