The arrival of Android 16 is revolutionizing the concept of a mobile operating system, marking a turning point in the integration of advanced features inspired by classic desktop systems. With each version, Google has moved toward a symbiosis between mobile and computer, but never before have so many improvements been made to bring mobile productivity closer to the power of a PC.
This milestone is particularly reflected in the long-awaited feature for minimize windows natively, taking multitasking to a level never before seen on Android. Now more than ever, phones and tablets can become true workstations, especially when using external displays and the revamped desktop mode. In this article, you'll discover in great detail how window minimization works in Android 16, the scope of desktop mode, monitor and peripheral support, customization options, as well as improvements in productivity, security, and screen recording, integrating all the advancements and approaches of the industry's leading technology companies.
Android 16: A giant step toward mobile-desktop convergence
For years, brands like Samsung or Motorola have experimented with mobile desktop environments (DeX, Ready For), but the Android native solutions lacked uniformity, maturity, or global integration. Android 16 bursts in to solve this, betting on a real desktop mode, functional and transversal, available beyond the manufacturer layers.
- With Android 16 You can turn your phone into a laptop by connecting it to a compatible monitor, using a keyboard, mouse, or touchpad with an optimized, multi-device interface.
- Brand restrictions have been removed: Productivity features reach more users without relying on proprietary solutions or third-party software.
- User experience It automatically unfolds based on the connected display, making the most of every inch and offering advanced tools for professionals, students, and enthusiasts.
What does minimizing windows mean in Android 16? This is how advanced multitasking works.
Until Android 16, multitasking on mobile devices was typically limited to split-screen or precarious floating windows; closing a window was almost synonymous with stopping or pausing the app. Now, the system introduces a native button to minimize windows in the interface of each application opened in windowed mode.
Main advantages and operation:
- Real minimization: You can hide apps from a taskbar or specific area, just like on Windows or Mac, without causing them to stop working or lose their status.
- visual organization: Minimized apps are accessible with an icon or preview, allowing you to restore them with a single tap and pick up right where you left off.
- There is no forced closure: Minimizing is no longer synonymous with pausing: the app continues running to provide you with notifications and background processes.
- The system adapts the multitasking mode automatically, allowing you to run and switch between multiple apps simultaneously without sacrificing resources or performance.
The experience is strongly reminiscent of desktop operating systems, where productivity and work agility depend on the ability to switch between tasks, leave pending processes, and return to them instantly.
Unprecedented multitasking: floating, resizable, and customizable windows
One of the great strengths of Android 16 is the introduction of fully responsive windows. floating, resizable and movable Freely navigate the desktop. Now you can have two, three, or even more apps open at once, resize them, move them, snap them to the sides, or layer them as your workflow demands.
- Resizable windows: Adjusts width and height, adapts the display according to the content or what you are doing.
- Free positioning: Move each window to the screen area you prefer, overlapping or distributing them as you like.
- Docking to edges or sides of the screen: Like on Windows or Mac, to compare documents, work with multiple sources, or monitor multiple processes without losing focus.
- Smooth transitions and animations: The system ensures fluidity in movements, resizing and restoring minimized windows to full screen.
These improvements enable an environment as flexible as that of a laptop, radically expanding the potential of tablets and mobile phones for professional and academic uses.
Native desktop mode: from your mobile to a full workstation
One of the most ambitious jumps is the desktop mode Native to Android 16. It's no longer just about mirroring your phone's screen. The system recognizes when you connect your device (via USB-C cable, HDMI, or wirelessly via Miracast/Google Cast) to an external monitor and enables a true desktop interface:
- Bottom taskbar, identical to that of desktop systems, with access to pinned, recent and minimized apps.
- Start menu: Direct access to all installed apps, quick search, and a complete list to open new windows.
- Full keyboard and mouse or touchpad support, allowing you to use shortcuts, move between windows and manage the system just like on a PC.
- Smart window management: You can drag, resize, and drop applications just like on any computer, even between your primary display and external monitor, or between multiple monitors simultaneously.
- Top status bar with notifications, battery, network connection, time and other key information visible at all times.
These features, previously available only on some devices (such as Samsung DeX or Motorola Ready For) are now available on any mobile or tablet compatible with Android 16, democratizing access to real productivity capabilities.
Improved compatibility and support for external monitors and peripherals
One of the biggest historical criticisms of the Android desktop environment was its limited compatibility with monitors and external peripheralsAndroid 16 fixes this and adds advanced features:
- Support for different resolutions, sizes and refresh rates: The system automatically adapts to the characteristics of each screen, optimizing icons, fonts and visual elements.
- Screen extension and mirroring of your choice: You can choose whether the external monitor displays a copy of the mobile screen, or extend the desktop to have two independent desktops and manage more windows simultaneously.
- Instant detection of mouse, keyboard (even wireless), touchpad or stylus, without the need for additional configurations.
- Advanced tools for rearranging displays and moving the pointer between screens, ideal for those who use multi-screen setups.
- Support for dragging and dropping content between windows and screens, facilitating the transfer of files, images, text or links between applications.
All of this makes Android 16 a truly capable platform for professionals who want to work on the go with the power of a classic PC.
Which devices can take advantage of desktop mode and the new multitasking?
The rollout of these features is taking place in several phases and follows Google's usual strategy.
- The first devices to receive Android 16 (like the Pixel range) are the first to unlock desktop mode and advanced multitasking with collapsible windows. As phone and tablet manufacturers adopt Android 16, the feature will roll out to other recent and high-end models.
- Compatibility depends on hardware requirements (processor, amount of RAM, video output ports, etc.), but the trend is that any updated mobile phone or tablet can enjoy it, without depending on brands or closed solutions.
- The developer community You can also get early access to these options in beta versions, which will facilitate the arrival of new apps and tools designed to get the most out of multitasking and the Android desktop.
Native external screen recording: a revolutionary feature for creators and trainers
Another unprecedented innovation is the external screen recording From the system itself. For the first time, Android 16 allows you to record what happens outside the device, on an additional monitor, directly from the recording menu without using third-party software.
- Record presentations, tutorials or work sessions as if you were sitting in front of a PC. Ideal for content creators, teachers, or IT professionals.
- Automatic storage and full compatibility with the usual Android formats, making it easy to edit, send, and manage the generated files.
- Selecting the recording source: The user can choose between recording the main screen, the external screen, or a specific app, customizing the generated content.
- Without loss of quality or resolution limitations, which guarantees a professional and versatile result.
Comparison: Android 16 vs. Samsung DeX, Ready For, and other desktop solutions
Until now, the experience of transforming a mobile phone into a PC has relied on proprietary solutions:
- Samsung DeX: Pioneering and functional, although it has recently reduced support and accessory variety. Only available in the Galaxy range and with limited customization.
- Motorola Ready For: advanced functionality but in very specific models.
- Android 16 UniversalThe main advantage is its integration into the core system and its ability to reach any updated device, without relying on additional manufacturers or apps. Its peripheral compatibility, advanced monitoring, and adaptable graphical environment make it the most promising option on the market.
The potential of Android 16 lies in its openness and universality: any compatible mobile phone or tablet will be able to enjoy a convergent experience, without brand barriers or dependence on exclusive hardware.
Lock screen widgets: customization and utility with a professional touch
The system incorporates the ability to add interactive widgets to the lock screen, greatly expanding the capacity for customization and quick access to relevant information.
- Customizable widgets for any app that offers them, whether from Google or third parties.
- No particular restrictions for developers: Any widget valid for the home screen can also be available on the lockscreen, provided that it meets the general Android requirements.
- Widespread compatibility without model locks: Any manufacturer can update their devices to include this feature, with no special requirements.
- Configuration options for size, layout and content of the widget directly from the system settings.
These features enrich the user's daily experience, allowing the device to be adapted to personal and professional uses.
Complete graphical interface overhaul: updated Material Design, smart transitions and organization
Android 16 takes the opportunity to update and rethink the entire visual system and navigation experience:
- New icons, transparencies, panels and context menus for more intuitive and attractive navigation.
- Sliding side panels, dual notification panel and quick settings, inspired by advanced interfaces like HyperOS, to save time and improve access to frequently used tools.
- Advanced customization of backgrounds, widgets, and visual element sizes to suit both professional use and personal aesthetics.
- Smooth animations and support for foldable displays, tablets, and multi-screen setups, ensuring that everything works natively and without restrictions.
This redesign modernizes the entire look of Android, making it more desktop-friendly and bringing unprecedented sophistication to the mobile experience.
Other key new features in Android 16: AI, privacy, camera, performance, and health
Beyond multitasking and desktop mode, Android 16 integrates high-impact new features for the advanced user:
- AVP codec support: Higher quality videos and recordings, designed for creators and audiovisual professionals.
- Advanced camera options: Hybrid auto-exposure, color temperature control, and UltraHDR support for new formats like HEIC and AVIF.
- Improved privacy management: Granular permission control, access history, and greater transparency to understand when and how apps interact with your data.
- Superior performance and energy efficiency: Power consumption optimization and refresh rate adaptability for longer battery life without compromising performance.
- Deeper AI integration: Smart tools to personalize usage, anticipate needs, and improve system autonomy based on routines and preferences.
- Health Connect revamped: Advanced health and wellness monitoring, more comprehensive data, and new features related to exercise, sleep, and lifestyle.
- General fixes that eliminate blocks and hangs, improve call stability and language switching.
FAQ and Use Cases: How to Get the Most Out of Desktop Mode and Window Minimization
Who can benefit most from these new features?
- Mobile professionals: those who need to carry their office in their pocket, work with spreadsheets, text editors, file management, and presentations quickly and anywhere.
- Students and teachers: multitasking to take notes, consult resources, work in teams and record classes or presentations on external monitors.
- Content creators and streamers: Quick access to editing, external recording, and advanced handling of multimedia files in various formats.
- Advanced users who want to reduce the number of devices and maintain all their productivity in a single ecosystem, with access to peripherals, widgets, and total flexibility.
How do I activate desktop mode?
- Desktop mode is activated automatically or manually when the device is connected to an external monitor via USB-C/HDMI cable or wirelessly (Miracast/Google Cast). Even on devices where it is available as an optional feature, it can be enabled from the developer menu.
- Once activated, simply open applications, work as if you were on a traditional PC, and use the taskbar to minimize, restore, move, and resize windows.
Is it configurable and customizable by manufacturers?
- The new desktop mode is native and cross-platform, but each manufacturer can add their own touch or even customize visual aspects (such as icons, backgrounds, or specific behaviors), ensuring a unique Android experience.
Future and prospects: Android beyond the smartphone
Google has confirmed that the Android roadmap is moving toward unprecedented mobile-desktop integration. With the arrival of desktop mode, advanced window management, and external screen recording, the Android ecosystem is poised to be the core of all daily digital activity, from entertainment to the most advanced professional productivity.
Android 16 marks the beginning of an era where your phone is the center of your digital life, capable of transforming into the ultimate work environment wherever you go.
With all these features, Android 16 establishes itself as the most complete and flexible platform, not only matching but surpassing many existing hybrid productivity solutions, opening the door to a new paradigm where the distinction between mobile and PC disappears. Stay informed about how to take advantage of its new features and share this preview so others can enjoy it too.