3 ambitious Android advances still on the horizon

It’s a weird time for Android-watching.

Already, we live in a world where Android upgrade availability varies wildly from one phone to the next — thanks to certain device-makers’ less-than-commendable commitments in that area. A new Android version might show up on a Google-made Pixel phone at the time of its launch, as you’d expect, but not make its way to a Samsung Galaxy gizmo ’til more than six months later (and let’s spare ourselves the embarrassment of even acknowledging Motorola).

That makes it tricky enough to talk about new Android features without including an awful lot of asterisks. And now, on top of that, Google’s (a) moving to a twice-annual cadence for new Android versions and (b) putting an ever-increasing emphasis on the quarterly feature drops it sends out in between those releases.

If even just reading that paragraph has your shiny head a-spinnin’, believe me, you aren’t alone. (I’m frankly not even sure where I am or why I seem to be surrounded by suspiciously savvy squirrels following that dizzying description.) And, for better or for worse, things aren’t gonna get any less confusing anytime soon.

To wit: As we speak, El Googeloo’s on the brink of wrapping up and rolling out its latest and greatest Android version, Android 16. The software — set to show up sometime this month — is no small update, either: It marks a dramatic reinvention of the operating system, with a whole new design style, a slew of new security enhancements, and, of course, all the usual bits of Gemini this-and-that crammed into every possible corner.

But at the same time, Google’s also working on a quarterly update that’ll follow the initial Android 16 release and add even more intriguing elements into the equation. Between the ongoing beta testing of those quarterly drops and the already-upcoming next full-fledged Android release slated for the fall (!), it’s tough to even know which features might end up where or what official Android version any given element is associated with.

Here, however, are three especially titillating improvements we know are under development and don’t expect to see appear with this month’s Android 16 update.

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Android advancement #1: Desktop mode

First and foremost is a feature that’s familiar to some citizens of the Android universe, and that’s a fully fleshed-out desktop mode for mobile devices.

The long-anticipated native Android desktop mode would let you plug your phone into an external monitor to reveal a somewhat ChromeOS-reminiscent interface (hmmm….), optimized for a PC-sized screen and keyboard-mouse use.

The possibility was first discovered by noted Android code-comber Mishaal Rahman earlier this year. More recently, Rahman was able to activate the still-in-progress addition via Android’s open source code set to see how it’s shaping up.

Google officially confirmed the existence of the feature at its I/O conference last month and said it was working closely with Samsung to “build on the foundation” of that company’s DeX system, which has offered a similar sort of feature for users of select Galaxy devices for some time now.

Expanding on that concept and bringing it into Android itself, at the operating system level, would mark a significant step in making the feature more broadly available, more standardized, and also more actively developed and supported.

I still wonder how many people would actually take advantage of it — how often do you have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse but not a laptop? — but it’s certainly a very cool addition that’ll add plenty of fresh productivity potential into the platform, at whatever point it actually ends up appearing.

Android advancement #2: Hub mode

Keeping the mode motif going, our next noteworthy Android addition under development but seemingly not on the way with the initial Android 16 update is something similar to the Standby Mode Apple introduced to its iPhones a year and a half back.

It’s an option that’d let you see and interact with widgets on your lock screen while your phone is charging — almost turning it into a Nest-Hub-style smart display, in other words, but built right into your existing device and without the need for any extra gadgets.

According to an early reading of the tea leaves, Android’s interpretation could empower you to seamlessly switch between a standard Android screen saver and that interactive canvas for widgets anytime your phone is plugged in or on a wireless charging surface. It’d make every phone instantly more useful while idle and unlock an entire new purpose for our devices at a time when they’re typically dormant.

If a casual survey of Android superfans is any indication, it could be quite a transformation for lots of folks, too. I recently asked the exceptionally smart and aromatic readers of my Android Intelligence newsletter what they do with their phones while they’re charging these days, and a staggering 74% of ’em said absolutely nothing — they leave ’em on but don’t actively use ’em in any way. Another 7% turn their phones off entirely while topping off. Only 19% reported relying on their devices for any manner of activity while plugged in, and that was mostly just to rely on an always-on display to tell the time.

Once more, it’s not yet clear when, exactly, this feature could arrive or in which Android version (or between-versions update). 

If you don’t feel like waiting, though, you can bring a vaguely similar concept to any device this instant with a quick pinch of creative thinking.

Android advancement #3: A taskbar for everyone

Our final Android advancement might be the one I’m personally most excited to see — and that’s because I’ve had the pleasure of using it already, albeit only in a specific and still-quite-limited scenario.

I’m talkin’ about a taskbar. Yes, a taskbar. That may not sound especially exciting on the surface, I realize, but stick with ‘me — ’cause it really has the potential to be one of the most transformative changes Android’s ever seen.

As to why it’s not entirely new for some of us, the same sort of system showed up with 2023’s Pixel Fold — but only in a limited capacity, when the phone is in its fully unfolded state. It went on to appear in last year’s Pixel 9 Pro Fold, too, and also on the seemingly one-and-done Pixel Tablet.

And lemme tell ya: I’ve been in love with the concept ever since I first laid fingers on it, and I’ve been begging Google to bring the thing to all Android environments. The bar just makes it so splendidly simple to move from one app to another — with a swift swipe up from the bottom-center of your screen — and also puts Android’s split-screen system front and center in a way it’s never been before.

srcset='https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/google-pixel-9-pro-fold-taskbar.webp?quality=50&strip=all 600w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/google-pixel-9-pro-fold-taskbar.webp?resize=289%2C300&quality=50&strip=all 289w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/google-pixel-9-pro-fold-taskbar.webp?resize=162%2C168&quality=50&strip=all 162w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/google-pixel-9-pro-fold-taskbar.webp?resize=81%2C84&quality=50&strip=all 81w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/google-pixel-9-pro-fold-taskbar.webp?resize=463%2C480&quality=50&strip=all 463w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/google-pixel-9-pro-fold-taskbar.webp?resize=347%2C360&quality=50&strip=all 347w, https://b2b-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/google-pixel-9-pro-fold-taskbar.webp?resize=241%2C250&quality=50&strip=all 241w' width='600' height='622' sizes='(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px'>The always-available Android taskbar, as seen in its current limited form on a folding Pixel phone.JR Raphael, IDG

Its development as a universal, available-everywhere Android feature still seems to be early and nowhere near close to complete, but it sure seems like something we can look forward to seeing sometime in the months (and the melange of confusingly overlapping Android releases) ahead.

And, yet again, you can actually get a taste of it now — if you’re feeling ambitious and don’t mind a teensy touch of advanced tinkering.

Amidst all of this, one thing’s for sure: It’s shaping up to be quite a year for Android’s ever-advancing evolution — and what we see with the initial Android 16 rollout this summer will almost certainly just be scratching the surface.

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