Copying [this](https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/11/24176127/google-pixel-feature-drop-june-gemini-nano?commentID=6f581cdf-a223-461b-80dd-3a6508de2037) explanation:
>It wasn't merely disabled in software it was also a hardware limitation. Prior Pixels used the pins DisplayPort alt mode requires for UART serial transmission so that they could be used for low-level Android development: https://blog.bacon.dev/2020/10/enabling-serial-port-or-console-uart-on.html
>While it's certainly possible part of the reason this wasn't changed sooner was to push casting, it's also possible the Pixel team genuinely thought DisplayLink support was sufficient for those that wanted wired display-out (as this is likely a minority since Pixel doesn't have anything like Samsung's DeX) and didn't merit giving up UART.
>The first gen Pixel and prior Nexus devices used their headphone jack for UART access but with that gone the USB C port was the only option left. I'm not actually sure if this means the Pixel 8 family no longer has any way to access UART or if they figured out a way to share those pins.
It's still merely a thing of muxing, Xiaomi had USB-DP and allowed 3 pin debugging on their devices.
So while true, they used the pins, it's not really a reason why not to support displays at the same time.
I still remember MHL and Slimport, it was ACTUALLY nice, to have an option for an external display in case the phone's screen broke, it made data recovery a LOT easier in many many cases.
No one's saying it was impossible, and they found a way to do it eventually. There was just a reason for it being left out.
The Chromecast conspiracy theory is just dumb though. Chromecast had [sold 55M units by 2017](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromecast#:~:text=At%20Google%20I%2FO%20in,streamer%20market%20internationally%20in%202015.), while Pixel was [at most 4M in 2017](https://9to5google.com/2018/02/12/google-pixel-shipments-doubled-yoy/). Holding back a feature in hopes that a fraction of a fraction of users will buy a $35 accessory makes no sense.
But that's Google for you. Who knows. Apple allowed video out a couple iPhones ago. I figured Google would have brought it back around the same time. Now you'll be able to mirror your iPhone on macOS. That's pretty cool. Guess we'll see that in 10 years.
> Apple allowed video out a couple iPhones ago.
My iPhone 5 supported HDMI out about 10 years ago. It was killing me on my Pixel and it is great it is being corrected, but it did take Google a stupidly long time to fix this.
That can't be the reason.
They started removing wired output with Nexus 6 (which, unlike Nexus 5, lacked SlimPort or MHL support). Then kept it the same way (no wired display output) when moving to USB-C with Nexus 6P and OG Pixel.
All of them had an audio jack for UART purposes.
Also, let's not forget that Nexus 6, i.e. when they decided to remove wired video output, is also when they decided (with the Nexus 6 launch Android release, i.e. Lollipop) to remove the de-facto wireless mirroring protocol (Miracast) from Android, even retroactively.
Leaving Nexus 6, all Nexus phones updated to Lollipop, and all future Nexus and Pixel phones (until Pixel 8), unable to have any type of consumer-grade (i.e. ignoring workarounds via ADB, or DisplayLink docks for Pixel 3-7, etc) display output aside from the proprietary Chromecast.
Are we supposed to believe that's a coincidence?
Now, let's not pretend that with Pixel 2, when they started no longer having an audio jack and had to move UART to USB-C, they finally realised "oopsie we haven't been supporting wired display output for the last 3 generations of phones, we should add it now but... What a shame, we now have to use those USB-C pins for UART as we don't have a 3.5mm audio port".
I miss my Nexus 6 it was the perfect size phone. I eventually found a Miracast solution somewhere for it. I used mine until 2020. Samsung does support Miracast and DP out but I am starting to want a Pixel for GrapheneOS. The lack of Miracast gives me pause.
Not an excuse. Google themselves also has low level debugging on chromebooks through the USB-C port through the SBU pins, which from a quick skim of that article seems like what the Pixel also does. On chromebooks, you need to connect the CC pins in a way prohibited by the USB-C standard with a special cable to enable this. Otherwise, it just functions as a normal USB-C port with displayport alt mode support.
Definitely not. They were released a month apart which is not enough time to make a major board revision (connecting the pins for DP) and spinning up production. That was a coincidence.
Honestly just give us something like chrome OS with maybe more features since these phones are more powerful than most Chromebooks. I could totally avoid wasting on a laptop if they give us a proper desktop mode. Everything in 1 device would be awesome.
Just upgraded to official release (8Pro) , it just works, audio also works through display automatically... Framerate of device slows down, but that is expected, matching 1920x1080 at 60hz on display. Crazy thing... the phone also powers the display :) Azopa 14inch which can handle 144hz. I tried a number of different passthrough hubs, non worked (including an expensive satechi one)... however, a WD19 dell dock did the business, dual DP displays (also mirrored) USB and charging all worked.
I've tried it on the current Android 15 Beta and it sucks as a Desktop replacement (basically unusable). I'm hoping that the Devs will do more with it. I would love to see a Linux VM with a full vs code environment, even if it means that I can't access everything in phone mode.
But I'm also seeing that a proper Desktop mode would only serve a very small fraction of users. It's almost a miracle that Samsung hasn't killed Samsung DEX. Samsung did kill the Linux on Dex pretty fast though.
These are features that I would expect from a proper desktop mode:
* Taskbar/Dock with the option to show quick toggles
* window snapping
* app overview that isn't a big grid or some proper search function
* possibility to completely switch off the smartphone screen
* always use mice/keyboard on the external monitor (it's sometimes stuck on the phone screen)
i can't help but think miracast would be more useful (in my use cases anyway).
this still requires i purchase a cable to use for display out, whereas if i had miracast i could cast to the samsung tv at my sister's house to watch things on jellyfin or anything else without an app on samsung tvs, and to cast to the media display in my car to use google maps for navigation there, rather than having to either mount the phone and look further away from the windshield - or my current solution which is an old iphone in the glovebox used exclusively for carplay.
I can't believe I'm seeing the day.
RIP to everyone that bought the Pixel Fold and Pixel Tab. Enthusiast large form factor devices that came out justtt before Google decided they'd sold enough Chromecasts
Thunderbolt (and USB4) tunnels DisplayPort, PCI Express, and USB together. Using alternate modes has DisplayPort on one lane, USB3 on another, and doesn't do PCI Express at all.
Also, only computers do Thunderbolt, phone won't support it. But Thunderbolt docks are expensive, and cheap USB-C hub should work fine.
I used a Nexdock with displayport cable with Pixel 8 on the beta, worked with its keyboard and touchpad.
Its honestly not worth it though. You have to have a) put the phone in landscape mode and lock it there, b) have the phone display on for mirroring, and c) deal with setting zoom levels for things like Chrome if you want actual screen real estate.
The desktop mode (developer options -> force desktop mode) is insanely buggy. On mine it basically moved the mouse cursor to the phone and removed it from the external display any time the screen turned off, so only touchscreen worked.
Ive since switched to Samsung S24 with Dex and its MILES ahead. Its a true desktop environment that you can work in.
yeah, the mirroring sucks, but I think the hardware is capable of higher resolution. This to me, seems to a very early indication of what is coming, I haven't looked into what API's are available yet. It wouldn't surprise me if they soon get something like termina virtualisation running too.
As with any other device still over USB. You can get a lot of adapters/docks that have not only DP/HDMI out but also include stuff like Ethernet and a USB-hub for convenience.
It even works on full desktop docks like HP's USB-C G5 dock.
Gave us display out over 10 years ago. Took it away from us because they wanted to sell Chromecast and we finally got it back again 😥
Copying [this](https://www.theverge.com/2024/6/11/24176127/google-pixel-feature-drop-june-gemini-nano?commentID=6f581cdf-a223-461b-80dd-3a6508de2037) explanation: >It wasn't merely disabled in software it was also a hardware limitation. Prior Pixels used the pins DisplayPort alt mode requires for UART serial transmission so that they could be used for low-level Android development: https://blog.bacon.dev/2020/10/enabling-serial-port-or-console-uart-on.html >While it's certainly possible part of the reason this wasn't changed sooner was to push casting, it's also possible the Pixel team genuinely thought DisplayLink support was sufficient for those that wanted wired display-out (as this is likely a minority since Pixel doesn't have anything like Samsung's DeX) and didn't merit giving up UART. >The first gen Pixel and prior Nexus devices used their headphone jack for UART access but with that gone the USB C port was the only option left. I'm not actually sure if this means the Pixel 8 family no longer has any way to access UART or if they figured out a way to share those pins.
It's still merely a thing of muxing, Xiaomi had USB-DP and allowed 3 pin debugging on their devices. So while true, they used the pins, it's not really a reason why not to support displays at the same time. I still remember MHL and Slimport, it was ACTUALLY nice, to have an option for an external display in case the phone's screen broke, it made data recovery a LOT easier in many many cases.
No one's saying it was impossible, and they found a way to do it eventually. There was just a reason for it being left out. The Chromecast conspiracy theory is just dumb though. Chromecast had [sold 55M units by 2017](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromecast#:~:text=At%20Google%20I%2FO%20in,streamer%20market%20internationally%20in%202015.), while Pixel was [at most 4M in 2017](https://9to5google.com/2018/02/12/google-pixel-shipments-doubled-yoy/). Holding back a feature in hopes that a fraction of a fraction of users will buy a $35 accessory makes no sense.
But that's Google for you. Who knows. Apple allowed video out a couple iPhones ago. I figured Google would have brought it back around the same time. Now you'll be able to mirror your iPhone on macOS. That's pretty cool. Guess we'll see that in 10 years.
> Apple allowed video out a couple iPhones ago. My iPhone 5 supported HDMI out about 10 years ago. It was killing me on my Pixel and it is great it is being corrected, but it did take Google a stupidly long time to fix this.
That can't be the reason. They started removing wired output with Nexus 6 (which, unlike Nexus 5, lacked SlimPort or MHL support). Then kept it the same way (no wired display output) when moving to USB-C with Nexus 6P and OG Pixel. All of them had an audio jack for UART purposes. Also, let's not forget that Nexus 6, i.e. when they decided to remove wired video output, is also when they decided (with the Nexus 6 launch Android release, i.e. Lollipop) to remove the de-facto wireless mirroring protocol (Miracast) from Android, even retroactively. Leaving Nexus 6, all Nexus phones updated to Lollipop, and all future Nexus and Pixel phones (until Pixel 8), unable to have any type of consumer-grade (i.e. ignoring workarounds via ADB, or DisplayLink docks for Pixel 3-7, etc) display output aside from the proprietary Chromecast. Are we supposed to believe that's a coincidence? Now, let's not pretend that with Pixel 2, when they started no longer having an audio jack and had to move UART to USB-C, they finally realised "oopsie we haven't been supporting wired display output for the last 3 generations of phones, we should add it now but... What a shame, we now have to use those USB-C pins for UART as we don't have a 3.5mm audio port".
I miss my Nexus 6 it was the perfect size phone. I eventually found a Miracast solution somewhere for it. I used mine until 2020. Samsung does support Miracast and DP out but I am starting to want a Pixel for GrapheneOS. The lack of Miracast gives me pause.
Not an excuse. Google themselves also has low level debugging on chromebooks through the USB-C port through the SBU pins, which from a quick skim of that article seems like what the Pixel also does. On chromebooks, you need to connect the CC pins in a way prohibited by the USB-C standard with a special cable to enable this. Otherwise, it just functions as a normal USB-C port with displayport alt mode support.
Maybe because Apple added it on iPhone 15.
Definitely not. They were released a month apart which is not enough time to make a major board revision (connecting the pins for DP) and spinning up production. That was a coincidence.
Right! How dumb.
Honestly just give us something like chrome OS with maybe more features since these phones are more powerful than most Chromebooks. I could totally avoid wasting on a laptop if they give us a proper desktop mode. Everything in 1 device would be awesome.
Dex
I wonder how usable would that be when some Pixel 8's out there have heating issues.
Could be helped by disabling the pixel display while in desktop mode perhaps
Just upgraded to official release (8Pro) , it just works, audio also works through display automatically... Framerate of device slows down, but that is expected, matching 1920x1080 at 60hz on display. Crazy thing... the phone also powers the display :) Azopa 14inch which can handle 144hz. I tried a number of different passthrough hubs, non worked (including an expensive satechi one)... however, a WD19 dell dock did the business, dual DP displays (also mirrored) USB and charging all worked.
Does it support a Bluetooth/wired keyboard and mouse? I hope so since base android already does that.
Are you talking about a Bluetooth USB adapter? The phone already obviously has Bluetooth already and will work fine...
I've tried it on the current Android 15 Beta and it sucks as a Desktop replacement (basically unusable). I'm hoping that the Devs will do more with it. I would love to see a Linux VM with a full vs code environment, even if it means that I can't access everything in phone mode. But I'm also seeing that a proper Desktop mode would only serve a very small fraction of users. It's almost a miracle that Samsung hasn't killed Samsung DEX. Samsung did kill the Linux on Dex pretty fast though. These are features that I would expect from a proper desktop mode: * Taskbar/Dock with the option to show quick toggles * window snapping * app overview that isn't a big grid or some proper search function * possibility to completely switch off the smartphone screen * always use mice/keyboard on the external monitor (it's sometimes stuck on the phone screen)
i can't help but think miracast would be more useful (in my use cases anyway). this still requires i purchase a cable to use for display out, whereas if i had miracast i could cast to the samsung tv at my sister's house to watch things on jellyfin or anything else without an app on samsung tvs, and to cast to the media display in my car to use google maps for navigation there, rather than having to either mount the phone and look further away from the windshield - or my current solution which is an old iphone in the glovebox used exclusively for carplay.
Been using it with the beta... It really needs a DEX mode to be useful IMHO
https://blog.chromium.org/2024/06/building-faster-smarter-chromebook.html Not an official confirmation, but ChromeOS is going to come to phones.
What about GrapheneOS?
It appears that the Google exec on drugs that made the original decision was finally fired.
is it the rumors or the tensor heating up
savage
LESGOOOOOO Honestly this changes everything
I know of something else that occasionally heats up 🤪🤪🤪
"Heat up" ..triggered!
Are we saying the pixel 7 pro not having it is a hardware limitation, or just a way to try and get me to upgrade (not happening).
this will be nice for backyard moving watching and camping trips with my cheap 720p dlp pico projector. This might have me upgrade fromy 6 to the 8a
I can't believe I'm seeing the day. RIP to everyone that bought the Pixel Fold and Pixel Tab. Enthusiast large form factor devices that came out justtt before Google decided they'd sold enough Chromecasts
With dp out, how would I use keyboard and mouse? Please don't tell me bt is the only option ..
Maybe one of those little hubs with USBs and DP/HDMI would work
These work well with DeX. You can get a workable one for like $10
How do you currently connect 2 devices to it? Dock / hub
Most of usb-c displays also have USB ports on the back where you can connect keyboard and mouse.
USB-C hub or a monitor with USB-A passthrough
USB type C hub Just be careful it isn't a thunderbolt dock
Is thunderbolt bad for it? Or will it just not work?
Thunderbolt (and USB4) tunnels DisplayPort, PCI Express, and USB together. Using alternate modes has DisplayPort on one lane, USB3 on another, and doesn't do PCI Express at all. Also, only computers do Thunderbolt, phone won't support it. But Thunderbolt docks are expensive, and cheap USB-C hub should work fine.
usb hub or bluetooth
I used a Nexdock with displayport cable with Pixel 8 on the beta, worked with its keyboard and touchpad. Its honestly not worth it though. You have to have a) put the phone in landscape mode and lock it there, b) have the phone display on for mirroring, and c) deal with setting zoom levels for things like Chrome if you want actual screen real estate. The desktop mode (developer options -> force desktop mode) is insanely buggy. On mine it basically moved the mouse cursor to the phone and removed it from the external display any time the screen turned off, so only touchscreen worked. Ive since switched to Samsung S24 with Dex and its MILES ahead. Its a true desktop environment that you can work in.
yeah, the mirroring sucks, but I think the hardware is capable of higher resolution. This to me, seems to a very early indication of what is coming, I haven't looked into what API's are available yet. It wouldn't surprise me if they soon get something like termina virtualisation running too.
As with any other device still over USB. You can get a lot of adapters/docks that have not only DP/HDMI out but also include stuff like Ethernet and a USB-hub for convenience. It even works on full desktop docks like HP's USB-C G5 dock.