Why I Ditched Linux for Samsung DeX

Canonical pursued convergence with the Ubuntu Telephone, an effort to make a cellphone that was additionally a PC. Purism has promised this identical factor with the Purism Librem 5. Linux corporations primed me to need convergence, however Samsung DeX is the one who offered it to me.

Samsung DeX Appears Much like Many Linux Distros

Samsung DeX is a desktop-like interface that seems everytime you connect a supported Samsung Galaxy device to an external display. In my case, I am scripting this utilizing Samsung DeX on a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5.

DeX’s layout looks similar to Microsoft Windows, although it has much more in widespread with ChromeOS on a Chromebook. To my eyes, as a long-time Linux consumer, DeX can also be harking back to distros like Zorin OS.

Firing up DeX simply seems like taking a brand new distro out for a spin, one which simply occurs to solely run Android apps.

Desktop Linux Customers Are Accustomed to Net Apps

Operating Android apps would possibly sound like a deal-breaker, however utilizing Linux has really ready me properly for this setup. I’ve lengthy used net apps to fill within the gaps left by not having native Linux variations of sure apps. There are instruments like Tangram, which turns websites into apps for you. The GNOME Net browser also can save websites as apps.

Many cell apps are net apps in a flowery wrapper. Net apps are additionally a giant a part of mobile Linux distros like Ubuntu Touch.

That is to not say that Android apps are equivalent to net apps. You get higher efficiency and fewer latency, for certain. My level is that utilizing simplified variations of software program that’s extra absolutely fleshed out on a Home windows PC or MacBook is already one thing I’ve way back needed to settle for.

Android Apps Really feel Like GNOME Apps

Most of my favourite Linux apps weren’t easy as a result of they have been net apps, they have been easy as a result of easy is sweet. Easy is a trademark of apps made for the GNOME desktop setting, which occurs to be my private favourite.

In the event you take a look at my list of favorite apps exclusive to Linux, you might discover how minimalist all of them are. I want for apps to be as uncluttered as potential. I discover Secrets and techniques rather more easy than KeePassXC, despite the fact that each apps use the identical KeePass format and successfully do the identical factor. Utilizing Secrets and techniques feels extra akin to utilizing the Android model, KeePassDX, as a substitute. That, to me is an effective factor.

The app design I now encounter on my Android desktop feels similar to what I used to be already utilizing on my GNOME desktop. Simply evaluate Auxio on Android with Amberol on Linux (pictured above).

Some Android Apps Are Surprisingly Extra Highly effective

Returning again to my listing of apps, you might also discover that they are all really much less feature-rich than what you will get from an Android app. Apostrophe is extra paired again in comparison with Obsidian. Amberol has fewer options than Samsung Music. Foliate is not practically as succesful as Moon+ Reader. I have been genuinely stunned by just how good Samsung’s suite of apps is.

That stated, you possibly can set up Obsidian on Linux. There are not any scarcity of sophisticated Linux music gamers like Amarok. You possibly can set up Calibre if you would like an book studying app that does all of the issues. But there are duties which can be merely simpler to do on Android than on Linux.

For instance, how do I apply background blur to a photograph? I am certain it is potential on Linux, however on Android, I merely set up the Lightroom app and alter a slider. And that is provided that I did not already take a photograph in portrait mode, which is simple to do when your PC can also be your cellphone.

What if I need to erase an object from a photograph? On my Z Fold 5, that is as straightforward as drawing a circle across the object within the default Samsung Gallery app. Whereas I am at it, I can maintain my finger down on a topic to isolate it from the remainder of the picture, reserve it as a sticker, and import it into every other undertaking. That is a lot simpler than attempting to stipulate a topic manually in GIMP.

Changing speech to textual content, and even handwriting to textual content, is only a characteristic baked into many fashionable Android telephones. You do not even have to hunt out particular software program anymore.

Android Is a Collaborative Ecosystem

All of us come to Linux for our personal causes. Many people uncover Linux as a result of it is free. A few of us decide to the free and open supply ethos, typically swearing off proprietary software program fully. Many love that Linux is the final word tinkerer’s playhouse, with all the PC being accessible to do with what we’ll. Others merely use it as a result of, for a lot of duties, Linux is the perfect software for the job.

Most of us in all probability get pleasure from Linux for a number of if not all of those causes. It is the open supply basis that made me take discover of Android over the iPhone. I like that I can flash a customized ROM to take full possession of a tool, and I can stick solely to F-Droid apps to create an open source minimalist dumb phone.

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5

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The Galaxy Z Fold 5 is Samsung’s finest foldable from 2023, packing a speedy Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 ‘for Galaxy’ chip, 12GB RAM, and superfast UFS 4.0 storage. The brand new Flex Hinge permits the cellphone to shut absolutely flat, although the Fold 5 falls brief in different elements.

Clearly, by utilizing Samsung DeX on a Galaxy Z Fold 5, I’m not dwelling by that absolutely open supply ethos. Nonetheless, I recognize that Android is a collaborative ecosystem. Google, Samsung, Motorola, and Huawei are all invested in Android desktops specifically. Much more corporations are invested in making Android apps usually. So despite the fact that a lot of the code is proprietary, I am nonetheless not beholden to anyone firm the way in which I might be if I purchased a MacBook, switched to Home windows, or selected to work from a Chromebook.

I can swap DeX out for the Motorola desktop I initially used after I first connected my phone to a lapdock. Plus, Google continues to spend money on Android desktops, that means this characteristic might quickly come to Pixels and different Android telephones. Even when I need to keep away from Google, I can as a substitute use an alternative app store and nonetheless get entry to most of the apps I depend on. Android provides a level of freedom and resiliency that, as a (former?) Linux consumer, I’ve come to count on.

It is also value declaring that, since Android runs on prime of the Linux kernel, Samsung DeX is technically a Linux distro. It is probably not the model of Linux I hoped to run when studying weblog posts from Canonical about convergence all these years in the past, however even when an organization did now come alongside and put standard GNU/Linux on a cellphone with a desktop mode, I do not know if that’d be sufficient to get me to give up my 3-in-1 foldable phone.