PocketDesk

A real desktop from your Android phone, on any screen with a browser. Apps in windows you move and resize, your mouse and keyboard, no DeX and no video-out cable needed.

Get the app Open the desktop Source on GitHub

Three Android apps in windows on a desktop, with a taskbar at the bottom — Files, Google sign-in and Chrome side by side, running on the phone and shown in a laptop's browser.

Why

Samsung DeX and Android's desktop mode need a phone that can send video out over USB-C. Most mid-range phones can't (the Galaxy M53 this was built for has no video out at all), and plain screen mirroring only copies the phone's portrait screen. PocketDesk gives the phone a second, desktop-sized screen of its own and shows it wherever there is a browser.

What it does

A second screenThe phone creates a desktop at exactly your window's size. The phone's own screen stays free.

WindowsApps open in windows with a title bar: drag to move, pull the edges to resize, maximise, close.

Mouse and keyboardHover, right-click, wheel scrolling, shortcuts. Characters follow your keyboard's layout, so ç and é just work. Esc is Back.

Taskbar and app menuEvery app on the phone, searchable (press the Windows key), and a button per open window.

Paste from the computerCtrl+V types the computer's clipboard into the phone app.

SoundThe phone's audio plays on the screen's side.

Starts by itselfNo PC and no Shizuku after a restart: PocketDesk starts its helper through Wireless debugging and turns it off again.

FastHardware H.264 on the phone, hardware decoding in the browser, sent directly over your Wi-Fi.

What you need

An Android phone with Android 11 or newer. Developer options on (tap Build number seven times).
A screen with a current browser: a laptop, a mini PC, a smart TV's browser, or a Google TV / Chromecast with Google TV. Plug the keyboard and mouse into that device.
Phone and screen on the same Wi-Fi for the sharpest, quickest picture.

A plain Miracast or "screen mirroring" dongle won't work: it can only copy the phone's own screen, not show a second one.

Setup (once, about five minutes)

Install PocketDesk from the download page.
Desktop helper: in PocketDesk tap Pair, then in Wireless debugging tap Pair device with pairing code and type the code into the PocketDesk notification. That's all: no computer needed, and it starts again by itself after every restart once the phone is on Wi-Fi. (Already using Shizuku? That works too.)
Desktop windows: tap Turn on, then restart the phone once.
On the screen: open pocketdesk.outsmartis.dev and type the 6-digit code the phone shows. The screen remembers the phone from then on.

The PocketDesk phone app with setup done and a screen connected

How it works

Phone: a helper with adb rights creates a trusted virtual display with desktop flags (the launcher's desktop home, freeform windows) → the app encodes it with the phone's hardware H.264 encoder → WebRTC data channel over your Wi-Fi → browser: WebCodecs decodes in hardware onto a canvas; mouse, wheel and keys go back as input events on that display. The server only introduces the two sides (pairing and connection setup); the picture doesn't pass through it.

The helper normally needs Shizuku, which has to be started again after every restart. PocketDesk instead pairs with the phone's own Wireless debugging once, grants itself the right to switch it on and off, and at boot starts the helper, then switches Wireless debugging off again.

Limits

Starting by itself after a restart needs the phone connected to a Wi-Fi network (Wireless debugging only runs on Wi-Fi).
Apps that block screenshots (banking, some video apps) show black.
The clipboard goes one way: from the computer to the phone.
Tested on Android 16. Samsung's One UI is being tested now.

PocketDesk is a personal project by André Conde, built on CarMirror. Source on GitHub.