4 ms·

Desktop interaction paradigms (mouse/keyboard) and UI layouts do not make sense on a mobile phone.

Zigurd 1y ago
Microsoft has demonstrated with Windows for touchscreen PCs that it's not just a problem with small screens, but small touch targets in mouse oriented user interfaces. The other side of the coin is with everybody trying to cram AI features into an existing touch UI, touch targets are shrinking and buttons and hard to differentiate gestures are getting overloaded. It used to be that I could tell people that touch UI was great because a toddler could readily master it. Try telling a toddler about edge gestures. Those days are gone now.
- wongarsu 1y ago
  Windows 8 set out to change that by redesigning the UI to make most touch targets much bigger, and add lots of padding around them. And many highly visible parts of Windows (and other MS apps) still live with these design compromises. It can be done. Many would even call this "modern" and "clean" design.
- thewebguyd 1y ago
  > touch targets are shrinking and buttons and hard to differentiate iOS 26 went overboard in this direction, especially on iPad. They took what used to be a great touch screen experience and made it only usable with mouse and keyboard. The traffic light buttons are horrible touch targets, as is the menu on top of the screen. Even on iPhone the long press menus have been crammed so full and their font size reduced that they are much worse touch targets. This OS that used to work great on a 3.5" screen is now difficult to use on a big 6.5" screen. We've gone totally backwards.
xnx 1y ago
You can plug a keyboard, mouse, and external display into Android via a USB-C hub.
jcelerier 1y ago
I thought so until I met people who use termux with a GUI and then just plug a normal screen / mouse / keyboard to their android phone with a usb-c dock
fsflover 1y ago
Why not? Convergent desktop apps can automatically adjust their UI when shown on a small screen.
Ajedi32 1y ago
Probably this is mainly for Android on laptops. They're replacing ChromeOS.
- izacus 1y ago
  And Android phones plugged into desktop docks.
freedomben 1y ago
Gnome is quite usable on a touchscreen paradigm. As a keyboard-driven user I don't like the touchscreen paradigm anyway, but I've seen my kids use Gnome with a touchscreen and be pretty satisfied with it. For individual apps I expect we'll see either mobile-friendly UIs emerge or entirely new apps. Predicting open source is pretty tough, but that's my gut on it.
- mixmastamyk 1y ago
  Too bad there’s not a single usable touch screen video app for gnome, the main reason I’m using it (well phosh). Browser video works well so it can be done.
- d3Xt3r 1y ago
  So is KDE's Plasma Mobile: https://plasma-mobile.org/ https://plasma-mobile.org/
cshores 1y ago
It’s not even just about that. The real advantage is being able to dock a phone and edit photos or videos shot earlier in the day within a desktop-style environment directly on the device. This removes the need to transfer files to a separate editing system. The phone itself becomes a complete creative workstation that can sync to the cloud whenever needed.
spankibalt 1y ago
> "Desktop interaction paradigms (mouse/keyboard) and UI layouts do not make sense on a mobile phone." Yes, they obviously do; these very paradigms become important the moment one connects relevant HIDs to a capable-enough smartphone. That also includes high-precision operation in an untethered state, e. g. by way of a suitable stylus. Etc.
carlosjobim 1y ago
Android is atrocious to use on a tablet! I'm not a big fan of Linux, but it would be a delight to use instead of Android on tablets with a stylus.
- fsflover 1y ago
  https://puri.sm/products/librem-11 https://puri.sm/products/librem-11

Microsoft has demonstrated with Windows for touchscreen PCs that it's not just a problem with small screens, but small touch targets in mouse oriented user interfaces. The other side of the coin is with everybody trying to cram AI features into an existing touch UI, touch targets are shrinking and buttons and hard to differentiate gestures are getting overloaded. It used to be that I could tell people that touch UI was great because a toddler could readily master it. Try telling a toddler about edge gestures. Those days are gone now.

wongarsu 1y ago
Windows 8 set out to change that by redesigning the UI to make most touch targets much bigger, and add lots of padding around them. And many highly visible parts of Windows (and other MS apps) still live with these design compromises. It can be done. Many would even call this "modern" and "clean" design.
thewebguyd 1y ago
> touch targets are shrinking and buttons and hard to differentiate iOS 26 went overboard in this direction, especially on iPad. They took what used to be a great touch screen experience and made it only usable with mouse and keyboard. The traffic light buttons are horrible touch targets, as is the menu on top of the screen. Even on iPhone the long press menus have been crammed so full and their font size reduced that they are much worse touch targets. This OS that used to work great on a 3.5" screen is now difficult to use on a big 6.5" screen. We've gone totally backwards.

xnx 1y ago

You can plug a keyboard, mouse, and external display into Android via a USB-C hub.

jcelerier 1y ago

I thought so until I met people who use termux with a GUI and then just plug a normal screen / mouse / keyboard to their android phone with a usb-c dock

fsflover 1y ago

Why not? Convergent desktop apps can automatically adjust their UI when shown on a small screen.

Ajedi32 1y ago

Probably this is mainly for Android on laptops. They're replacing ChromeOS.

izacus 1y ago
And Android phones plugged into desktop docks.

freedomben 1y ago

Gnome is quite usable on a touchscreen paradigm. As a keyboard-driven user I don't like the touchscreen paradigm anyway, but I've seen my kids use Gnome with a touchscreen and be pretty satisfied with it. For individual apps I expect we'll see either mobile-friendly UIs emerge or entirely new apps. Predicting open source is pretty tough, but that's my gut on it.

mixmastamyk 1y ago
Too bad there’s not a single usable touch screen video app for gnome, the main reason I’m using it (well phosh). Browser video works well so it can be done.
d3Xt3r 1y ago
So is KDE's Plasma Mobile: https://plasma-mobile.org/ https://plasma-mobile.org/

cshores 1y ago

It’s not even just about that. The real advantage is being able to dock a phone and edit photos or videos shot earlier in the day within a desktop-style environment directly on the device. This removes the need to transfer files to a separate editing system. The phone itself becomes a complete creative workstation that can sync to the cloud whenever needed.

spankibalt 1y ago

> "Desktop interaction paradigms (mouse/keyboard) and UI layouts do not make sense on a mobile phone." Yes, they obviously do; these very paradigms become important the moment one connects relevant HIDs to a capable-enough smartphone. That also includes high-precision operation in an untethered state, e. g. by way of a suitable stylus. Etc.

carlosjobim 1y ago

Android is atrocious to use on a tablet! I'm not a big fan of Linux, but it would be a delight to use instead of Android on tablets with a stylus.

fsflover 1y ago
https://puri.sm/products/librem-11 https://puri.sm/products/librem-11