Use it as a desktop PC

[naizena]

Hi, first of all thanks to all contributors of new https://www.ubuntu-touch.io/

I read:
"Use it as a desktop PC
Connect your device to a monitor or TV, and it expands into a windowed desktop. Productivity like on a traditional PC."

So reading that I feel even more clumsy, because it seems like it's a piece of cake (I wish it were so). I have a Volla X and, as far as I know, is not easy for someone with knowledge at the user level to connect that device to a TV (https://github.com/HelloVolla/ubuntu-touch-beta-tests/issues/107) and work like on a PC.

I wonder if it's honest to make a statement like this...

Still, I'm very grateful to all of you who make this project possible.

[libremax]

@naizena For now Fairphone 4 is the only device with support for wired connection to an external display as it is indicated here : https://devices.ubuntu-touch.io/device/fp4/

For others devices, in many cases a wireless aethercast is possible.

[naizena]

@libremax Maybe I just wanted to express my frustration at not being able to use Ubuntu Touch as a PC. I've been using Ubuntu Touch for a long time (aquaris 4.5 2015) and I was excited about the idea of convergence on a linux, and I thought that one day I would have a simple PC on my mobile. Today I see it as far away... Thank you for your comment.

[AppLee]

Hi @naizena
I share your frustration, but we do not have a say on the hardware development.
So we need hardware compatibility and an appropriate port to be able to offer this feature.

I found it amazing that we can do this with the Fairphone4 an already with the experimental port of the Fairphone5.
And all that with a very small team of enthusiastic developers.

As with most things in live it's neither black or white but somewhere in the middle.
Glass half full kind of thing :winking_face:

[naizena]

@AppLee Thanks a lot for your time, your work and your answer. I don't know how mark this topic as solved...

[arubislander]

@naizena This topic is more of a discussion than a question, so it doesn't need to be marked solved imho.

[wally]

@naizena It might still be worth considering a wireless display option if it's important to you. I'm sure wired is a better solution, but if not possible, it's nice to have another option.
I was going to suggest the Microsoft Miracast Adapter V2, which has worked very well for me with several different UT devices.. but it seems the adapter is no longer produced and it's hard to find a used one.

Does anybody know of any other wireless display adapters that work well?

Mine wasn't cheap, $60 CAD (€40), but if using an external display is an important feature to you, it's a shame not to be able to. I get minor latency in display (well under 0.5 seconds), and two-finger scrolling doesn't always work when using the phone screen as a mouse. But with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, it's great. And while not every app is well set up for it, on the whole the OS functions very well in desktop mode.
I hope you're able to find a solution.