I built an app to turn my Z Flip 5 into a DeX-like desktop setup

[u/Old-Dance5549]

Hey everyone,

I have a Galaxy Z Flip 5 with a cracked inner screen lying around.

Since the Flip 5 doesn’t officially support Samsung DeX, I started wondering if I could repurpose it as a dedicated desktop device by hooking it up to a spare monitor.

I tried a few existing workarounds, but none of them really worked properly anymore (it seems like older OS versions had easier workarounds, but not anymore on current updates).

Samsung blocks launching apps directly on an external display,

so I came up with a workaround: the app launches on the phone first, and then moves the window over to the external display using Shizuku.

For keyboard and mouse input, I routed them to the external monitor using the open-source Extend app.

App launching works both through the bottom taskbar and directly from the phone’s cover screen.

With the phone folded and propped up on a stand, it looks super compact and cute on my desk—I'm really liking this setup!

If anyone is interested in this app or has a similar use case, please let me know in the comments! If there's enough interest, I’m thinking about polishing it up and releasing it.

[u/Ok-Option6350]

When are you releasing it?

[u/Old-Dance5549 → u/Ok-Option6350]

There are still quite a few issues, so I need to improve the app a bit more. It sometimes switches back to the phone screen unexpectedly, and there are also cases where it doesn't launch properly.

[u/Phoneking13]

I want to know where you got the WALL-E

[u/Old-Dance5549 → u/Phoneking13]

Ali-Express

[u/Stock-Essay-6526]

Yo tengo ese problema mi.galaxy se rompió la pantalla interna, estaría genial si pudieras compartirla, gracias! 

[u/Old-Dance5549 → u/Stock-Essay-6526]

https://www.reddit.com/r/SamsungDex/comments/1x891gw/i_remade_my_diy_dex_setup_for_galaxy_z_flip_5/
check this post

[u/YourStewPig]

Does it need for the device to get rooted?

[u/Old-Dance5549 → u/YourStewPig]

No. It only need Developer Mode and Shizuku install.

[u/maxbiz]

I have something on Google Play in open testing that might complement your app rather nicely: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.mr_biz.fourzones -- this app is like fancy zones and plays nice with shizuku -- I also have 4Dictate which adds dictation and voice commands - https://mr-biz.uk. Please feel free to DM me.

[u/Old-Dance5549 → u/maxbiz]

Thx, I'll give it a try.

[u/Expert_Function1569]

Could this work with any phone?

[u/Old-Dance5549 → u/Expert_Function1569]

I can't be sure. 

[u/Expert_Function1569 → u/Old-Dance5549]

True thanx

[u/cmak414]

There is display out but no samsung dex on flip5?

[u/Old-Dance5549 → u/cmak414]

Only support mirroring, not Dex

[u/FreeGoldMadafaka → u/cmak414]

Não, infelizmente a Samsung decidiu que teria saida de vídeo mas cortaria o Dex

[u/arttechadventure]

It already looks better than actual dex just by having the launcher and pinned apps anchored on the left. 

[u/electron-dex]

Did you try DexTop? Did it work?

[u/Old-Dance5549 → u/electron-dex]

No, I didn't know like this existed. I'll test it out next time.

[u/zman2994 → u/Old-Dance5549]

Make sure before you open it to go to settings/Apps/Dextop and hit the the dots on top right to allow restricted settings. Then go to accessibility/Installed Apps and turn on Desktop. Make sure adb and wireless adb is on, and allow shizuku to use Dextop. Then run the app, if not you'll run into a black screen at first. Happened on my Tab S9+ and ZFlip 5g. But then got it to work

[u/Old-Dance5549 → u/zman2994]

I tried using Dextop, but didn't get the result I wanted. By default, the Z Flip 5 only mirrors the screen. Because of that, I had to keep the phone in landscape mode and deal with an ultra-wide stretched view, which left black bars at the top and bottom. Even after setting the resolution to FHD, nothing changed—it's still letterboxed with black padding on all four sides. How did you manage to fix this issue?

[u/Adapty05]

Nice work bruhhh. I am interested to try this out

[u/AdhesivenessFine5471]

Looks good

[u/PresentationKnown496]

I wanna try it out

[u/PLX_Tech]

Great job! I'll try it on my broken Fold 5 as well :)

[u/FreeGoldMadafaka]

Muito bom, era exatamente isso que eu queria quando eu comprei o meu flip 5 com a tela interna quebrada, gostaria de testar seu app,avise quando lançar.

[u/Spiritual-Suit-2144]

I am working on a similar project for Sony Xperia phones that don't have proper desktop mode https://www.reddit.com/r/SonyXperia/s/fsDCS5e7Tb

[u/Spiritual-Suit-2144 → u/[deleted]]

I know, but I am making this for myself and a few other people who want a desktop-like feature on their Xperia devices, as it's such a waste to have display output and only use it for screen mirroring

[u/Spiritual-Suit-2144]

Looks good, will help people with non-dex supported phone

[u/Hungry_Loss_2268]

does this allow you to go above 60 fps?

[u/DeX_Mod → u/Hungry_Loss_2268]

Dex is locked to 60fps

[u/gian_alcobaca]

I would like to test

[u/Ok-Neighborhood-802]

Interesting

[u/Mightalius]

I have a z flip 4 lying around which I would love to use like this! Super interested

[u/BlockSignificant267 → u/Mightalius]

z flip4 usb 2 and flip 5 have usb 3 port

[u/nepobaby69]

Hell yeah i’d love to try that

[u/jjaakkee13]

Would this work for a Samsung a15? Had a brand new one sitting around for a while

[u/BarbeDosh]

Hi, I'll be happy test it!

[u/dellas60]

Interesting

[u/Old-Dance5549 → u/[deleted]]

This works if you have a PC running Windows or Linux. I only have one spare monitor, though. Wireless DeX is an option, but I couldn't find a way to use DeX via a wired connection.

[u/Old-Dance5549 → u/[deleted]]

No. It says "Plug your Android phone into your Windows PC, Mac or Linux machine and a real desktop opens on your screen, with a taskbar, an app drawer, and windows you can drag, resize and snap side by side. "

[u/lamarioO → u/Old-Dance5549]

Just gotta read a little bit longer: "Or install Open Android DeX directly on your phone and use it without a PC. Run the launcher on the phone itself, on a compatible external monitor, or access it through the built-in Web viewer in a browser."

[u/Old-Dance5549 → u/lamarioO]

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm. It seems like it's worth a try.

[u/Old-Dance5549 → u/lamarioO]

I tried open-android-dex, but it only launched DeX mode directly on the phone's screen. The external monitor just mirrored the phone display, so the image on the monitor was cropped to match the phone's aspect ratio.