The Samsung Developer Conference, held this week in San Francisco, brings creators together to discover and learn about the latest technologies in Samsung’s portfolio and further afield. One of the technologies showcased, following the initial demo in 2017, is Samsung’s Linux on DeX. Samsung DeX, launched last year, lets users of Samsung flagship Galaxy devices enjoy apps on a bigger screen for a better viewing experience, whether watching films, playing games or just browsing the web.

This year, Samsung is announcing the beta launch of Linux on DeX which extends the value of Samsung DeX to Linux developers. Linux on DeX empowers developers to build apps within a Linux development environment by connecting their Galaxy device to a larger screen for a PC-like experience.

Ubuntu is Samsung’s Linux distribution of choice for Linux on DeX. The majority of developers select Ubuntu as their chosen development platform for most workloads already and Samsung’s research verified that it was the favoured Linux distribution amongst their audience as well. Samsung and Canonical have worked together on a modified version of Ubuntu 16.04 to provide the best experience for developers.

With select Samsung Galaxy mobile and tablet models compatible, developers can now access their favourite tools on the go. Utilising a Galaxy tablet provides enough screen space to remove the need for a second screen, while those who would prefer to work directly from their Galaxy mobile have direct access to the command line interface.

The Linux on DeX app is now available as a private beta and interested developers can sign up here. The private beta is only available for users of Samsung’s Galaxy Note9 and Galaxy TabS4 running Android Oreo and above.

Samsung’s full announcement can be read here.