The RigDesk guide
From the download to a Windows program running on your phone — and the shortcuts, gestures and answers in between. Written for RigDesk 0.91.
Install RigDesk
RigDesk is not on Google Play (here is why), so it installs from its own file, an APK. You need Android 11 or newer on an arm64 phone. No root, and no computer.
- On the phone, open rigdesk.app/download and tap Download.
- Open the file when it finishes. Android asks whether your browser may install apps — Install unknown apps — allow it.
- Tap Install. Android warns about every app that does not come from Google Play; the download page has the file’s fingerprint if you want to check it first.
- Open RigDesk.
First start
RigDesk asks a few things when it first opens. None of them is final.
Where the desktop goes
- A monitor, over USB-C to HDMI or DisplayPort: zero lag, the best picture, nothing to configure.
- A TV, over Wi-Fi. Casting needs 5 GHz Wi-Fi and a link of at least 200 Mbps. RigDesk reads your Wi-Fi and says whether it is enough; expect roughly 60–100 ms more lag than a cable.
- No display at all. The desktop runs on the phone’s own screen.
How you control it
A Bluetooth mouse and keyboard — or the phone itself: while RigDesk is on an external screen, the phone becomes the trackpad and the keyboard. Android may ask for Bluetooth access; it only lets the tray show the name of your mouse or keyboard, and you can skip it.
A profile, if you want one
A profile keeps your accent colour, your wallpaper and your animations. It lives on the phone, encrypted — there is no account on a server. What is stored, exactly.
The desktop
Windows
Drag a window by the bar on top. Drop it on the left or right edge for half the screen, in a corner for a quarter, at the top for all of it — RigDesk then asks what should go in the other half. Drag any border to resize.
Taskbar, app drawer and tray
- The taskbar holds pinned apps, everything that is running, and a way back to the desktop.
- The app drawer is the nine-dot menu (Ctrl + Space). Besides your apps it holds Windows, X server, Settings, the RigDesk Office folder and the Windows programs you have downloaded.
- The tray shows your Bluetooth mouse and keyboard, Wi-Fi, battery and the clock.
- Right-click the desktop for a menu, right-click an app for its options.
Browser and files
The built-in browser blocks ads and trackers and presents itself as a desktop, so sites hand you the Windows download rather than a Linux package. Files asks for one folder at a time instead of the whole phone, and downloads land where programs expect them.
Keys and gestures
Keyboard shortcuts
| Keys | What they do |
|---|---|
| Ctrl + Space | Open or close the app drawer |
| Ctrl + Tab | Switch windows |
| Ctrl + W | Close the focused window |
| Ctrl + Alt + D | Show the desktop |
| Ctrl + Alt + ← / → | Snap the window left / right |
| Ctrl + Alt + ↑ / ↓ | Maximise / restore |
| Ctrl + Alt + G | The Game Bar, over a running game |
| Esc | Close the drawer or a menu |
There are no Windows-key shortcuts: Android keeps that key for itself and opens its own launcher before any app can see it. That is why RigDesk uses Ctrl + Alt.
The phone as a trackpad
While RigDesk is on a monitor or a TV, all of this works on the phone’s screen — no mouse needed.
| Gesture | What it does |
|---|---|
| One finger | Move the cursor; tap to click |
| Double-tap and hold | Grab and drag |
| Two fingers | Scroll |
| Three fingers left or right | Switch tabs, following your fingers |
| Three fingers up | Show the desktop |
Windows programs
RigDesk runs unmodified Windows .exe files on the phone itself —
nothing is streamed from a computer. A Windows program is x86 code and a phone is ARM,
so a translator turns the program’s instructions into ARM ones as it runs, and
Wine answers the calls the program makes to
Windows.
Set it up once
- Open Windows from the app drawer.
- Tap Get Wine and set it up. It is about 60 MB, downloaded once, and it picks up where it stopped if the connection drops.
- Tap Allow everything. It goes through what a program needs, in order; where Android shows its own screen, confirm it there and come back — RigDesk carries on by itself.
- The last step makes drive C: — a few minutes, once, and
RigDesk shows every line while it happens. Your programs live in
C:\RigDesk.
Run a program
Download it in RigDesk’s browser. When the download finishes, tap
Run on the download bar, or double-click the program’s icon on the
desktop. Installers, .exe and .msi, install into drive C: the
way they would on a PC.
Programs that need .NET
Some programs are written against .NET and will not start without it — Discord’s installer is one. Open Windows and tap Add .NET support. It is a separate download, fetched only when you ask, so RigDesk stays small for everyone who does not need it.
What runs today
Everyday programs such as SumatraPDF and PuTTY open as ordinary RigDesk windows, and Steam runs. 3D games are the current work: Vulkan games now reach the screen, and more of them run with each release. Not everything runs yet — when something does not, tell us which program.
Linux programs
The same translator runs Linux x86 and x86-64 programs directly, with no Linux image and
no terminal emulator in between. They open in RigDesk’s own X server as ordinary
windows — a real title bar, resizing, keyboard focus — and their sound plays
through Android. xterm is the classic first test.
Games, the Game Bar and RedFrame
The Game Bar
Press Ctrl + Alt + G, or tap the screen with three fingers three times. The Game Bar opens over the running game, which keeps going behind it, and shows the live frame rate, CPU and GPU load and their temperatures. If the three-finger tap does nothing on your phone, use the keys.
RedFrame
RedFrame adds generated frames between the game’s own: 2X doubles them and 3X up to triples them, without adding lag. It is switched on in the Game Bar, and it comes with RD Pass when the store opens.
RigDesk Office
RigWrite for documents, RigSheets for spreadsheets and
RigSlides for presentations sit together in one folder in the app
drawer. They open, edit and save real .docx, .xlsx,
.csv and .pptx files — checked against the files Word,
Excel and PowerPoint write — so what you make on the phone opens anywhere else.
Writing, editing, creating and printing are free.
Designs
Glass, frosted or solid surfaces; twelve accent colours that go through the whole desktop; motion profiles for how everything moves; drawn wallpapers that cost no download; and tab animations. The free ones come with RigDesk. The others will be €1.99 each, or all of them with RD Pass, once the store opens — you can try them on the front page.
Updates
RigDesk updates itself, from version 0.78 on. A panel says what is new, downloads the update with a progress bar, resumes if the connection drops, and installs it. Every release is signed with the same certificate, so it installs over the one you have and your profile, programs and settings stay.
Questions
Is RigDesk free?
Yes. The desktop, Windows and Linux programs, the browser, Files and RigDesk Office cost nothing. What will cost money, once the store opens, is RD Pass — a monthly subscription that brings RedFrame and every paid design — or paid designs one by one.
Does it need root?
No. The helper RigDesk needs ships inside the app, unmodified and Apache-licensed, and starts over Android’s own wireless debugging.
Why is it not on Google Play?
Because it downloads and runs a Windows compatibility layer after it is installed, which is exactly what Play’s rules forbid. RigDesk is distributed from rigdesk.app/download instead, signed with its own key.
Is it safe to install from a website?
Every release is signed with the same certificate, and the download page publishes both the file’s SHA-256 and the certificate, so you can check what you got. Some antivirus scanners flag any app they have not seen before; that is about how new it is, not about what it does.
Which phones does it run on?
Android 11 or newer, with an arm64 (arm64-v8a) processor. It is tuned on Snapdragon first; tuning for Dimensity, Exynos and Tensor phones is next on the roadmap.
Do I need a monitor?
No. With one, the phone becomes the trackpad and the keyboard. Without one, the whole desktop runs on the phone’s own screen.
Can it run Windows games?
Some can, and it is what we are working on now: Vulkan games reach the screen, and each release runs more of them. The Game Bar and RedFrame are there for the ones that run.
Where do I report a bug?
On rigdesk.app/bug, or by writing to support@rigdesk.app. Say what happened and how to make it happen again.
When something goes wrong
A switch in Android’s settings is greyed out, or says access was denied
Android 13 and newer lock a few settings for apps that do not come from Google Play — Android calls them restricted settings. Open Settings → Apps → RigDesk, tap ⋮ in the corner, choose Allow restricted settings, then try the switch again. Android does not let any app do this step for you.
Stuck on an update screen that will not close
That is a bug in builds older than 0.78. Open rigdesk.app/download in your phone’s own browser and install that build over the top; nothing is lost.
A Windows program does not start
Open Windows and check that everything under Allow everything is ticked and drive C: is ready. If the program wants .NET, tap Add .NET support. If it still does not start, report it with the program’s name.
RigDesk closed on its own
The next time it starts, RigDesk shows where it crashed — which library and which thread. Put that in a bug report; it is usually enough to find the cause.