Despite some Google, Microsoft, or even smartphone manufacturers, there is still no perfect way to use the Android interface on a desktop computer. Could change soon, but it’s not that far yet. A freeware app, of all things, has been showing large companies for years how to do it right and how to conveniently integrate the smartphone into a desktop app: the scrcpy tool.
No installation necessary
We introduced you to the practical scrcpy app here in the blog a long time ago and it is always worth a tip: The app allows you to mirror the surface of the Android smartphone interactively on the desktop without any installation or setup. All entries made on the desktop via cursor, keyboard, or touch are forwarded to the smartphone and thus executed in real-time. All you have to do is connect the USB cable, activate USB debugging once on your smartphone and you’re good to go. Incidentally, the smartphone display does not have to remain switched on during the transmission.
Copy Files and Content
The app not only allows for viewing and usage but also provides some methods for file transfer between the two normally strictly separated platforms. For example, you can easily copy and paste files from your computer to your smartphone, and since an update last year you can even access the clipboard: simply copy on your computer and paste into the smartphone window or vice versa. While the Android clipboard used to be used for this, the content can now be copied directly.
This is a “seamless copy-paste” with UTF-8 text. Unfortunately, this is only possible with text so far, but not with media. An image copied to the clipboard cannot yet be transferred between the platforms. Unfortunately, I cannot say whether this will be possible in the future or whether there are technical hurdles.
Update for Android 12
Because Android 12 brought some security measures with it, scrcpy’s previous approach was no longer usable and caused the app to crash immediately after it was started. This was remedied fairly quickly with a workaround in which the smartphone uses a “non-secure display” that can intercept the content. This works without any major problems, but comes with a stumbling block: if apps block themselves against screenshots or video recordings (e.g. online banking), it is no longer visible on the desktop with scrcpy.
Another strength is that the video stream supplied by the smartphone can be integrated as a webcam under Linux. It can also be passed on to other apps that can access a webcam. Further updates bring the possibility of shutting down the smartphone after scrcpy has ended, locking the display orientation, or being able to remotely control the fourth and fifth buttons of the smartphone.
Just try it out, in my opinion, a very practical app that should not be missing in any tool collection. It’s fascinating (and maybe frightening in terms of malware) what a connected smartphone can do without any installation or setup. Even today, you can’t do it more conveniently, despite Google’s and Microsoft’s efforts.