Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
There are times when you just can not get back to your PC or Mac. For those times your Android smartphone can be an enormous help. Here is some great information on the subject of taking an Android handset and making a remote connection with another computer. The tools will be listed here, but basically they involve two things; the internet and software. One of the first things to do is to decide if you will be using an Android smartphone or tablet to access your computer remotely.
If you are going to be using a tablet, it will of course be easier to guide the cursor on the remote computer being controlled. The smaller smartphone screen will be more difficult but you will learn some tricks as you practice.Once you have decided what will become your primary Android device to access the remote computer, the next thing to do is select the right software for it.
One such software is free and is named Teamviewer. This is software that will do the job of joining the Android device to the remote computer. You will be surprised at the features of this software, even though it is free. The first thing to do is get the software on your Android device. That is possible by going to the Google Android marketplace and downloading the program or to the Teamviewer site. The other half of the software will need to be downloaded from the Teamviewer site on the computer that will be remotely controlled. The program will then launch automatically once the download is complete.
Once the downloading is accomplished for both devices, the remote computer will show a window from the Teamviewer program. This window has the identification and password for the user. Write down these two pieces of information because it will need to be entered into the Android device. Here is a small tip to help whoever is on the other end of the computer that is being remotely controlled. Locate the Teamviewer program on the desktop of this computer. If this is not possible put a shortcut to the program on the desktop for easy access.
Now that everything is in place a connection can be established between the Android device and the distant computer. Open the Teamviewer program on the Android device and have the first page open. This is the time to enter the identification and password that was seen on the remote computer when the Teamviewer program was first downloaded. Enter this data into the Android device and immediately a new page will pop up.
This is an important page that will explain how to use the program. Finger gestures are of course going to be input on the screen while the other computer will be responding. Some of the same inputs will work on the remote computer as on the Android device. One such input is zooming with a pinch gesture. Other gestures will be specific to the Teamviewer program. Dragging a window on the remote computer will need to be done by double tapping then holding down the finger on the Android screen.
After leaving the instructions page the other desktop of the distant computer will be visible. From here the user can do most anything as if they were sitting in front of the remote computer. Opening files and seeing them on the remote screen is easy. Opening a web page is no problem. To enter a web site address into the remote web browser press the small icon that looks like a keyboard at the bottom of the Android screen. A virtual keyboard pops up on the Android screen and any web site can be entered into the remote browser.
There are other icons to accompany the keyboard symbol in this remote control program. Pressing on the icon that looks like a small gear will bring up the settings menu. From here it is possible to adjust screen resolution on the remote computer. If the remote computer has dual monitors it will be possile to switch between both monitors. It is possible to remove the desktop wallpaper of the distant computer. This will speed up the connection between the Android device and the remote computer. The icon that resembles a magnifying glass will zoom in on the screen of the remote computer without having to use the normal Android “pinch to zoom” gesture.
If the user wants to watch a video from the remote computer on the Android device this will be possible. The negative aspect of this is that the audio will not arrive from a video such as Youtube. Another thing that is not possible is the transferring of files from the distant computer to the Android device. The user can open an email and send an attachment to the Android device but no direct file transfers can take place.
Other programs will also work to connect an Android smartphone or tablet to a remote computer. One is called “RDP Lite” and supports full keyboard and mouse functions. Another program called “Android VNC” is similar to the others above, but is an open source solution. These can all be used for various occasions. If your friend has a computer that is malfunctioning this program will help to diagnose the problem. It can be used as a way to surf the web with a desktop browser on a mobile device. Being able to use a computer that you can not be in front of is a benefit of using these software products.