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PC to Android App??

DrAlpha

Lurker
Sep 15, 2012
3
0
Hi, I am new to this forum but not new to the Android world. I am looking for an app that I am able to control my sister's Android phone from my computer. She lives in Ohio and I live in California and she is always asking me for help fixing her phone or how to do something so I would like to be able to remotely some way control her phone while she is using her phone through Wifi while I'm over here on my computer, or for that matter using my Galaxy Tab would be fine as well. Any ideas?

Thank you!!

Best,

Bobby
 
I've used free Teamviewer for 2 years now! Great solution for remotely taking over a PC or laptop to do some troubleshooting on it. And I can do it from any other PC or Mac, or from any iPhone, iPad, or Android phone or tablet.
But unfortunately Teamviewer canNOT take over an Android device from, say, a remote laptop or desktop machine, or from another Android device.
That's still on my wish list. And looking at market shares it ought to be no. 1 on Teamviewer's to-do list, imo.
 
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yes I have to agree, Teamviewer is a great program. I have used it myself many times and continue to use it. Now if there just was a program that would do the opposite, it would be great. For troubleshooting and for helping people long distance with a problem with there phone or tab it would work great. Well.... anyone else with any idea.... i am open for suggestions. Thanks.

Best,

Bobby
 
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You might be able to use a VNC server.
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=vnc+server&c=apps
It appears that there are only two, and they are the first two search results there. Both allowed me to connect to my phone and my mouse was able to control the phone, but my Venture's display is apparently incompatible with them so it was all garbled on my computer screen.

(Hey! Neat! Thanks to posting this, I just realized that the VNC server isn't completely useless to me...I can use it to type input into my phone with my computer keyboard. Sure, there's WiFi Keyboard made for that, but I just tried it and VNC actually works better. Anyway, now back to regularly scheduled programming...)

You may need some general networking proficiency to make this work outside of your sister's WiFi. You could use port forwarding on her router to allow a direct connection (but please be aware of potential security implications). Another, less pleasant but simpler option, might be to use something like ShowMyPC/Teamviewer/GoToMyPC/LogMeIn/etc to view her computer and run the VNC client on her computer, which of course has direct access to her private LAN. It wouldn't require as much networking expertise but you'll be using a VNC session to view a VNC client which could be a little laggy.
 
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Sorry, didn't mean to come across weird.

In post #4 I posted a link to a search that returns two VNC servers. At least one of them doesn't require root.
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=vnc+server&c=apps
I don't remember which one. You'll have to read the descriptions for both.

In post #5 I posted a link to a single app that's in the Play store. (The rest of the links are NOT to the play store.) That one doesn't require root.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vmlite.vncserver
 
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Sorry, didn't mean to come across weird.

In post #4 I posted a link to a search that returns two VNC servers. At least one of them doesn't require root.
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=vnc+server&c=apps
I don't remember which one. You'll have to read the descriptions for both.

Not correct: I see 2 VNC server apps there, 'Droid VNC server' and 'VNC server'. Both require root...

In post #5 I posted a link to a single app that's in the Play store. (The rest of the links are NOT to the play store.) That one doesn't require root.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vmlite.vncserver

Correct (according to the description at least), but it does cost € 6,25...!
 
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VNC based apps require a rooted device...

Teamviewer is the way to go :
TeamViewer is one of the most famous remote desktop and collaboration applications. It is available for all major platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS. This provides users with the capability to collaborate and share their desktop, regardless of their operating system. With TeamViewer you can remotely access computers and assist friends or family members with system issues via desktop sharing.
Source: Best remote access apps for Android
 
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I imagine it's the root issue...maybe developers figure if you can root it then port forwarding is likely to be within your skill set too.

One issue with using remote control software as a teaching tool is that there's no mouse pointer like there is on a Windows/Mac/Linux computer, so your sister often wouldn't know where you were pointing or what you tapped...it might make sense to use your favorite video chat program on your computers with webcams.
 
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