AirDroid was one of our original favorite apps on Android, as it allowed you to do a myriad of things that stock Android wouldn’t allow you to do out-of-the-box. In fact, even before Apple introduced the Continuity solution for their devices in iOS 8, AirDroid has already allowed Android to do stuff like push notifications from your Android device to your PC, send text messages from your PC, and even transfer files wirelessly from your smartphone to your PC. But hold up, AirDroid developers Sand Studio has something new for you, and it is called AirMirror.
Remote desktop tools have been around for quite a bit now, because the customer service industry demands an easy way for both support technicians and annoyed children to help clueless parents and grandparents on their computers. But up until now, there has not been a good solution for doing remote control from one Android device to another. That is where AirMirror comes in.
Device mirroring and remote control
Device mirroring in Android is not new at all – casting your apps and media to a big screen TV is the manifestation of that idea. Now controlling an Android device remotely from another Android device is a totally different thing, and AirMirror has been developed to step into that gap.
With AirMirror, one user can control another Android device, provided that this target device is running AirDroid. The setup is not complicated as it is a bit technical, so there will be a bit of effort involved in teaching your grandparents to enable settings on their devices before you can do remote control.
The process involves connecting your Android device to a computer and following a few quick steps detailed in the AirMirror app. This is because you have to enable remote access if your phone does not have root access, and most phones don’t these days. You’ll also have to enable developer options on your Android phone first, and done right, that could take all of 10 seconds. You also need to have the AirDroid app installed on the app that you want to control, which is a bit tedious.
Sand Studio has step-by-step instructions for unrooted devices, and while tech savvy users can easily do it, it will be a whole other story for elder people and non-techie persons that you would want to help. That kind of defeats the purpose for the app, so we hope they can find a solution for this soon. But once ready and connected, here are some things you can do on AirMirror:
- Device to device control (full control of Android from an Android device)
- Easily switch between controlled devices from one single screen on the go
- Complete Android interface including back, menu and home buttons
- Lock/unlock, volume control and gesture assistant like Swipe Up and Swipe Down buttons
- AirIME (remote keyboard support) to better sync actions
- Options to adjust quality and operational fluency based on internet environment
DOWNLOAD: Google Play Store
