I'm not sure I'd class this as an emulator, more like an easy remote-desktop program.
Anyway, about a year ago, I had a reasonably new tablet computer with a cracked screen that would have been *amazing* to use with this software. I wish I'd known about it ...
summary wrote:This application provides display and control of Android devices connected on USB (or over TCP/IP). It does not require any root access. It works on GNU/Linux, Windows and macOS.
Uses
As mentioned above, this could breathe new life to an android device that's either old or damaged (or both), though it would require an at least somewhat usable screen to enable the Developer Mode. I can see a lot of ways it could help including:
Apps
- Get access to Android-only apps in a native environment (run it right off your phone)
- Use of any of dozens of popular Electron applications without sacrificing a gig of RAM on your computer
- Avoiding security issues with installing some software programs on your computer (e.g. use a BitTorrent client at work)
- Play games on your computer (puzzles, chess, etc. should all work fine, not sure about very visual games)
Convenience
- Keeping your phone visible without taking up space on your desk
- Setup the camera on a tripod or for use in product photography without having to touch the screen (and maybe mess up the position) everytime you want to make a change
Testing notes
I didn't connect my Android device to the Internet *at any point* in the test below, so you can use this with phones that may not have all the latest security patches (so long as it's newer than API 21 (Android 5.0 / Lollipop).
Clipboard text is supported between both devices so you can copy and paste into and from your scrcpy window.
I had a fairly new Galaxy Tab and it required both enabling Developer Mode and USB Debugging (as discussed on the webpage). Beyond that, usage was very intuitive. Even though I get into some detailed functions below, that shouldn't scare anyone who avoids command-line interfaces from giving this a try.
My launch arguments
Code: Select all
scrcpy.exe --turn-screen-off --window-width 600 --window-height 960 --bit-rate 2M --rotation 0 --stay-awake
The settings above turn the screen off, sets the to my Galaxy Tab A (found with a breif web search), reduces the refresh rate just because my needs are minimal (it looks fine), turns off rotation, and the device doesn't go to sleep.
The test screen is actually 800 x 1280 but my screen isn't that tall and it looks fine at 75% size.
Untested
- Full screen video or intensive graphical apps (e.g. racing games)
- Multi-touch operations (not sure it's possible)
- Copy/paste images (like I did with text)
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Would love to see a graphical front-end for the program to launch with common options. Would see a wider usage base and an amazingly useful and benefitial program to breathe new life into old or damaged phones and tablets.