Beyond the Alphabet
Beyond the Alphabet is a weekly column that focuses on the tech world both inside and out of the confines of Mountain View.
One of the main reasons why I put up with Windows on a regular basis is some of the ways it integrates with Android. One such feature is Link to Windows, also known as Phone Link, which allows you to use your phone without actually needing to pick it up.
Even when it was introduced back in 2018, Phone Link wasn’t the app to offer this kind of integration. However, it was the first time that we saw this kind of experience built into Windows or macOS. The app has continued to evolve, including the ability to actually mirror your phone’s screen right on your Windows machine.
Unfortunately, some Phone Link features, such as screen mirroring, have been limited to only working with certain devices. Until last year, only Samsung phones were available with Link to Windows built-in, but that’s no longer the case as it’s now being baked into more and more phones.
Another app was released in 2018 by the name of Scrcpy (screen copy), which has continued to see regular updates since its initial release. The key benefit of using this over Phone Link is that you can use Scrcpy with any Android device. Just download the app on your Windows computer, enable USB debugging from your phone, fire up Scrcpy, and voila!
Over the years, quite a few forks of Scrcpy have been released, such as Ws-scrcpy, which is a “web client prototype,” or QtScrcpy, which provides more settings to customize. However, I was recently preusing Droid-ify and saw an app called ScrcpyForAndroid. Initially, I just figured it was a way to enhance the regular Scrcpy app, but boy, was I wrong.
Instead of offering more functionality between your Android device and Windows, ScrcpyForAndroid lets you achieve the same thing using two Android devices. Naturally, I immediately downloaded it, made sure I reset the adb port command, and connected the RedMagic 10 Pro to the Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra.
At first, it wasn’t really quite as smooth as I would’ve hoped, with graphical glitches and delays making it practically unusable. However, I went over to the GitHub landing page, and there is a list of instructions. It turns out that I didn’t set the resolution and bitrate to the correct figures. So after fixing those, I reconnected the two devices, and it’s been working great ever since.
Apparently, ScrcpyForAndroid was first released in October 2024, and I’m surprised I had yet to come across it. Even still, this actually isn’t the first time that I’ve used something similar.
The OnePlus Pad 2 introduced a similar feature built into the device, making it possible to use your phone from the tablet. However, this is only possible if you also have a OnePlus phone. Yet again, we have an awesome feature that’s locked down by the manufacturer.
There are no such limitations here, as ScrcpyForAndroid doesn’t care about what devices you’re using. All that matters is that you have Wireless USB Debugging enabled on the phone before getting started.
That’s not to say there aren’t limitations, even when compared to the standard Scrcpy client app for Windows. For instance, you can drag and drop files between the two devices, but nothing happens. There wasn’t an error message or anything; it just didn’t work. Honestly, it’s not a deal-breaker for me, as I’m just happy that this is even possible without needing to worry about having two devices from the same company.
Oh, and just for chuckles, I tried side-loading the APK on a Chromebook. After again making sure the settings were right, I connected it to the phone and the RedMagic 10 Pro appeared like magic!
Then I got the wild idea to try and see if I could get the Galaxy Chromebook Plus to show up on the Tab S10 Ultra’s display. It’s technically possible, provided that Developer Options are enabled, as you need to turn on Wireless Debugging. However, it doesn’t quite work the same way as controlling a phone from a tablet or even a tablet from a Chromebook.
Instead of being able to see your entire screen, ScrcpyForAndroid only displays Android apps when used on a Chromebook. So, after you connect the Chromebook to your Android tablet, you’ll only see the Settings app. A way around this is to open whatever Android app you want to use first and then start up the ScrcpyForAndroid connection. In reality, this probably isn’t something that anyone would do, but hey, I at least wanted to give it a shot.
It’s clear that people want to be able to access and use their phones while also using a computer. As I mentioned before, Phone Link and Link to Windows have been around for years, while Scrcpy has been around for even longer. Google released App Streaming via Phone Hub with ChromeOS 115, and with iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia, Apple introduced iPhone Mirroring.
However, the overarching theme with all of these options is that you’re limited in what devices are compatible or the features that are available. With Scrcpy, there are no such limitations, and it’s just another reason why Android devices continue to prove to be more versatile than almost anything else.