What do you use to mirror & fully control your Android phone on Windows
using the keyboard & mouse? <https://i.postimg.cc/N0G1TXcZ/scrcpy01.jpg>

Background:

Recently I needed to take a screenshot of an app that had protection against
screenshots so I figured out a way to take Android screenshots on Windows.

As a bonus, that Windows mirroring of Android happens to be fully functional
such that the Windows PC & mouse fully control the entire Android interface.

Question:

If you already perform Android mirroring on a Windows PC, what do you use?

Andy Burnelli <spam@nospam.com> wrote:

>What do you use to mirror & fully control your Android phone on Windows
>using the keyboard & mouse? <https://i.postimg.cc/N0G1TXcZ/scrcpy01.jpg>
>
>Background:
>
>Recently I needed to take a screenshot of an app that had protection against
>screenshots so I figured out a way to take Android screenshots on Windows.
>
>As a bonus, that Windows mirroring of Android happens to be fully functional
>such that the Windows PC & mouse fully control the entire Android interface.
>
>Question:
>
>If you already perform Android mirroring on a Windows PC, what do you use?

Intriguing, but I really don't have a use for operating my phone from
my computer. My phone has its uses when I'm at home, but they are all
separate from the computer.

--
Joel Crump

Joel wrote:

> Intriguing, but I really don't have a use for operating my phone from
> my computer. My phone has its uses when I'm at home, but they are all
> separate from the computer.

While I wrote a tutorial each for every free Windows Android emulator, today
I wrote a tutorial for mirroring Android on Windows - where what I would
like to learn from others is _how_ they accomplish the same mirroring tasks?
C:\> adb devices
C:\> scrcpy

This has some _huge_ advantages that are a bonus that I'm just learning now!
That's why I'm asking others here what you use to mirror Android on the PC.

I only tried scrcpy because I needed to screenshot what was locked to
screenshotting by Android app policy, so obviously that's at least one use.

Everything that needs to be typed is clearly more efficient when you have
your PC mouse and keyboard, but what's also a bonus is you can easily save a
video of what's going on the Android phone while you're using it.
C:\> scrcpy --record foo.mp4

Yet another _fantastic_ advantage is your 6.5 inch phone display becomes a
huge 20 inches tall by 9 inches wide (my real calculations!) on your screen.

This is instantly a boon to tired old eyes, which is most of Usenet by now.

I'm not sure of other uses, but I've had my phone tethered to my PC for a
couple of hours now where I'm constantly quite easily responding to text
messages by typing on the keyboard, which is clearly another huge advantage
of the method (for people who are tethered to a computer, anyway).

You can be on _both_ the Windows PC and the Android phone at the same time!
C:\> adb pull /system/etc/hosts .\hosts.txt

And, if I use a WebDAV server on Android (versus FTP or HTTP or SMB
servers), I can read and write _directly_ to/from Android over USB.
(As WebDAV mounts the entire Android phone as a drive letter on Windows.)

You can even pull up individual (public) pages of _any_ Android app:
C:\> adb shell am start -n com.google.android.gms/.ads.settings.AdsSettingsActivity
(That will reset your Android Advertising-ID from Windows for example.)

Given all this comes simply by unpacking a zip file containing two FOSS
executables (adb & scrcopy), I was wondering how _other_ people do the same
thing (and I want to include that information in my nascent tutorial also).
--
Usenet is a world-wide team sport where purposefully helpful kind-hearted
adults help each other and learn by pooling our individual capabilities.

Andy Burnelli <spam@nospam.com> wrote:

>> Intriguing, but I really don't have a use for operating my phone from
>> my computer. My phone has its uses when I'm at home, but they are all
>> separate from the computer.
>
>While I wrote a tutorial each for every free Windows Android emulator, today
>I wrote a tutorial for mirroring Android on Windows - where what I would
>like to learn from others is _how_ they accomplish the same mirroring tasks?
> C:\> adb devices
> C:\> scrcpy
>
>This has some _huge_ advantages that are a bonus that I'm just learning now!
>That's why I'm asking others here what you use to mirror Android on the PC.
>
>I only tried scrcpy because I needed to screenshot what was locked to
>screenshotting by Android app policy, so obviously that's at least one use.
>
>Everything that needs to be typed is clearly more efficient when you have
>your PC mouse and keyboard, but what's also a bonus is you can easily save a
>video of what's going on the Android phone while you're using it.
> C:\> scrcpy --record foo.mp4
>
>Yet another _fantastic_ advantage is your 6.5 inch phone display becomes a
>huge 20 inches tall by 9 inches wide (my real calculations!) on your screen.
>
>This is instantly a boon to tired old eyes, which is most of Usenet by now.
>
>I'm not sure of other uses, but I've had my phone tethered to my PC for a
>couple of hours now where I'm constantly quite easily responding to text
>messages by typing on the keyboard, which is clearly another huge advantage
>of the method (for people who are tethered to a computer, anyway).
>
>You can be on _both_ the Windows PC and the Android phone at the same time!
>C:\> adb pull /system/etc/hosts .\hosts.txt
>
>And, if I use a WebDAV server on Android (versus FTP or HTTP or SMB
>servers), I can read and write _directly_ to/from Android over USB.
>(As WebDAV mounts the entire Android phone as a drive letter on Windows.)
>
>You can even pull up individual (public) pages of _any_ Android app:
>C:\> adb shell am start -n com.google.android.gms/.ads.settings.AdsSettingsActivity
> (That will reset your Android Advertising-ID from Windows for example.)
>
>Given all this comes simply by unpacking a zip file containing two FOSS
>executables (adb & scrcopy), I was wondering how _other_ people do the same
>thing (and I want to include that information in my nascent tutorial also).

It is neat. But my phone is secondary to my computer. It becomes
primary when I'm not at home, or if I'm outside, but if I'm on the
computer, the phone is mostly for calls and texts, which would have
little advantage being routed through the computer.

--
Joel Crump

If that's what you want to do...

Why not use a smartphone as a touchpad with its display on the monitor?

When a monitor is available, why not display the smartphone screen on a
monitor while using the whole smartphone screen as a touchpad?

I don't quite get why that hasn't been implemented...

Andy Burnelli <spam@nospam.com> wrote:

> What do you use to mirror & fully control your Android phone on Windows
> using the keyboard & mouse? <https://i.postimg.cc/N0G1TXcZ/scrcpy01.jpg>
>
> Background:
>
> Recently I needed to take a screenshot of an app that had protection
against
> screenshots so I figured out a way to take Android screenshots on Windows.
>
> As a bonus, that Windows mirroring of Android happens to be fully
functional
> such that the Windows PC & mouse fully control the entire Android
interface.
>
> Question:
>
> If you already perform Android mirroring on a Windows PC, what do you use?
>

On Sat, 16 Apr 2022 20:23:01 -0400, Joel <joelcrump@gmail.com> wrote:

>
>It is neat. But my phone is secondary to my computer. It becomes
>primary when I'm not at home, or if I'm outside, but if I'm on the
>computer, the phone is mostly for calls and texts, which would have
>little advantage being routed through the computer.

With MS Phone Link (ex Your Phone) configured and sitting at my PC I
find it convenient to be able to read text/Whatsapp messages on the PC
and to reply to them using the PC's keyboard. It is also handy for
copying photos off the phone to use in eBay listings. (The phone
normally sits on its charger and not on the desk.)

Peter Johnson wrote:

> With MS Phone Link (ex Your Phone) configured and sitting at my PC I
> find it convenient to be able to read text/Whatsapp messages on the PC
> and to reply to them using the PC's keyboard. It is also handy for
> copying photos off the phone to use in eBay listings. (The phone
> normally sits on its charger and not on the desk.)

Thank you for answering the question in the spirit in which it was asked!

I'm trying to learn what equivalent alternatives are for Android mirroring.
1. *scrcpy 1.23* <https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy>
2. *MS Phone Link/Link to Windows*
3. ?

Looking up "MS Phone Link", it seems to be introduced in this reference:
<https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/introducing-microsoft-phone-link-and-link-to-windows-2e4bb4c0-f99a-4464-92a8-5264c7c39734>
"Our latest evolution brings a new name to unify the experience for
all our users. With that, we're introducing Microsoft Phone Link
as the PC app experience, and Link to Windows as our mobile app
for Android devices."

The Windows "Phone Link" app is located here:
<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/phone-link/9nmpj99vjbwv#activetab=pivot:overviewtab>

The Link To Windows Android app is located here:
*Link to Windows* by Microsoft Corporation
free, ad free, req GSF, rated 3.9, 500M+ installs
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.appmanager>

In a nice-to-see twist, Microsoft _is_ reading the reviews!
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.appmanager&showAllReviews=true>
(even though most of the MS responses are boilerplate)

This is a summary of what Microsoft says that app combination does:
a. Get instant access to everything you love on your phone from your PC.
b. Link your Android phone and PC to view and reply to text messages
c. Make and receive calls over Bluetooth
d. View your notifications
e. Share your favorite images between your phone and PC
f. Copy, edit, and even drag and drop photos without touching your phone
g. Wirelessly dragging and dropping your files from your phone to your PC
h. Wirelessly dragging and dropping your files from your PC to your phone

The good news is this Microsoft phone link app combination does _more_
than just the screen mirroring that the Microsoft command does.

The bad news is I couldn't get it to install, but that's probably only
because my systems are hardened for privacy which others won't have done.
<https://i.postimg.cc/zX9TnVkp/aurora13.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/P5YYKT3H/aurora14.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/L5gnX3GS/linktopc07.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/63jvT33r/linktopc01.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/HnF84hbj/linktopc02.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/J7FXLGSm/linktopc03.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/RZ7JKGhV/linktopc04.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/MGzMDRf0/linktopc05.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/sXNMsN6K/linktopc06.jpg>

Thank you for adding another way to run your phone on your Win10/11 PC!

Peter Johnson wrote:

> The phone normally sits on its charger and not on the desk.

I forgot to mention that adb & scrcpy work over TCP/IP in addition to USB.
As long as your phone is on your LAN, the screen mirroring will still work.

C:\> adb connect 192.168.0.2:5555
C:\> scrcpy

Where the "192.168.0.2" is the IP address of your phone on your LAN.
<https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy/blob/master/README.md#tcpip-wireless>

The only problem I have with Android mirroring over to Windows 10/11 while
on Wi-Fi is that the screen keeps falling asleep on the phone - whereas with
USB, there's an Android "Developer options" setting to keep the phone awake
while it's on the charger (which for you won't be a problem given that's
your exact situation).

Andy Burnelli wrote:

> The only problem I have with Android mirroring over to Windows 10/11 while
> on Wi-Fi is that the screen keeps falling asleep on the phone - whereas with
> USB, there's an Android "Developer options" setting to keep the phone awake
> while it's on the charger (which for you won't be a problem given that's
> your exact situation).

UPDATE:
I was left clicking all the time (since that's what taps buttons).
A simple "rightclick" from Windows awakes the sleeping Android phone.

So now it's just about perfect considering
a. It works with USB or over Wi-Fi (if you're on the LAN)
b. The Windows mouse & keyboard work perfectly (a mouse swipe is odd)
c. Even control+C control+V works but only if done only on the one device

About the only thing that doesn't work is a control+C of something on
Windows and than a control+V paste back into Android (or vice versa).

On Sun, 17 Apr 2022 23:32:32 +0100, Andy Burnelli <spam@nospam.com>
wrote:

>Peter Johnson wrote:
>
>> With MS Phone Link (ex Your Phone) configured and sitting at my PC I
>> find it convenient to be able to read text/Whatsapp messages on the PC
>> and to reply to them using the PC's keyboard. It is also handy for
>> copying photos off the phone to use in eBay listings. (The phone
>> normally sits on its charger and not on the desk.)
>
>Thank you for answering the question in the spirit in which it was asked!
>
Maybe I should have said that MS YourPhone/PhoneLink was developed by
MS engineers working with Samsung. I have dragged photos from the PC
onto the phone's screen - they are downloaded, not surprisingly, into
the download folder.

Peter Johnson wrote:

>>Thank you for answering the question in the spirit in which it was asked!
>>
> Maybe I should have said that MS YourPhone/PhoneLink was developed by
> MS engineers working with Samsung. I have dragged photos from the PC
> onto the phone's screen - they are downloaded, not surprisingly, into
> the download folder.

Thank you for that clarification of the MS/Samsung YourPhone/PhoneLink duo.
I was completely unaware of its existence since I use other tools to share.
a. NitroShare <https://nitroshare.net/>
b. KDE Desktop <https://sourceforge.net/projects/kde-windows/>
c. WebDav, FTP, HTTP, SMB, etc., server protocols

As you noted, the articles I cited did reference "some" Samsungs
come with the Microsoft tools you speak of already preloaded.
a. Microsoft "Link to Windows" <com.microsoft.appmanager>
b. Samsung "Link to Windows" <com.samsung.android.mdx>
In fact, I belatedly noticed that my own Samsung _already_ had the service
you speak of preloaded, when I checked my apps using the GitHub App Manager.
<https://i.postimg.cc/L5gnX3GS/linktopc07.jpg>

What I like about the MS/Samsung "Link to Windows" duo is that you can make
calls on the PC using bluetooth & I like the drag-and-drop between devices.

If I want to save _directly_ between the devices, I need to mount the
Android phone as a Windows drive letter first (easily done with WebDAV).

I wanted to test your suggested solution but it won't install on Windows
(probably because I don't have a Microsoft Store which I've never needed).
<https://i.postimg.cc/MGzMDRf0/linktopc05.jpg>
<https://i.postimg.cc/sXNMsN6K/linktopc06.jpg>

Do you know if there is any other way to get the Windows side of this duo?
The one thing I wanted to test was whether the clipboard can be shared.
--
Usenet is a world-wide team sport where purposefully helpful kind-hearted
adults help each other and learn by pooling our individual capabilities.

UPDATE

If anyone has a Windows PC with a touchscreen, can you test out the swipe?

With just a mouse, a swipe up and down is a bit cumbersome.
But I haven't been able to figure out how to do a two-finger pinch.

Two questions I'd love to get advice from people who know more than I do:
a. Does "pinch" & "swipe" work when Android is mirrored on a PC touchscreen?
b. If not, how can a mouse replicate the "pinch" action on Android mirrors?
--
On Usenet you can find people who know more than you do about Windows.

John Doe wrote:

> I don't quite get why that hasn't been implemented...

I'm only using two or three mirroring commands so far in my tests.

To mirror Android on Windows over USB:
C:\> adb devices
C:\> scrcpy

To mirror Android on Windows over Wi-Fi:
C:\> adb connect 192.168.0.2:5555
C:\> scrcpy
Where the "192.168.0.2" is the IP address of your phone on your LAN.

But maybe one of these options can do what you are asking things to do?

scrcpy 1.23 <https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy>
Usage: scrcpy [options]

Options:

--always-on-top
Make scrcpy window always on top (above other windows).

-b, --bit-rate=value
Encode the video at the gitven bit-rate, expressed in bits/s. Unit
suffixes are supported: 'K' (x1000) and 'M' (x1000000).
Default is 8000000.

--codec-options=key[:type]=value[,...]
Set a list of comma-separated key:type=value options for the device
encoder.
The possible values for 'type' are 'int' (default), 'long', 'float' and
'string'.
The list of possible codec options is available in the Android
documentation:
<https://d.android.com/reference/android/media/MediaFormat>

--crop=width:height:x:y
Crop the device screen on the server.
The values are expressed in the device natural orientation (typically,
portrait for a phone, landscape for a tablet). Any --max-size value is
computed on the cropped size.

-d, --select-usb
Use USB device (if there is exactly one, like adb -d).
Also see -e (--select-tcpip).

--disable-screensaver
Disable screensaver while scrcpy is running.

--display=id
Specify the display id to mirror.
The list of possible display ids can be listed by:
adb shell dumpsys display
(search "mDisplayId=" in the output)
Default is 0.

--display-buffer=ms
Add a buffering delay (in milliseconds) before displaying. This
increases latency to compensate for jitter.
Default is 0 (no buffering).

-e, --select-tcpip
Use TCP/IP device (if there is exactly one, like adb -e).
Also see -d (--select-usb).

--encoder=name
Use a specific MediaCodec encoder (must be a H.264 encoder).

--force-adb-forward
Do not attempt to use "adb reverse" to connect to the device.

--forward-all-clicks
By default, right-click triggers BACK (or POWER on) and middle-click
triggers HOME. This option disables these shortcuts and forwards the
clicks to the device instead.

-f, --fullscreen
Start in fullscreen.

-K, --hid-keyboard
Simulate a physical keyboard by using HID over AOAv2.
It provides a better experience for IME users, and allows to generate
non-ASCII characters, contrary to the default injection method.
It may only work over USB.
The keyboard layout must be configured (once and for all) on the device,
via Settings -> System -> Languages and input -> Physical keyboard. This
settings page can be started directly: `adb shell am start -a
android.settings.HARD_KEYBOARD_SETTINGS`.
However, the option is only available when the HID keyboard is enabled
(or a physical keyboard is connected).
Also see --hid-mouse.

-h, --help
Print this help.

--legacy-paste
Inject computer clipboard text as a sequence of key events on Ctrl+v
(like MOD+Shift+v).
This is a workaround for some devices not behaving as expected when
setting the device clipboard programmatically.

--lock-video-orientation[=value]
Lock video orientation to value.
Possible values are "unlocked", "initial" (locked to the initial
orientation), 0, 1, 2 and 3. Natural device orientation is 0, and each
increment adds a 90 degrees rotation counterclockwise.
Default is "unlocked".
Passing the option without argument is equivalent to passing "initial".

--max-fps=value
Limit the frame rate of screen capture (officially supported since
Android 10, but may work on earlier versions).

-M, --hid-mouse
Simulate a physical mouse by using HID over AOAv2.
In this mode, the computer mouse is captured to control the device
directly (relative mouse mode).
LAlt, LSuper or RSuper toggle the capture mode, to give control of the
mouse back to the computer.
It may only work over USB.
Also see --hid-keyboard.

-m, --max-size=value
Limit both the width and height of the video to value. The other
dimension is computed so that the device aspect-ratio is preserved.
Default is 0 (unlimited).

--no-cleanup
By default, scrcpy removes the server binary from the device and
restores the device state (show touches, stay awake and power mode) on
exit.
This option disables this cleanup.

--no-clipboard-autosync
By default, scrcpy automatically synchronizes the computer clipboard to
the device clipboard before injecting Ctrl+v, and the device clipboard
to the computer clipboard whenever it changes.
This option disables this automatic synchronization.

--no-downsize-on-error
By default, on MediaCodec error, scrcpy automatically tries again with a
lower definition.
This option disables this behavior.

-n, --no-control
Disable device control (mirror the device in read-only).

-N, --no-display
Do not display device (only when screen recording or V4L2 sink is
enabled).

--no-key-repeat
Do not forward repeated key events when a key is held down.

--no-mipmaps
If the renderer is OpenGL 3.0+ or OpenGL ES 2.0+, then mipmaps are
automatically generated to improve downscaling quality. This option
disables the generation of mipmaps.

--otg
Run in OTG mode: simulate physical keyboard and mouse, as if the
computer keyboard and mouse were plugged directly to the device via an
OTG cable.
In this mode, adb (USB debugging) is not necessary, and mirroring is
disabled.
LAlt, LSuper or RSuper toggle the mouse capture mode, to give control of
the mouse back to the computer.
If any of --hid-keyboard or --hid-mouse is set, only enable keyboard or
mouse respectively, otherwise enable both.
It may only work over USB.
See --hid-keyboard and --hid-mouse.

-p, --port=port[:port]
Set the TCP port (range) used by the client to listen.
Default is 27183:27199.

--power-off-on-close
Turn the device screen off when closing scrcpy.

--prefer-text
Inject alpha characters and space as text events instead of key events.
This avoids issues when combining multiple keys to enter a special
character, but breaks the expected behavior of alpha keys in games
(typically WASD).

--print-fps
Start FPS counter, to print framerate logs to the console. It can be
started or stopped at any time with MOD+i.

--push-target=path
Set the target directory for pushing files to the device by drag & drop.
It is passed as is to "adb push".
Default is "/sdcard/Download/".

--raw-key-events
Inject key events for all input keys, and ignore text events.

-r, --record=file.mp4
Record screen to file.
The format is determined by the --record-format option if set, or by the
file extension (.mp4 or .mkv).

--record-format=format
Force recording format (either mp4 or mkv).

--render-driver=name
Request SDL to use the given render driver (this is just a hint).
Supported names are currently "direct3d", "opengl", "opengles2",
"opengles", "metal" and "software".
<https://wiki.libsdl.org/SDL_HINT_RENDER_DRIVER>

--rotation=value
Set the initial display rotation.
Possible values are 0, 1, 2 and 3. Each increment adds a 90 degrees
rotation counterclockwise.

-s, --serial=serial
The device serial number. Mandatory only if several devices are
connected to adb.

--shortcut-mod=key[+...][,...]
Specify the modifiers to use for scrcpy shortcuts.
Possible keys are "lctrl", "rctrl", "lalt", "ralt", "lsuper" and
"rsuper".
A shortcut can consist in several keys, separated by '+'. Several
shortcuts can be specified, separated by ','.
For example, to use either LCtrl+LAlt or LSuper for scrcpy shortcuts,
pass "lctrl+lalt,lsuper".
Default is "lalt,lsuper" (left-Alt or left-Super).

On 4/16/22 19:33, this is what Andy Burnelli wrote:
> What do you use to mirror & fully control your Android phone on Windows
> using the keyboard & mouse? <https://i.postimg.cc/N0G1TXcZ/scrcpy01.jpg>
>
> Background:
>
> Recently I needed to take a screenshot of an app that had protection against
> screenshots so I figured out a way to take Android screenshots on Windows.
>
> As a bonus, that Windows mirroring of Android happens to be fully functional
> such that the Windows PC & mouse fully control the entire Android interface.
>
> Question:
>
> If you already perform Android mirroring on a Windows PC, what do you use?
I realize this has been talked over and over here, and this isn't exactly your answer but...

I use PushBullet. An add-on to your browser (any) and an app in Google Play. Once you sign in to both, I get
notifications of phone calls, security alerts, and I can fully interact with text messaging. The latter is the most
useful to me.

Granted the down side is, you have to have a browser open to do this, but if you hear you text message sound (if you
have one setup), it's simple to open a browser and then read and reply. You don't need the browser open at the time a
text comes in, just need it to interact.

Al

Andy Burnelli wrote:

> About the only thing that doesn't work is a control+C of something on
> Windows and than a control+V paste back into Android (or vice versa).

UPDATE

Supposedly the control+C and control+V are supposed to work between the
Android phone and the Windows computer, at least according to the README.
<https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy#readme>

Specifically the claim of "copy/paste in both directions" in the README:
<https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy#copy-paste>
Copy-paste
Any time the Android clipboard changes, it is automatically synchronized
to the computer clipboard.

Any Ctrl shortcut is forwarded to the device.
In particular:
Ctrl+c typically copies
Ctrl+x typically cuts
Ctrl+v typically pastes (after computer-to-device clipboard synchronization)
This typically works as you expect.

The actual behavior depends on the active application though.
For example, Termux sends SIGINT on Ctrl+c instead,
and K-9 Mail composes a new message.

To copy, cut and paste in such cases (but only supported on Android >= 7):
MOD+c injects COPY
MOD+x injects CUT
MOD+v injects PASTE (after computer-to-device clipboard synchronization)

In addition, MOD+Shift+v allows to inject the computer clipboard text
as a sequence of key events. This is useful when the component does
not accept text pasting (for example in Termux), but it can break
non-ASCII content.

WARNING: Pasting the computer clipboard to the device
(either via Ctrl+v or MOD+v) copies the content into the device clipboard.
As a consequence, any Android application could read its content.
You should avoid pasting sensitive content (like passwords) that way.

Some devices do not behave as expected when setting the device clipboard
programmatically. An option --legacy-paste is provided to change the
behavior of Ctrl+v and MOD+v so that they also inject the computer clipboard
text as a sequence of key events (the same way as MOD+Shift+v).

To disable automatic clipboard synchronization, use --no-clipboard-autosync.

Andy Burnelli wrote:

> Two questions I'd love to get advice from people who know more than I do:
> a. Does "pinch" & "swipe" work when Android is mirrored on a PC touchscreen?
> b. If not, how can a mouse replicate the "pinch" action on Android mirrors?

update

This scrcpy is kind of like ffmpeg or wget or Irfanview, where everything
you might want has already been thought of and supplied in the options! :)

After reading the README, I found how to do the "pinch to zoom" on the PC
between the Android phone and the Windows computer (over USB & Wi-Fi).
<https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy#readme>

All you do is hold the Windows keyboard "control key down" as your first
finger, and then just leftclick (then hold and move to zoom in or out).

It's a little touchy - but other than that, the "pinch to zoom" worked!

Here is the detailed "pinch to zoom" documentation in the scrcpy README:
<https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy#pinch-to-zoom>

*Pinch-to-zoom*
To simulate "pinch-to-zoom": Ctrl+click-and-move.

More precisely, hold Ctrl while pressing the left-click button.

Until the left-click button is released, all mouse movements scale
and rotate the content (if supported by the app) relative to the
center of the screen.

Concretely, scrcpy generates additional touch events from a
"virtual finger" at a location inverted through the center of the screen.
--
This scrcpy command is an instant keeper for anyone who owns Android.

On 4/18/2022 3:35 PM, Andy Burnelli wrote:
> In the following list, MOD is the shortcut modifier. By default, it's (left)
> Alt or (left) Super, but it can be configured by --shortcut-mod (see above).

What keys are "(left) Super" on a typical keyboard?

> MOD+Up
> Click on VOLUME_UP
>
> MOD+Down
> Click on VOLUME_DOWN
>
> MOD+p
> Click on POWER (turn screen on/off)
>

Nice that it can emulate the hardware buttons on the side of the phone.

> MOD+c
> Copy to clipboard (inject COPY keycode, Android >= 7 only)
>
> MOD+x
> Cut to clipboard (inject CUT keycode, Android >= 7 only)
>
> MOD+v
> Copy computer clipboard to device, then paste (inject PASTE keycode,
> Android >= 7 only)
>
> MOD+Shift+v
> Inject computer clipboard text as a sequence of key events

Those might be your missing ctrl+C & ctrl+V cutting and pastings.

"YK" <youkidding@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:t3mu06$er0$1@gioia.aioe.org...
>
> snip <
>
> Those might be your missing ctrl+C & ctrl+V cutting and pastings.

Nope.
Copy = ctrl+c
Cut = ctrl+x
Paste = ctrl+v

--
Regards
wasbit

Update.

The summary below is posted because I'm an intelligent, kind-hearted,
purposefully helpful netizen who cares that others can do what I was
able to do given a few hours learning how to mirror Android perfectly
on Windows (where all the tricks below were learned on this newsgroup!).
<https://i.postimg.cc/N0G1TXcZ/scrcpy01.jpg> Mirror Android on any PC
<https://i.postimg.cc/tTmdgKTB/scrcpy02.jpg> An efficient program setup
<https://i.postimg.cc/Vvrq0K0m/scrcpy03.jpg> The efficient setup explained

SUMMARY:
To mirror Android on Windows over Wi-Fi or USB, tap the custom shortcut.
Or tap the taskbar Run icon & enter "scrcpy<return>".
To screenshot _just_ the Android window, press "Ctrl+LeftArrow"
Voila!

The dozen well-organized setups below are how _all_ programs should be set up.
0. The {adb,scrcpy} FOSS zip file is at <https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy>
1. The executable is saved in c:\archive\editor\android\scrcpy\scrcopy.zip
2. The program is installed to c:\app\editor\android\scrcpy\{adb,scrcpy}.exe
3. The shortcut is saved to c:\menu\editor\android\scrcpy.lnk
4. The menu is pinned to the taskbar (note all hierarchies mirror each other)
5. The apppath RUN command is: Win+R > scrcpy
6. That runs [HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\scrcpy.exe]
7. Which is defined as: [@Default=c:\menu\editor\android\scrcpy.lnk]
8. The TARGET is: %comspec% /k cd /d "c:\app\editor\android\scrcpy" && adb connect 192.168.0.2:5555 && scrcpy --always-on-top --tcpip=192.168.0.2:5555
9. The ICON is: c:\icon\editor\android\scrcpy\scrcpy.ico
10. From: https://cdn4.iconfinder.com/data/icons/smart-phones-technologies/512/android-phone-color.png
11. The mount command is: net use Z: \\192.168.0.2@8080\DavWWWRoot /USER:andy burnelli
12. The Irfanview capture command is: capture_$U(%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)_###

Those dozen setup steps make running & managing screen mirroring easy!
a. To mirror Android, just type "scrcpy" on Windows
(Zero software needs to be on Android as this is transparent to Android!)
b. You can save from Windows _directly_ to Android since _all_ of Android is
mounted as a drive letter (the entire phone, even the read-only system!)
c. You can paste the Windows clipboard to Android with "Shift+Leftalt+V"
(all other cut/copy/paste commands work as you are already used to)
d. You can operate Android hardware buttons using that "LeftAlt" MOD key
(e.g., "LeftAlt+UpArrow" presses the volume up key by one notch each time)
<https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy#readme>

As always, if you can find a way to _improve_ this process, please post your
added value as Usenet is where purposefully helpful kind-hearted people help
each other by sharing the knowledge as a team sport for the benefit of all!

This will be saved in the permanent Usenet records for future reference:
<https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/Pmcqi4Mvuhw>
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.microsoft.windows/c/eMYBmpq2H50>
--
Usenet is a world-wide team sport where purposefully helpful kind-hearted
adults help each other and learn by pooling our individual capabilities.

wasbit wrote:

>> Those might be your missing ctrl+C & ctrl+V cutting and pastings.
>
> Nope.
> Copy = ctrl+c
> Cut = ctrl+x
> Paste = ctrl+v

UPDATE:
<https://i.postimg.cc/N0G1TXcZ/scrcpy01.jpg> Mirror Android on any PC
<https://i.postimg.cc/tTmdgKTB/scrcpy02.jpg> An efficient program setup
<https://i.postimg.cc/Vvrq0K0m/scrcpy03.jpg> The efficient setup explained

REGARDING KEYS in the README: <https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy#readme>

It turns out that the "Super" key in the README is just the "Windows" key.

It turns out that the "MOD" key in the README differs depending on the
situation (apparently) but for _my_ hardware, the "MOD" key was clearly
the "Leftalt" key on my keyboard.

What wasn't intuitive until I stumbled upon it was the "Shift" is required
in _my_ hardware situation, where the readme is confusing on that addition.

However, the _simple_ answer is that a paste requires the shift but only
when going from Windows to the Android mirror. I don't understand why, but
it works and that's all that matters sometimes as the things I needed were:
1. I needed to operate the hardware buttons (done)
2. I needed to wake the phone (done)
3. I needed to share the Windows:Android clipboards (done)
4. I needed to mirror on USB _and_ Wi-Fi (done)
5. I needed to record screenshots & video (done)
6. I needed to mount Android as a drive letter so as to save directly
from Android to Windows and from Windows to Android (done)
etc.

All that was accomplished in the space of two days elapsed time simply
because the {adb,scrcpy,webdav,irfanview} software is fully functional.

In summary, to cut and paste between Windows and the mirrored Android uses
all the normal keys you'd think it would use _except_ in the case of cutting
from Windows (which would use for example, Control+C) and then _pasting_
into Android (which uses the *Shift+MOD+v* three-finger combination).

Copy from Windows: Control+V
Paste into Android: Shift+Leftalt+V

As an aside, It's fun to watch when you paste a long URL because that
shift+Mod+V combination actually does a keystroke-by-keystroke typing one by
one (but it's fast so it's _almost_ instantaneous - but not quite).

From the readme... <https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy#readme>
--legacy-paste
Inject computer clipboard text as a sequence of key events on Ctrl+v
(like MOD+Shift+v).
This is a workaround for some devices not behaving as expected when
setting the device clipboard programmatically.

MOD+v
Copy computer clipboard to device, then paste (inject PASTE keycode,
Android >= 7 only)

MOD+Shift+v
Inject computer clipboard text as a sequence of key events
--
People working together can solve problems that benefit everyone greatly.

> To mirror Android on Windows over Wi-Fi or USB, tap the custom shortcut.
> Or tap the taskbar Run icon & enter "scrcpy<return>".
> To screenshot _just_ the Android window, press "Ctrl+LeftArrow"

To those of you who know about Covey, sharpening the saw is a basic skill.
To learn more about screen mirroring, I ran a basic search and found these.

*10 Best Apps To Mirror Android Screen To PC in 2022*
<https://techviral.net/best-apps-to-mirror-android-screen-to-pc/>
Teamview Quick Support
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teamviewer.quicksupport.market>
Vysor
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.koushikdutta.vysor>
ApowerMirror
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.apowersoft.mirror>
AirDroid
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sand.airdroid>
Screen Stream Mirroring
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobzapp.screenstream.trial>
Mobile to PC Screen Mirroring/Sharing
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.agileapps.screenstream>
Mobizen Mirroring (file not found)
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.rsupport.mobizen.cn>
Miracast Display Finder
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.agillaapps.miracastfinder>
Screen Cast
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.screencast>
MirrorGo
<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wondershare.mirrorgo>

Note some of those are dumb casts, which isn't the same thing we've
accomplished with scrcpy (which can _control_ Android from Windows).

Also note that since all of those run on Android, they may respect the
screenshot prevention security policy, which, after all, was what the
original problem set entailed.

*How to mirror Android to PC - 6 Best Apps*
<https://fossbytes.com/android-screen-mirroring-apps-pc/>
Vysor ($10 yearly)
ApowerMirror ($30 yearly)
AirDroid ($20 yearly)
Screen Stream Mirroring by MobZapp ($5)
Mobizen ($24 yearly)

*How to Mirror Your Android Display on a Windows Computer*
<https://www.howtogeek.com/726487/how-to-mirror-your-android-display-on-a-windows-computer/>
Samsung Your Phone app (it's a hidden app on some Samsungs only)
AirDroid <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sand.airdroid>

*Mirroring an Android Phone to a Windows PC*
<https://www.alphr.com/how-to-mirror-android-to-a-pc-or-laptop/>
Scrcpy <https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy>

*How to Screen Mirror Android Phone Tablet to Windows*
<https://www.techsolutions.support.com/how-to/how-to-screen-mirror-android-phone-tablet-to-windows-12652>
Microsoft app Connect with Miracast

There's also a free product called "LetsView" which can screenshot.
But it doesn't allow you to control the phone from the PC.
<https://letsview.com/windows> (apowersoft)
Mirrors two PC screens or android or iOS on Windows
but it doesn't control the device. It's just a dumb cast over Wi-Fi.
It supports AirPlay and Miracast to wirelessly stream Android
and iPhone screens to PC with audio.
<https://letsview.com/faqs/faq>

And there's this shill for "Tenorshare Phone Mirror" ($40 yearly)
<https://www.tenorshare.com/mirror-android/how-to-mirror-android-to-pc.html#p6>

If that quick skim of what's available for mirroring and _interacting_ with
Android over Windows (Wi-Fi & USB), then scrcpy is perhaps a good choice
indeed (since it works completely on Windows using methods we already have).
--
Usenet is a huge community of kind hearted people who help each other learn.

Andy Burnelli wrote:

> If that quick skim of what's available for mirroring and _interacting_ with
> Android over Windows (Wi-Fi & USB), then scrcpy is perhaps a good choice
> indeed (since it works completely on Windows using methods we already have).

UPDATE:
<https://i.postimg.cc/V6tyDpNd/aurora17.jpg> Save every APK ever installed
<https://i.postimg.cc/hjkVFyqJ/scrcpy07.jpg> Android mounted as a Win drive
<https://i.postimg.cc/Sx1hgWmY/scrcpy06.jpg> Press two hardware buttons
<https://i.postimg.cc/wvsbcNBz/scrcpy05.jpg> Drag APK from Windows
<https://i.postimg.cc/Y00vx4yp/scrcpy04.jpg> Extraneous cmd window (&)
<https://i.postimg.cc/Vvrq0K0m/scrcpy03.jpg> The efficient setup explained
<https://i.postimg.cc/tTmdgKTB/scrcpy02.jpg> An efficient program setup
<https://i.postimg.cc/N0G1TXcZ/scrcpy01.jpg> Mirror Android on any PC

Woo hoo!

Today I needed to screenshot the Android phone from Windows over Wi-Fi by
putting the Android phone into "scroll" mode, which requires simultaneous
pressing of _two_ hardware buttons & then a subsequent tapping on a box
containing a "scroll down" icon that then pops up on the Android screen.

Given the FOSS scrcpy developers (actually, it was Genymotion who donated
the src apparently) have apparently thought of everything, it was easy.

The hardware buttons to press simultaneously are:
a. Power Key
b. Volume Down key

That was accomplished by pressing, in Windows the:
MOD key + downarrow (i.e., the volume down key) & p (i.e., the power key)

Essentially the left hand holds down the MOD key (aka the leftalt key).
And the right hand simultaneously presses the downarrow & p keyboard keys.

You need big hands, where, luckily, mine are XXL so it's no problem for me.

BTW, you can even expand and collapse the notification panel:
a. Expand Notification Panel === Mod + n
b. Collapse Notification Panel === Mod + Shift + n

But one of the _neatest_ tricks was the drag and drop of an APK file!
<https://i.postimg.cc/wvsbcNBz/scrcpy05.jpg>

Literally, you drag _any_ APK from your PC file system onto the mirrored
Android Window, and it's _silently_ completely installed automatically!

How kewl is that!

If you consider that a WebDAV server mounts the _entire_ Android phone
system (even the system root filesystem!) onto Windows as a drive letter,
coupled with the FOSS Google Play Store client _not_ deleting APKs after
they're installed off of the Google Play Store... then you have complete
drag-and-drop access to _all_ the APKs you've ever installed - on _multiple_
phones which are on your LAN - all completely seamlessly and silently!
<https://i.postimg.cc/hjkVFyqJ/scrcpy07.jpg> Android mounted as a Win drive

This FOSS Windows scrcpy program is an instant keeper!
<https://github.com/Genymobile/scrcpy>

It's so simple... the developers have thought of almost everything already!
--
Usenet is where friendly people daily gather to discuss topics of interest.

Update.

Today, Herbert Kleebauer provided a general purpose mechanism
which hides the scrcpy console from view while leaving the
Android GUI on the screen. The permanent archive is here:
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.msdos.batch/c/DmexCLwn_tM>

Below is the summary message to that cross-referenced thread.

Herbert Kleebauer wrote:

> You have to do the cd before creating the exe

That's maybe why the one test of calling the showwin.bat
by its full path didn't work when run directly out of the Windows registry.
<https://i.postimg.cc/66Gn2t2g/scrcpy09.jpg>

I'll switch the order to bring up the CD earlier after I post this.

But that's OK because _all_ the other tests worked perfectly;
and, likely I could have put the full path in the batch file
and then that one test would also have worked (most likely).

> I don't understand why you want to hide the console,

I forgot to answer this perfectly valid question from you.
I apologize.

The reason is that the scrcpy console does nothing for me.
a. The console just gets in the way (as it has no way to interact with it).
b. The scrcpy console has to be manually minimized to get it out of the way.
c. And the scrcpy console uses up a precious slot on the taskbar.
d. Plus, it doesn't tell me anything that I want to know (if things work).

All of that is bad. None of that is good.
It's not horrible. But there's nothing good about any of that.

With the batch script, there is now no need to deal with the scrcpy console!
Thank you for helping me, and by way of extension, all the lurkers too.

BTW, here are the screenshots all together that were made for this thread.
<https://i.postimg.cc/CxXH6N2r/scrcpy13.jpg> No scrcpy console window!
<https://i.postimg.cc/yYKNnHxD/scrcpy12.jpg> REG test of showwin.lnk
<https://i.postimg.cc/7LWJhWxq/scrcpy11.jpg> Shortcut test of showwin.lnk
<https://i.postimg.cc/htMdWG6z/scrcpy10.jpg> The console came up :(
<https://i.postimg.cc/66Gn2t2g/scrcpy09.jpg> REG test of showwin.bat
<https://i.postimg.cc/nV6K0Cfn/scrcpy08.jpg> CMD test of showwin.bat
<https://i.postimg.cc/hjkVFyqJ/scrcpy07.jpg> Android mnt as drive letter
<https://i.postimg.cc/Sx1hgWmY/scrcpy06.jpg> Press two hardware buttons
<https://i.postimg.cc/wvsbcNBz/scrcpy05.jpg> Drag APK from Windows
<https://i.postimg.cc/Y00vx4yp/scrcpy04.jpg> Extraneous cmd window (&)
<https://i.postimg.cc/Vvrq0K0m/scrcpy03.jpg> The efficient setup explained
<https://i.postimg.cc/tTmdgKTB/scrcpy02.jpg> An efficient program setup
<https://i.postimg.cc/N0G1TXcZ/scrcpy01.jpg> Mirror Android on any PC

In summary, with this set of solutions, anyone can instantly mirror
their Android phone on their Windows PC (linux & macOS too).

On Windows a shortcut (or Win+R command) is the only addition you need.
Win+R > mirror

Thanks for me and for the permanent Usenet record for others to benefit.
<http://groups.google.com/g/alt.msdos.bat>
<http://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.microsoft.windows>

Specifically:
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.msdos.batch/c/DmexCLwn_tM>
<https://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.microsoft.windows/c/eMYBmpq2H50>

Note "alt.comp.os.windows-10" is poorly archived so it's not listed above.
--
Usenet is a world-wide team sport where purposefully helpful kind-hearted
adults help each other and learn by pooling our individual capabilities.

Big Al wrote:

>> If you already perform Android mirroring on a Windows PC, what do you use?
> I realize this has been talked over and over here,
> and this isn't exactly your answer but...
>
> I use PushBullet.
> An add-on to your browser (any) and an app in Google Play.
> Once you sign in to both, I get notifications of phone calls,
> security alerts, and I can fully interact with text messaging.
> The latter is the most useful to me.
>
> Granted the down side is, you have to have a browser open
> to do this, but if you hear you text message sound (if you
> have one setup), it's simple to open a browser and then read
> and reply. You don't need the browser open at the time a
> text comes in, just need it to interact.

Thank you for hazarding another solution to interfacing Android
to Windows so that we can easily interact with both simultaneously.

Given you took the time to make the suggestion, I am taking the time
to look at your suggestion, and to summarize for others what it entails.

To that end, I took a look at this PushBullet advice from "Big Al":
<https://www.pushbullet.com/>

There's a better description over here:
<https://pushbullet.en.softonic.com/>
"Pushbullet essentially lets you transform your PC into an extension
of your mobile device and vice versa. With it, you can establish a
connection between the two and manage various aspects of your devices,
such as notifications. As such, you can easily read and reply
to messages without even having to open your phone or tablet.
It supports various popular messaging solutions, so integration
is quite seamless, too.

After installing it on your PC and smartphone device, you then
choose the account you want to use with it. You can even connect
multiple ones to it. That way, you can quickly switch among them
and manage all of them as needed. True to its name, once connected,
Pushbullet will let you push links, notes, or even files
(under 25MB) to and fro instantly.

Just a couple of quick test notes on the free version for
your consideration. As mentioned earlier, you can send any
file under 25MB instantaneously. If you need a bigger size
allowance, you need to purchase a Pro subscription for up to 1GB,
along with 100 GB of storage space, up from 2GB. Also, you are
limited to 100 messages per month, while unlimited on the
paid version."

That seems nice.

The free version is limited to certain file sizes and requires a login;
but otherwise, it seems like a nice program we should all know about.

Thanks for pitching in as to how to interface Android & Windows better.
--
On Usenet you can often find people who know more than you do about any
given topic, although they have to also be purposefully helpful souls.

Andy Burnelli wrote:

> The free version is limited to certain file sizes and requires a login;
> but otherwise, it seems like a nice program we should all know about.

BTW, there's apparently a FOSS "PB" PushBullet implementation extant:
<https://sidneys.github.io/pb-for-desktop/>

That Pushbullet for desktops works for macOS, Windows & Linux.
<https://sidneys.github.io/pb-for-desktop/#download>

Here's the PC FOSS Pushbullet for desktop setup if anyone is interested:
Name: pb-for-desktop-11.0.2-setup.exe
Size: 137116427 bytes (130 MiB)
SHA256: 822A2C6E395200643EDD4A26F0A73A1880511E5D7D4616708FCDB951D33B93E3

The FOSS solution might overcome the limitations of the commercial
version... dunno... I'm working on another solution as we speak.