Earlier we published an article on how you can access your Windows PC in your Android device over Microsoft Remote Desktop. And this got us wondering if is possible to do the opposite, that is, connect to an Android device and use it in your Windows PC? A quick look at Google Play Store revealed that this is not only possible, but is being used extensively through VNC servers. A VNC (virtual network computing) server makes it possible to access any device running the VNC server on another device that runs a VNC client. So if you run a VNC server on your Android smartphone, then you can access it over Windows through a VNC client.
First of all we have to install a VNC server in Android. While this looks simple enough – just grab a VNC server from the Play Store and install it – but it is complicated as these apps are very moody, they work on one device but refuse to work on another. There are many VNC servers for Android like droidVNC and VNC Server Ultimate but all of them require root access. We tried droidVNC which failed to work and then chose to go with VNC Server Ultimate.
In VNC Server Ultimate, the first thing you have to do is tap on the Add button and then choose to add VNC server. Typically, you will have to add the server name, port, access password, server type (it has three server types – if one type does not work try other types), rotation and other settings. After this tap on the back button of your smartphone and choose to save the settings. Then tap on the newly added server and select Start. It may ask for the superuser (root) permissions. Now your VNC server should be running on your Android device.
In Windows PC, you need a VNC viewer app. Again we have many choices like RealVNC, TightVNC and UltraVNC. We decided to use RealVNC which lets you install only the VNC viewer program during the setup. After launching the RealVNC VNC Viewer program, enter the IP address of your Android device followed by : and the server port number, for example, 192.168.0.101:5901. If you do not know the IP address of your Android, then go back to VNC Ultimate Server app and tap on Info and it will display the IP address. The port number is same port number that you used while adding a new VNC server in VNC Ultimate Server app.
Now you can click on Connect button in the VNC Viewer. It will ask for the password – you should use the same password you used while adding the VNC server in your Android device. After this a new window will open up displaying your Android screen. You can use your mouse to open different apps, change settings, access web browsers etc. In general, you can use Android device right from your Windows PC.
After you are done using the Android in Windows, you can disconnect the VNC Viewer in Windows and stop the VNC Server in Android. It is also a better practice to disable the VNC server app in Android when you are not really using it for security reasons.
Conclusion: You can access and use your Android device right from your Windows PC through the VNC networking. For this all you need is a VNC server app running in your Android device and a VNC Viewer app on your Windows computer. This can be used to help out your old parents who are stuck trying to use their Android smartphones.