Control older android phone on PC

Question

I have an older Android phone (Samsung Galaxy S6) that I'd like to fully control using my PC (Microsoft Surface 8 with Windows 11). It's my "spare" phone and I want to install apps on it that I don't want to install on my "regular" phone, however it needs to be linked to my google play store account so an Android emulator won't suit my needs.

Ideally, I'd like to plug one end of a USB or similar cable into the phone, with the other end plugged into the PC and control the phone within a "window" in Windows just like I would any other app.

The main use case is controlling google play store apps on the phone. Other features like file management, use of the phone's texting/phone capabilities etc. would be nice, but not essential.

A free solution would be nice, but I don't mind paying a little for the service.

I'd prefer to not invest in any hardware unless it's commonly available (e.g. I have various USB cables, an old OTG cable etc.).

I'd much prefer a wired solution to avoid lag, however a wireless solution would be OK as long as it's responsive enough given the age of the hardware.

I have researched solutions like AirDroid and similar products but they all have various limitations like the age of the phone, requiring specific phone models, only allowing specific 3rd party apps etc.

I also saw this link here but it was from 9 years ago and surely there is something better these days: control android device from pc

Is there a solution that fits my needs?

Samsung Galaxy S6 was released with Android 5.0 so my answer to How do I project the screen of my Android phone for a presentation? which is scrcpy should be valid and scrcpy does have remote control features. — Morrison Chang, Mar 10 '23 at 03:27
Regarding the linked question, most of the answers were posted in 2021 though :) — Andrew T., Mar 10 '23 at 05:27
You can find several options in my app listing Manage your Android Device from your Computer plus some more at ADB Programs for your computer (under "Remote control"; these will need USB Debugging enabled and ADB available on your device). I sometimes use AndroidScreencast, scrcpy is quite popular as well. Do any of those fit your needs? — Izzy, Mar 10 '23 at 07:43
@Izzy Thanks for that. I'm going to try scrcpy and a few others recommended here. If they do what they say they do, I may have found a solution! Will report back. — Arj, Mar 10 '23 at 08:50

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 01 '23 at 02:47

0

Thanks to the commenters, scrcpy does what I need perfectly.

answered Apr 01 '23 at 02:47

Arj

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Control older android phone on PC

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