GhorMaanas
The Vagrant Seeker
Some weeks back, I was searching for a solution to use whatsapp simultaneously from my phone as well as on my PC. However, as most of you whatsapp users must be aware, that using whatsapp as well on your PC, by way of any android emulator, is not possible, as whatsapp doesn’t let you connect to your account from multiple devices. I could’ve migrated to some other good apps which have PC counterparts too (unlike whatsapp), like viber, talk.to, telegram, etc. these sync flawlessly between their PC and phone counterparts, allowing a user to chat in a group on the specific app, either from his phone or PC, in real-time; ie, suppose you’ve been conversing in a group in the app on your phone for a while, and then you’ve to dedicate some time on your PC for some work, or, like myself, are plain bored (& frustrated) with using touch-typing with its multiple mistakes, esp. on a smaller screen, then you can just open the app on your PC (which you should’ve installed beforehand, obviously), and resume your conversation in the group from where you had left off! However, that said and done, I needed a solution specifically for whatsapp, and after a few days of hunting, came upon a blog, that set the wheels rolling (credits to Rajat Jain)! So without further ado, I’ll describe in brief what all I used to try out using whatsapp on PC & phone simultaneously, successfully (the answer lies in – remote connection):
1) Remoteroid (*code.google.com/p/remoteroid/):
This i found to be the best (in terms of swiftness) app for the particular use. Although the site explains how to to use it, but still, a few steps:
- First, make sure that you know your PC’s IP address. Check in your router’s IP-pool page, or if set as static, check it on your PC itself (by checking your network connection details), and that your phone is connected to the same (wifi) network as your PC (my PC is connected to the router via ethernet; the PC talks to the router via the cable, and the phone talks to the router via wifi, hence, common sharing-point for both the devices happens to be the same router; i don't know how or if it would be possible to establish such a communication-channel between the server and the client on a data-connection on the phone, as there's no common sharing-point there i suppose. i had tried this app using data-connection, to no avail).
*i.imgur.com/EYCPsE0l.jpg
(the IPv4 addr. in the above screen)
- Your phone should have root access (ie, a rooted phone). if its not yet rooted (if you don't know if its rooted or not, install the 'root checker' app from google playstore, and run it), and the phone is out of warranty, or even if its still under warranty and you don't mind rooting it (and then unrooting later if you have to send it to the service centre for any issue), then proceed to root it with an app like 'framaroot'.
- Download the remoteroid client apk from the app’s site, and after placing it in any folder in your phone, install it to the phone.
- Download the remoteroid server file from the site, to your PC, and install it to the PC.
*i.imgur.com/dVGqmtll.jpg
- Now, your PC is ready to act as the server, and the phone as the client.
- Start the server-app on your PC first. It would show a screen asking for your email addr. And password. Don’t bother.
*i.imgur.com/FqwIDB9l.jpg
- Now, fire up the client-app on your phone. You will be greeted with a prompt that asks you to enable notifications for your phone, on your PC. You can't move ahead without enabling it, so tap on ‘enable’. You’ll be taken to the settings menu. There, switch ON the particular setting. It will warn you that remoteroid can collect data from your phone, including critical info. Hence, it would be wise to not use this app during any online-transactions or for sharing/storing critical info on/through your phone. When you have to do it, put off the remoteroid service running in the background first if its running (even if your phone is not connected to your PC with remoteroid at the time).
*i.imgur.com/moEQnf3l.png
*i.imgur.com/leyS1AOl.png
*i.imgur.com/uVvzbkXl.png
*i.imgur.com/i4LwejAl.png
*i.imgur.com/QkVygTTl.png
- Then after enabling the notifications, go back to the remoteroid screen on the phone. You’ll be asked to enter the IP address of your PC. Enter it, tap on ‘connect’. The shell would ask for superuser-permission. Grant it. You’ll now see the screen of your PC remoteroid app almost instantly change into your phone’s homescreen, replicating the remoteroid ‘connected’ screen showing on your actual phone on the phone-screen on your PC! You’re now free to use your phone on the PC as you want, with mouse and actual keyboard.
*i.imgur.com/2hoPuiol.png
*i.imgur.com/Sk4rGEol.jpg
*i.imgur.com/bA9PMZdl.png
*i.imgur.com/BAmc8Brl.png
*i.imgur.com/20yl9F4l.png
*i.imgur.com/1aGMdQYl.png
- I didn’t find the UI very pleasing visually. It’s a little blurry, but what it lacks in the visual deptt., it makes up for it in swiftness. You’ll understand this if you use similar-functioned apps, as you’ll read below.
*i.imgur.com/ey7ZH3cl.jpg
(you can notice the lag when flipping through your phone's homescreen on your PC, and noticing side-by-side how the actual screens on the phone respond. the screens on the phone would respond almost as soon as you start browsing your phone on the PC, but the screens on the PC utility would take a few milliseconds to respond. nothing distressing here though).
- You can choose to register an account with remoteroid. Go to the settings (wrench-icon at top-right corner on the phone-app, and check ‘manage accounts’ section at the bottom).
*i.imgur.com/23XS1uyl.png
*i.imgur.com/61Rca4Hl.png
*i.imgur.com/TyDBfuql.png
- Whenever you wish to disconnect, simply tap on ‘disconnect’ on your phone’s app-screen or on the PC utility's screen.
*i.imgur.com/TIaSap0l.png
P.S. – the prompts of the PC-app are in Korean. But you’ll understand what they imply.
2) Teamviewer & quicksupport:
This app (quicksupport) seems to have a finicky support. Although you can see a plethora of devices supported by it on its google playstore page, or here How can I control my Android device with TeamViewer?
but since the latest update, the support for my phone has been dropped, so, am being biased here.
Anyway, check whether it supports your app or not, and if it does, proceed to download and install it on your phone.
- Then, if you already don’t have the teamviewer software on your pc, download and install it from here à Free TeamViewer Download for Windows
- From here on, everything’s straightforward. Run the quicksupport app on your phone. It will show you a device ID.
- Run the teamviewer software on your pc. Type in that device ID in the ‘partner ID’ field of the teamviewer software on the pc.
- You will be then greeted by a TV session window, at the top left-corner of which is the ‘remote control’ option.
- A video describing the steps:
Remote Control your Samsung Android device with TeamViewer QuickSupport - YouTube
3) Next comes the VNC option:
- Download and install ‘VNC server’ app on your phone from playstore (there are more such apps available, but we'll choose this one here).
*i.imgur.com/x4J77GSl.jpg
- Download and install TigerVNC on your pc from here --> *github.com/TigerVNC/tigervnc/releases
- Run the server on your phone. press the 'settings' tab-button.
*i.imgur.com/CUixrrKl.png
- select 'server password', and set a password for the remote-connection.
*i.imgur.com/07tDw27l.png
*i.imgur.com/j1pKdHAl.png
- Run the server. It will show you your phone’s IP address, followed by a port no., like, 192.168.1.k:abcd, as well as a web-address, where you could connect to your phone via a webUI (but I couldn’t connect to it; wasn’t successful in getting it to work to establish a connection).
*i.imgur.com/w86V2gJl.png
- Run the ‘vncviewer’ application from the directory you installed TigerVNC to, on your PC, click on the 'connect' button, and enter the password you just set in the VNC server app on your phone, here:
*i.imgur.com/ukeEQn4l.jpg
*i.imgur.com/g5N3fJnl.jpg
*i.imgur.com/3BZHwUHl.jpg
*i.imgur.com/zfMWCcfl.jpg
- At the cost of a crisper resolution here, the UI here is quite laggy, and typing is not a breeze. You have to click with the mouse on every letter you type, for it to show on the screen. May be you have to tweak some setting in order to remedy that, but neither could I find one, nor did I try to search the web for it. You may, but I don't recommended this method. TightVNC is slightly less laggy than this. You may try that at *www.tightvnc.com/download.php
3) webkey
This app is a little more exhaustive; this app is also highly recommended! It lets you do many things from a web UI.
- Download the ‘webkey’ app from playstore.
*i.imgur.com/cwk2Ncjl.jpg
- Run the app, and go to the 'settings' first, and press 'users' settings':
*i.imgur.com/PC658bIl.png
*i.imgur.com/R8zVqyPl.png
- Press 'create new user', enter your desired credentials, and press on 'Ok'.
*i.imgur.com/TO9JgvEl.png
*i.imgur.com/kblHpddl.png
- Now, go back to the 'control' tab on the app, press 'start service', and grant the 'superuser access permission':
*i.imgur.com/bJaMRyJl.png
*i.imgur.com/U9MBQhBl.png
- It will display a prompt that your phone is available at so-and-so IP address. All you have to do is navigate to that web-address on your PC and start operating your phone (and ofcourse, use whatsapp) from there. Go to the webpage, you’ll be greeted with the options of registering your phone/logging in. log in with the user-credentials you just created, and you’re done!
*i.imgur.com/z7kMRhwl.png
*i.imgur.com/1z27yuw.jpg
*i.imgur.com/f7oZQR7.jpg
- I use my phone pretty much only on wifi. On data connection, if your service provider doesn’t allow such IP addresses to which you could connect, you may try reaching it via webkey.cc (as the prompt in the screenshot tells). I didn’t try that though.
that's it! easy & simple.
1) Remoteroid (*code.google.com/p/remoteroid/):
This i found to be the best (in terms of swiftness) app for the particular use. Although the site explains how to to use it, but still, a few steps:
- First, make sure that you know your PC’s IP address. Check in your router’s IP-pool page, or if set as static, check it on your PC itself (by checking your network connection details), and that your phone is connected to the same (wifi) network as your PC (my PC is connected to the router via ethernet; the PC talks to the router via the cable, and the phone talks to the router via wifi, hence, common sharing-point for both the devices happens to be the same router; i don't know how or if it would be possible to establish such a communication-channel between the server and the client on a data-connection on the phone, as there's no common sharing-point there i suppose. i had tried this app using data-connection, to no avail).
*i.imgur.com/EYCPsE0l.jpg
(the IPv4 addr. in the above screen)
- Your phone should have root access (ie, a rooted phone). if its not yet rooted (if you don't know if its rooted or not, install the 'root checker' app from google playstore, and run it), and the phone is out of warranty, or even if its still under warranty and you don't mind rooting it (and then unrooting later if you have to send it to the service centre for any issue), then proceed to root it with an app like 'framaroot'.
- Download the remoteroid client apk from the app’s site, and after placing it in any folder in your phone, install it to the phone.
- Download the remoteroid server file from the site, to your PC, and install it to the PC.
*i.imgur.com/dVGqmtll.jpg
- Now, your PC is ready to act as the server, and the phone as the client.
- Start the server-app on your PC first. It would show a screen asking for your email addr. And password. Don’t bother.
*i.imgur.com/FqwIDB9l.jpg
- Now, fire up the client-app on your phone. You will be greeted with a prompt that asks you to enable notifications for your phone, on your PC. You can't move ahead without enabling it, so tap on ‘enable’. You’ll be taken to the settings menu. There, switch ON the particular setting. It will warn you that remoteroid can collect data from your phone, including critical info. Hence, it would be wise to not use this app during any online-transactions or for sharing/storing critical info on/through your phone. When you have to do it, put off the remoteroid service running in the background first if its running (even if your phone is not connected to your PC with remoteroid at the time).
*i.imgur.com/moEQnf3l.png
*i.imgur.com/leyS1AOl.png
*i.imgur.com/uVvzbkXl.png
*i.imgur.com/i4LwejAl.png
*i.imgur.com/QkVygTTl.png
- Then after enabling the notifications, go back to the remoteroid screen on the phone. You’ll be asked to enter the IP address of your PC. Enter it, tap on ‘connect’. The shell would ask for superuser-permission. Grant it. You’ll now see the screen of your PC remoteroid app almost instantly change into your phone’s homescreen, replicating the remoteroid ‘connected’ screen showing on your actual phone on the phone-screen on your PC! You’re now free to use your phone on the PC as you want, with mouse and actual keyboard.
*i.imgur.com/2hoPuiol.png
*i.imgur.com/Sk4rGEol.jpg
*i.imgur.com/bA9PMZdl.png
*i.imgur.com/BAmc8Brl.png
*i.imgur.com/20yl9F4l.png
*i.imgur.com/1aGMdQYl.png
- I didn’t find the UI very pleasing visually. It’s a little blurry, but what it lacks in the visual deptt., it makes up for it in swiftness. You’ll understand this if you use similar-functioned apps, as you’ll read below.
*i.imgur.com/ey7ZH3cl.jpg
(you can notice the lag when flipping through your phone's homescreen on your PC, and noticing side-by-side how the actual screens on the phone respond. the screens on the phone would respond almost as soon as you start browsing your phone on the PC, but the screens on the PC utility would take a few milliseconds to respond. nothing distressing here though).
- You can choose to register an account with remoteroid. Go to the settings (wrench-icon at top-right corner on the phone-app, and check ‘manage accounts’ section at the bottom).
*i.imgur.com/23XS1uyl.png
*i.imgur.com/61Rca4Hl.png
*i.imgur.com/TyDBfuql.png
- Whenever you wish to disconnect, simply tap on ‘disconnect’ on your phone’s app-screen or on the PC utility's screen.
*i.imgur.com/TIaSap0l.png
P.S. – the prompts of the PC-app are in Korean. But you’ll understand what they imply.
2) Teamviewer & quicksupport:
This app (quicksupport) seems to have a finicky support. Although you can see a plethora of devices supported by it on its google playstore page, or here How can I control my Android device with TeamViewer?
but since the latest update, the support for my phone has been dropped, so, am being biased here.
Anyway, check whether it supports your app or not, and if it does, proceed to download and install it on your phone.
- Then, if you already don’t have the teamviewer software on your pc, download and install it from here à Free TeamViewer Download for Windows
- From here on, everything’s straightforward. Run the quicksupport app on your phone. It will show you a device ID.
- Run the teamviewer software on your pc. Type in that device ID in the ‘partner ID’ field of the teamviewer software on the pc.
- You will be then greeted by a TV session window, at the top left-corner of which is the ‘remote control’ option.
- A video describing the steps:
Remote Control your Samsung Android device with TeamViewer QuickSupport - YouTube
3) Next comes the VNC option:
- Download and install ‘VNC server’ app on your phone from playstore (there are more such apps available, but we'll choose this one here).
*i.imgur.com/x4J77GSl.jpg
- Download and install TigerVNC on your pc from here --> *github.com/TigerVNC/tigervnc/releases
- Run the server on your phone. press the 'settings' tab-button.
*i.imgur.com/CUixrrKl.png
- select 'server password', and set a password for the remote-connection.
*i.imgur.com/07tDw27l.png
*i.imgur.com/j1pKdHAl.png
- Run the server. It will show you your phone’s IP address, followed by a port no., like, 192.168.1.k:abcd, as well as a web-address, where you could connect to your phone via a webUI (but I couldn’t connect to it; wasn’t successful in getting it to work to establish a connection).
*i.imgur.com/w86V2gJl.png
- Run the ‘vncviewer’ application from the directory you installed TigerVNC to, on your PC, click on the 'connect' button, and enter the password you just set in the VNC server app on your phone, here:
*i.imgur.com/ukeEQn4l.jpg
*i.imgur.com/g5N3fJnl.jpg
*i.imgur.com/3BZHwUHl.jpg
*i.imgur.com/zfMWCcfl.jpg
- At the cost of a crisper resolution here, the UI here is quite laggy, and typing is not a breeze. You have to click with the mouse on every letter you type, for it to show on the screen. May be you have to tweak some setting in order to remedy that, but neither could I find one, nor did I try to search the web for it. You may, but I don't recommended this method. TightVNC is slightly less laggy than this. You may try that at *www.tightvnc.com/download.php
3) webkey
This app is a little more exhaustive; this app is also highly recommended! It lets you do many things from a web UI.
- Download the ‘webkey’ app from playstore.
*i.imgur.com/cwk2Ncjl.jpg
- Run the app, and go to the 'settings' first, and press 'users' settings':
*i.imgur.com/PC658bIl.png
*i.imgur.com/R8zVqyPl.png
- Press 'create new user', enter your desired credentials, and press on 'Ok'.
*i.imgur.com/TO9JgvEl.png
*i.imgur.com/kblHpddl.png
- Now, go back to the 'control' tab on the app, press 'start service', and grant the 'superuser access permission':
*i.imgur.com/bJaMRyJl.png
*i.imgur.com/U9MBQhBl.png
- It will display a prompt that your phone is available at so-and-so IP address. All you have to do is navigate to that web-address on your PC and start operating your phone (and ofcourse, use whatsapp) from there. Go to the webpage, you’ll be greeted with the options of registering your phone/logging in. log in with the user-credentials you just created, and you’re done!
*i.imgur.com/z7kMRhwl.png
*i.imgur.com/1z27yuw.jpg
*i.imgur.com/f7oZQR7.jpg
- I use my phone pretty much only on wifi. On data connection, if your service provider doesn’t allow such IP addresses to which you could connect, you may try reaching it via webkey.cc (as the prompt in the screenshot tells). I didn’t try that though.
that's it! easy & simple.
Last edited:
