In the event you need to free up your primary monitor or add a second monitor, then you will want to try out the iDisplay for Android. This application will basically turn your smartphone or tablet into the external monitor to improve the efficiency of your work or other activities. The following are the overview of iDisplay for Android along with the step-by-step tutorials on how to use it appropriately.
There are three main features of iDisplay for Android which includes the capability to extend the display, the zoom option and the portrait/landscape view. The first feature will allow users to display or spread the desktop over both displays and drag items between the 2 screens as your wish. The second feature enables users to pick their own ratio of Android virtual display to accelerate the image reflection of the desktop. The third feature will surely allow for portrait or landscape device orientations.
First of all, you will need to download the server program from the SHAPE service for your computer here (Windows) or here (Mac OS). Then, download the .apk file here or if you want to get it from the Play Market here. The app will require at least Android OS 2.1 and make sure that your computer is running Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard or Windows XP 32-bit, Windows Vista, Windows 7 (except Starter edition).
This app actually offers the simple and quick installation and it will require the over-the-air local connection or cable data in order to connect the device to computer. When you wish to connect the device to PC through the local network, you’ll be required to input the IP address and port numbers on the device. The app itself will generate them for you and you can look for it on the Windows’ tray.
Right after the server is running on Windows or Mac, you will then need to launch the application on your current Android handset. The app will then automatically find your computer and you will see that the display is blinking that means you are now ready to use this application. By using this app, you can tap anywhere on handset’s screen and then the cursor will move to that point on screen. Also, there will be the built-in keyboard so that you can type anything on the handset and the text will appear on the computer. You can do the double-tap which is the same with double-click on computer but unfortunately it lacks the right-click function and you may experience that this app is not working perfectly since there will be some lags occur especially when docking the desktop to the smartphone or tablet.
In general, the idea or concept of iDisplay for Android to increase the user’s productivity by maximizing the viewable area on the main monitor is really great and it has the great potential to become one of the very helpful tools on Play Market. On the other hand, this app will actually need some improvements so that it can perfectly assist users in performing multi-task or simply to free up the screen’s space. [IS]
