AirDroid is a phone-management application that connects an Android phone or tablet to a Windows PC, Mac or web browser. Its Personal edition brings the phone’s screen, files, text messages and app notifications to the computer. It also provides file sharing with iOS devices, although Android has the broader set of management and control functions.
Devices linked to the same AirDroid account can communicate over a shared Wi-Fi network or across different networks. Android’s remote features have separate permission controls, so access to files, notifications and the camera can be enabled individually.
Android control
AirDroid displays the selected Android device’s screen on the computer and lets you operate its interface with a mouse and keyboard. You can open phone apps, navigate their controls and enter text from the desktop. Root access is not required, although the phone needs the appropriate control authorization.
Screen Mirroring provides a view of the Android display when you only need to see what the phone is showing. AirDroid can also record the phone screen from the desktop session, with controls to start and stop the capture. Its separate remote keyboard function sends computer keyboard input to a text field on the phone.
Sending files with AirDroid
The desktop client’s device list acts as a destination for files dragged from the computer. In the mobile app, you select a receiving device and attach individual files or several items together. AirDroid handles documents, photos, videos and other file types; transferring media preserves the original files without compressing them.
Sharing also extends beyond your own linked devices. Nearby locates other devices for file exchange, while Friends sends files and messages to contacts. Text and links can be shared between devices as well. On iOS, photo and video sharing is limited to devices on the same local network.
The free account allows unrestricted local transfers, but transfers across different networks use a monthly remote allowance of 200MB and have a 30MB limit per file. Premium removes that remote data allowance and increases the remote transfer limit to 1GB per file.
Phone storage and media backup
AirDroid’s Android file browser lets you work with the phone’s storage from the computer. It supports searching and renaming files, uploading items to the device, downloading them to the computer and deleting unwanted files. A progress display tracks uploads and downloads.
Media backup copies phone content to a chosen PC over the same network. Automatic backup can move new photos to the computer; Premium extends automatic backup to videos. The resulting files are available in the computer’s backup folder rather than only inside the phone app.
SMS and app notifications
The desktop client receives the Android phone’s SMS messages and lets you reply with the computer keyboard, while keeping the message inbox on the phone updated. AirDroid also supports sending an SMS to a group of recipients.
App notifications appear on the computer after notification access is enabled on Android. Supported notifications, including WhatsApp messages, can be answered from the desktop notification interface. You can block individual apps from mirroring their notifications without disabling all phone alerts.
Calls
AirDroid’s dial pad sends calling commands to the connected Android phone. You can enter a number or paste one from another application, then initiate or end the call from the computer. Conversation audio still passes through the phone or a headset connected to it; the computer microphone does not carry the call.
Free accounts use the dial pad over the local network. Premium permits calling commands across different networks and adds queued dialing: import a list of numbers, choose a dialing interval and have AirDroid dial them in sequence.
Remote camera
The camera view streams the surroundings of the Android device to the desktop or browser. You can switch between its front and rear cameras, operate the flashlight and save screenshots or video recordings to the computer. The phone’s AirDroid app must remain running in the background.
Free accounts can access the camera on the local network. Premium allows camera access across different networks and adds One-Way Audio, which sends sound from the phone’s microphone to the viewer alongside the camera feed.
