How To Use AirDroid: Freeware for Smartphone Remote Control via Browser

aNewDomain.net — This week for Freeware Friday I’m focusing on AirDroid. This free app from Sand Studio lets you easily manage your phone from a web browser. Currently in release 2.03, the app is at once mature in its range of functionality and stable in its operations. I put it through its paces and I heartily recommend this app and all the things it can do. Here’s how to use AirDroid.

First install the app on your Android and then create a web account on your browser of choice. Then point your phone’s scanner app at the website’s QR code. That’s it. You’ve successfully linked your Android phone to your web browser.

What you see next on your computer’s browser is a tab with a summary of your phone’s major apps and information about its current status.

For example, the summary view tells you how your storage is allocated.

All the Things AirDroid Did for Me

Now that you’re off and running, it’s time to explore some of the other functions I found AirDroid has in its free version.

I tested AirDroid as a way to send and receive SMS by way of my current carrier from my desktop browser. It was simple. You can even call contacts and share clipboard content from your desktop.

AirDroid also let me manage media and move photos or other files to and from my phone — no USB cable required.

If you lose or someone steals your Android phone, AirDroid is invaluable. It lets you remotely locate, lock and even wipe all data.

Managing your installed phone apps and exporting your app apk files to your desktop is easy via the free version of AirDroid, too.

And another cool feature: AirDroid lets you remotely see what your phone camera lens sees, both front and back, and stream the screen of your phone, too.

Should You Pay for the Premium Version?

AirDroid is free, mature and feature-packed. So the short answer is, not necessarily. The premium version does remove ads and add what its execs call premium tech support and some other features you might want to explore once you’ve thoroughly worked your way through the free version of AirDroid. The pay version costs $1.99 per month — or $19.99 per year.

In my experience, AirDroid — the free version — worked without a hitch. Its user interface is  polished and easy to navigate. If you find screen management and typing easier on your laptop or desktop computer than on your phone — many of us do — you will totally enjoy using AirDroid. Give it a try. It’s free.

For aNewDomain.net, I’m Mike Rothman.

Based in San Francisco, Mike Rothman is a tech evangelist and senior writer at ANewDomain.net. Mike specializes in tech tools and is part of our Silicon Valley-based news event coverage team. He’s also a regular on our Mat Lee’s Yet Another Tech Show. Ones and zeros run through his veins, he says, and we believe him. Email tips, news and questions to him at Mike@aNewDomain.net. Follow him @thatworksforme.