Managing files and data on an Android device can be a chore at times. To move files back and forth you have to keep a micro USB cable handy. Not only that, in order to move files to your phone’s SD card it has to first be unmounted from your phone, which can take a while if you’re still using an ancient phone with limited internal memory (like me) and have tons of applications installed to the SD card.
Enter AirDroid.
AirDroid not only makes it easy to manage your files, but also do other managerial tasks on your phone, all wirelessly!
Setting up AirDroid is pretty painless. After connecting your Android device to the same wireless network as your computer, just open AirDroid on your phone. Hit the “Start” button (if it doesn’t start automatically) and type the displayed IP address into your favorite web browser on your computer. Then just enter the four digit password. You’re in!
Everything on the main AirDroid ‘desktop’ is pretty self-explanatory. From here you can browse text messages (and send new ones), uninstall apps from your phone, install new apps if you have the APK file handy on your computer, share clipboard contents between your computer and phone, and much more.
One of my favorite uses for AirDroid is to move files to and from my phone. File transfers are a bit slower over wireless than over USB, but if I’m feeling extra lazy the convenience of AirDroid wins out. Even better, through the magic of VNC I can start AirDroid, connect to my computer through a VNC client (I use android-vnc-viewer), connect from there back to my phone, and transfer files without ever physically needing to touch my computer. Theoretically you could take it a step further and set up a VPN to transfer files from your home computer even when you’re out of the house, but that isn’t something I’ve personally tried.
AirDroid might not completely revolutionize the Android experience, but it certainly makes managing your phone more convenient. Best of all, it’s free!
AirDroid can be downloaded free of charge from the Android Market.
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