Turn Your Phone Into a Powerful PC

For most tasks, the only computer you need is the one in your pocket. WSJ's David Pierce shows you accessories to help put your iPhone or Android phone to work. Photo/Video: Emily Prapuolenis/The Wall Street Journal



More from the Wall Street Journal:

[AurioDK]

I have used my phone as a PC for a very long time and it works perfectly for the 3 particular things I do when connecting it to big screen. Using a bluetooth keyboard and mouse I review my emails and reply if needed, I watch youtube and browse the news, it also does social media stuff easily. I use the native cast option in my phone to view things on the TV. I often do this when I have like 15-20 minutes of available time, for longer sessions I rely on my rig.

[ybyyfll]

«I’ve figured out why you smell, call me”😂

[jad]

50$ adapter omfg they make that for a few cents

[CelebrityLifestyle]

Also, how can I get the Bluetooth keyboard. I mean I do like the one on the video. Thank you.

[grubhubkid]

Dr P: I have figured out why you smell. Please call

[ayushi]

If i want to connect my phone with tv, then what type of tv required
Because i want just big screen to use recorded lecture

[DeViceCrimsin_]

Microsoft this is your time to shine. Where you at?

[davidlam]

This is how I do it too, and I am glad that there is a video that promotes this awesome setup!!! I use the same equipment (Apple Lightning to HDMI adapter and 4K HDMI cables from Costco) except I use an iPhone 6s Plus, Logitech K780 wireless Bluetooth keyboard, a Logitech Triathlon wireless Bluetooth mouse and a different TV/monitor.

[DrRonontheInternet]

Wow, I love it! Most of the time I prefer the full-on ease and functionality of a laptop, so I invested $1600 for a cool HP recently. But I love these accessories that can attach to my iPhone: I'm quite deft with a touch keypad, but I prefer the physical one. Plus, if I can project my iPhone to a monitor or TV, even better.

[arjacques]

Did you do any research or just start trying to connect things? iOS 13+ supports Bluetooth mice as an assistive touch (accessibility) device.

[nightcoderk]

One day my contact lens is a computer, and I'm going to type with my thoughts. They're working on it.

[sirrara]

I have often thought this is a good idea my current phone is considerably more powerful than my laptop

[mhm]

How did you manage to make the buttons larger when the timer/alarm goes off

[topsecret]

As for the mouse part, not true. The hardware you would need to be able to use a mouse is there, but no one’s developed the software integration because IOS is supposed to be touch-based. There’s a guy named Louisdh on GitHub who along with his swift-based iOS terminal, OpenTerm, has developed a block of code which enables mouse support on given apps. It’s just that no one has seen this integrated on IOS devices whether it’s an iPhone equipped on a monitor with a keyboard, or an iPad. I think IOS 13 or so should become a full fledged version of OSX with integration of some PC capabilities which IPhones and IPads are capable of handling, and not just a microkernal which people make an excuse to jailbreak.

[williamgorelander]

Being a minimalist, my dream is to dock a phone and use it as a PC. I don't think Apple will ever do it as they want to sell you multiple devices and you just don't have many pro apps on Android. My hopes was with Microsoft with their phone, hopefully running a version of Windows, but they've moved to using Android now too.

[jrpierce]

Add a dual monitor support would make it perfect

[MrrRickC]

This is really cool and works for a fair percentage of use cases. My opinion, it will never be a thing. I was all over this with the Microsoft implementation with the doomed Windows phone. It worked great but there are already too many PC's and laptops around to make this necessary. And even if your not around a PC most folks won't use the add-ons necessary to make this work. What makes a Smartphone so attractive is the lack of friction in its use. The minute you add friction most people will not adapt.

[pierreboyer]

Keydock gives an even better docking experience!

[rjhills]

I’m waiting for the day that a phone will power steam games

[testaccount]

How do you connect a wired mouse and connect it to your tv at the same time without Apple TV