Although USB drives are very useful tools, unfortunately sometimes it is not very easy to use on your phone. However, if you have an Android phone and it has USB OTG, you can easily do this.
What is USB On-The-Go (OTG)?
USB On-The-Go (OTG) is a standardized specification that enables a device to read data from a USB device without requiring a PC.
With OTG connection, you can have many different possibilities such as connecting a USB flash drive or video game controller to your phone. The easiest way to see if your phone or tablet supports USB OTG is to check the box it came in or the manufacturer’s website. On supported devices, you may see USB OTG in a logo or specs list similar to the one below. You can also find USB OTG information in the device’s settings.
Another easy method is to use a USB OTG Control app. These apps will quickly tell you if the device has USB OTG functionality and which features will work for you.
Samsung and other smartphones are OTG enabled right out of the box. However, other manufacturers may require you to enable it manually from Settings > Additional Settings > OTG.
Your Android device has a standard micro USB or USB-C port. However, many USB devices require a full-size USB port. You can solve this problem with a converter/adapter.
What can you do with USB OTG?
When you’re ready to use USB OTG for your Android device, you have many different options. For example, thanks to this connection, you can use external disks with your phone. So, in just a few seconds (and carrying an additional device with you), you might be able to access terabytes of storage. However, it is worth remembering that these external disks must use the FAT32 or exFAT file format.
If you like to play games that support joystick on your phone, another option is to connect a joystick via USB OTG. While Android P and newer versions have Xbox One controller support, older controllers like the Xbox 360 controllers become available via USB OTG.
If you use your phone frequently for business and correspondence, another feature you may want is the ability to use a keyboard and mouse. Most wireless and wired keyboards and mice can run smoothly on Android. Of course, if you want to use both, it’s a good idea to get a keyboard and mouse duo with a common transmitter as you’ll only have one USB port.
Another option that will make your job easier is to directly connect to a wired printer and print the files you want. Many brands of printers, including Canon, Epson and HP, have their own software that will allow you to print files directly.
There are at least two options for those who like to take photos. With USB OTG you can connect your DSLR camera to your phone and use a relatively giant screen as well as gain the ability to control your camera. Also, with this connection, transferring photos from your camera to your Android device becomes much easier, eliminating the need to use another device.
If you are interested in music, you can connect your MIDI compatible musical instruments such as keyboards to your phone via USB OTG. You can have the option to create your music from your phone by adding a music application you like next to this link. If you don’t use an instrument and prefer to use your voice, you can connect a USB microphone to your phone, which is probably better quality than your phone’s microphone or microphones that use the 3.5mm input. Special voice recorders for Android can also help you with this.
Another lesser known function of the OTG function is that it allows you to connect an Ethernet cable to your Android device. If your Wi-Fi connection is not giving you the gaming experience you want, this option may come in handy. Of course, for this connection, you need to use an Ethernet-USB adapter as well as an OTG adapter.
Another rare but useful feature that will make your life easier is that you gain the ability to charge another phone with this connection. If you connect the USB cable of another phone to your phone with an OTG cable, you can charge the other phone using your own phone’s battery. Or you can transfer energy from another phone to your phone by changing the connections…
8377
