A new version of Scrcpy is available to download.
Scrcpy is a free, open source tool that lets you view and interact with your Android device on a Windows, macOS, or Linux PC, wirelessly or wired.
I’ve written about this tool many times in the past. It’s so good at what it does — and with the latest update, Scrcpy 1.20, the handy Android mirroring tool now does a little bit more.
The biggest addition in this release is exclusive to Linux (for now): support for physical USB keyboard simulation on Android. This can be used instead of the default text injection which works everywhere but is limited to ASCII.
“On Linux, scrcpy can simulate a physical USB keyboard on Android to provide a better input experience (using USB HID over AOAv2): the virtual keyboard is disabled and it works for all characters and IME,” the GitHub page explains.
“In this mode, raw key events (scancodes) are sent to the device, independently of the host key mapping. Therefore, if your keyboard layout does not match, it must be configured on the Android device, in Settings → System → Languages and input → Physical keyboard”.
To run Scrcpy with HID keyboard enabled just pass the -K (or --hid-keyboard) flag when running it:
scrcpy -K
Do note that this mode will only work if your Android device is connected by USB.
Whatever mode you chose to run you should hopefully notice that Scrcpy has a new icon. This update replaces the tool’s low-res Android robot glyph with a swish high-resolution icon designed by the author of the (hugely popular) Papirus icon theme.
Other changes in Scrcpy 1.20:
- Adapt –help output to terminal size
- Rework server initialization to avoid unresponsive Ctrl+c sometimes
- Remove deprecated short options -T and -c
- Fix “Could not find v4l2 muxer”
- Fix workarounds for Meizu devices
- Fix support for expand notification feature on some devices
- Various technical refactors and fixes
Highlights from Scrcpy’s other releases this year:
- Android 12 support
- Use device screen as webcam/video source (Linux only)
- Lock video orientation
- Option to power off device when closing Scrcpy
- Resize to fit
- Implement (optional) buffering
Scrcpy is free, open source software available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Windows downloads are available from the project’s GitHub page. Pre-built Linux versions are available from various repos and sources, including the Snap Store.
To use Scrcpy your Android device does not need to be rooted but it must run Android 5.0 or later.