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I am trying to solve something here.

I am trying to figure out a way to control an android device with an external touchscreen display. The android device would either be a Samsung Galaxy Tab A or a Galaxy Alpha. I have seen many connectors that allow you to display the screen from a tablet onto a tv or monitor but no easy way on controlling it using the larger screen (probably due to the video output on the tablet not supporting touch signals?). I have seen a few threads on various blogs that can just about manage this but they seem to be out of date and I can't see why this isn't easier.

Ideally, the external monitor needs to be larger than 20 inches and be a capacitive touch screen rather than a resistive type. I am using this as a control surface for music production and performance and sadly, the screen size on available tablets isn't big enough.

I would really appreciate any kind of input. I hope I'm not being a complete idiot and that this is really easy to do. Please let me know either way. Thanks

*Edit: Ideally, I would like to be able to use the tablet without the external screen as normal when I want. The extra screen size would be an added, optional extra.

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If both devices are Samsung they have a brand specific app called SideSync which will allow you to link the two devices via a WiFi network. It's available via the play store or direct from Samsung. I currently have an S6 edge, a galaxy tab S and a Samsung Smart tv and can control the phone or tablet via the tv and the also the phone via the tv or tablet. Not too sure if you can control the tv or tablet via the phone as I've had no reason to try. I have never come across an app which works in the same way if any of the devices aren't a Samsung but I've used this app with my current setup and with the old setup of S4, Tab 2 and older Samsung Smart tv I've owned over the last 12-18 months with no issues. I hope this answers your question.

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  • Thanks for your suggestion. Thats very helpful. I have a few questions about this. What if the large monitor doesn't have access to the play store? and what is the latency like in controlling one device from another?
    – maxthackray
    Jan 9, 2016 at 18:11
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Touchscreens are basically two devices. The image to the monitor is usually fed from the tablet via mhl or hdmi. The touch functionality is via usb to the Android tablet or phone from the monitor. You need a dock of some description which provides mhl/hdmi out and also usb into the tablet, unless your tablet has separate ports for these, in which case you would need a usb otg adaptor cable and an hdmi/mhl cable. If the tablet supports HID (human interface device) input it should work to some degree as it would see it as a mouse or touch pad. Since android 4, support for multitouch has improved so it might work. If I get it working I will let you know.

Good luck

Steve

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  • What about the driver for the USB touchscreen?
    – Dan Hulme
    May 7, 2016 at 9:39
  • Hi. Did you try your solution ? Did it work ? Has anybody any new solution?
    – Mostafa -T
    Oct 5, 2017 at 9:21

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