4 Add touchscreen features to your PC
Although ‘Mouse without Borders’ is a handy way to reuse a second machine, not everyone is lucky enough to have more than one computer to call on. However, many households have both a computer and a tablet or smartphone, in which case you already have all the hardware you need to be able to control your PC from another device.
This won’t perform all the same functions as ‘Mouse without Borders’ – you can’t run separate programs on each screen, or copy and paste between them. But if you’re editing photos on your PC and you don’t already have a touchscreen, this is a clever way to lend your tablet’s touchscreen features to your computer.
Doing so requires an app on the mobile device, and matching software on your PC. There are several options, but we’re going to use Splashtop’s Wired Xdisplay. It’s currently free for a “limited time” on ipad ( www.snipca.com/34680) and iphone ( www.snipca.com/34681), but will cost $19.99 and $9.99 respectively once this offer ends (Splashtop told us the offer is expected to run throughout 2020). The free Android version ( www. snipca.com/34682) runs for 10 minutes at a time, so you can check that it does what you need before paying £6.99 for the full version.
Whichever version you’ve installed on your mobile device, you’ll also need to install the complimentary PC program to communicate with it, which you can
download for free from www.snipca. com/34683. Launch both the Windows software and the Xdisplay app on your mobile device.
At this point, if you’re connecting an iphone or ipad, you’ll also need to be running itunes, not because itunes itself is required by Xdisplay, but because it relies on some of its background code to authorise the connection. The latest version of itunes for Windows is on the Microsoft Store at www.snipca. com/34686 (if you’re using Android, you may also need to install a USB driver from www.snipca.com/34687).
Connect your mobile device and allow Windows to access it. If you’re connecting an ipad or iphone, launch itunes first, then connect the device over USB. When asked ‘Do you want to allow this computer to access information on…’ followed by the device name, click Continue. Your iphone or ipad will ask if you’re happy to allow access. Tap Trust, then enter your lock code to authorise it.
You will immediately see a copy of your desktop or laptop screen on your mobile device. Although the screenshot above might look like our regular Windows desktop, the clock, Wi-fi signal and ‘Not Charging’ notification at the top of the window, and the Dock at the bottom, mark it out as our ipad display mirroring what’s shown on our PC.