USB OTG Cable - 7 Important Things You Can Use it For On Android Devices

OTG is short for On The Go. USB OTG is a standard that enables devices to talk to one another. USB OTG Cable is an important tool to creates a link between your mobile phone and other computer peripherals such as USB flash drive, Mouse, Keyboard, Digital Camera, Game Pad, Card reader, External hard-drive etc.

OTG Cable can do some really clever things and many people have never heard of it. If you don't know your OTG from your OMG, let's discover what it is and why it's so great.

Below are the 7 important things which you can do with USB OTG Cable on your Android Devices 

1. Share Battery Charge Between Two Android Devices

For sharing the battery charge, all you need is a regular data/charger cable that you use to connect your smartphone to your PC and a standard USB OTG Host cable. If you do not have an OTG host cable, then you can buy them very cheap from any mobile store or from online shopping sites.

When you have everything ready, connect the USB data cable to one of the phones. Connect the USB OTG host cable to the other phone. And finally attach the two cables together. You will notice that the phone with smaller charge level has started to charge. The charging will continue until the batteries of both the phones has almost the same level of charge.

2. Super-fast Files Transfer Between Two Device

When it comes to Android files transfer, lots will choose the commonly used way, Bluetooth, NFC, USB cable and PC for example. Nonetheless, when using these methods, connection issues always occur. And transmission is quite slow. So, in today's guide, a new solution – USB OTG will be introduced.

USB OTG, empowers USB devices like Android phones to act as a host and then allows other USB device to be attached to them. You can make direct connection between two Android phones/tablets and transfer files between Android via USB OTG. By using USB OTG, Android phones plugged-in can communicate with each other without the need to be connected to a computer.

When it's come to transferring heavy files like game data and HD movies, using an OTG cable is the best way to get it done with a fastest way.

3. Connection of 3G Modem with Android Devices

People who have WiFi only tablets or without 3G support might find the need to use 3G Modem with their device to get something downloaded quickly when the broadband is too slow or down. This can be done using an Android app called PPP Widget. As the name suggests, it is a widget, not an app. It is available in the Play Store and it is free. Download it to your device from here.

4. Using an External GamePad

Playing games on a touchscreen is not the same as holding a real Gamepad or a portable console like PSP. Many game developers have finally realized that in order for their games to be successful, they have to support Android. To really win Android users over, they should also accommodate us hardcore gamers who have OTG cables with the ability to hook up controllers to our devices.

Games like Dead Trigger and Asphalt already support Gamepads, but many others are still touch only. Some will only work well with touchscreen input, like Blek, but action games like FIFA 15, Modern Combat 4 and Shadow Gun can definitely benefit from an external Gamepad.If you have a tablet, you can try connecting your Gamepad with your device using your OTG cable.

5. Connect USB Flash Drive to Your Android Device

Flash drives spent a good amount of time as the number one way to take your files with you wherever you needed to go. As some of that has changed with Android devices and cloud storage, many of us still have those USB flash drives kicking around looking for a good use. USB Flash drive is not meant for your computer alone, you can use it with your Android device as long as you have your OTG cable with you. It’s plug and play with no settings needed. Think about the possibilities: watching movies from your flash drive, moving files around, reading documents stored on USB Flash etc.

6. Connection of a Mouse to Your Android Device

When a USB mouse is connected to your Android Device using a USB OTG cable, a mouse pointer appears on the screen. Click to select and open items on the screen.

The following applies when using a USB mouse on your Android Device:

The touch screen continues to function when a mouse is connected.

Right-clicking performs the same action as left-clicking.

To scroll up, down, left or right in a menu, use the mouse scroll wheel, or click and drag the screen in the direction you want to scroll.

To change the mouse pointer speed, go to the Settings menu, touch Language & input, and then touch Pointer speed. Move the slider left or right to achieve your desired pointer speed.

7. Connection of a USB Keyboard to Your Android Device

When a USB keyboard is connected to your Android Device using a USB OTG cable, touch inside a text input area to begin using the keyboard.

The following applies when using a USB keyboard on your Android Device:

The on-screen keyboard is hidden when a physical keyboard is connected.

Some of the key combinations that perform actions on Windows computers also work on a tablet, in most apps. 

For example, you can Cut (Ctrl + X), Copy (Ctrl + C), and Paste (Ctrl + V) using your keyboard.

To find settings options for the physical keyboard, go to the Settings menu, touch Language & input, and look in the Physical keyboard section.

USB OTG (On-The-Go) supported devices are Sony, Xperia Z, ZL, Z Ultra, Z1 - Samsung Galaxy S2, S3, S4, Note 1,  Note 2, Note 3 - Tecno F7/H7/R7/Phantom A+/Tablets - Motorola: Moto G Phone | Xoom Tablet - LG Optimus G, G2, G3 G Pad 8.3 7.0 8.0 10.1 – HTC X, One, One mini, One max, M7, M8 - Nokia Lumia 2520 Tablet | Nokia 603 | Asha 300 | C6-01 | C7 E6 E7 | N8 - Google Nexus 5 / 6 / 7 / 9 / 10, all Q Mobiles and many more.

To Buy an OTG Cable

 OTG (On-The-Go) cable is available in the Mobile market. To use this cable with the phone, firstly you need to check whether there is support in the OTG or not. You can check this capability with ” USB OTG Checker” from Google Play Store.

USB OTG Cable - 7 Important Things You Can Use it For On Android Devices

It can be as cheap as $3 and if you’re in Nigeria, you can get it for as low as N600 on Jumia and Konga.