Lesson-03 Using an Android Device to remotely control Raspberry Pi
In this tutorial, we’re going to learn how to use any android device (Smartphone/Tablet) as a monitor to remotely control a Raspberry Pi.
This Tutorial builds upon the previous tutorials, have a look at the Previous Tutorials here…
Lesson 01: Introduction to Raspberry Pi
Lesson 02: Setting up your Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Board
Requirements:-
1 – Internet Source – Router/ Modem
2 – Ethernet Cat 5/6E LAN Cable
3 – Raspberry Pi 3/4 board with Raspberry-Pi OS installed
4 – Android device (Smart-Phone/ Tablet)
5 – Network Scanner App
6 – VNC Viewer App
7 – Mobile SSH App
Figure 1: Hardware Requirements
Connections;-
Step 1;-
Power up your Raspberry Pi and connect it to the Internet using the RJ45 Ethernet Cable.
Step 2;-
In case you’re using, a wireless modem, just connect the Raspberry Pi board to the wireless network created.
Step 3;-
Make sure the Android device is connected to the same network as the Raspberry Pi board.
Step 4;-
Go to Google Play Store and download the required Android apps to your android device that is Network Scanner, VNC Viewer and Mobile SSH as shown in the figure below.
Figure 2: Android App installations
The Network Scanner app helps to find out which devices are connected to your Wi-Fi or LAN network.
The VNC Viewer app remotely controls the Raspberry Pi anywhere in the world with an android device and
The Mobile SSH app is used to communicate with the Raspberry Pi.
Configurations;-
Step 5;-
Open the Network Scanner app to start scanning the network on its own.
Figure 3: Network Scanner
There are cases when the Network Scanner App will not give you satisfactory results for the Raspberry Pi’s IP address. What you do in case you are using windows OS, simply download and install Angry IP Scanner. This software helps to scan the network for all devices that are connected to it in a given range, check under the column for Hostname for the Raspberry Pi IP Address as shown in figure 4 below.
Figure 4: Angry IP Scanner
Step 6:-
Upon finding the “raspberrypi.local” or “raspberrypi” hostname, stop the scan and note down the IP address attached to it as we’ll need it later.
Step 7;-
Close the Network Scanner and open Mobile SSH app. Go to Menu -> SSH Settings (click on the three dots above for the menu) and type in the Raspberry Pi’s IP address that we noted earlier. Keep other settings unaltered. Click on “OK” then head to Menu -> Connect and wait for the connection to occur. Type in your username and password that you pre-configured during the installation of the Raspberry Pi OS as seen in the lesson-02.
Figure 5: Mobile SSH Settings – IP Address & Connection
Step 8;-
After logging into your Pi, run the update by typing “sudo apt-get install update” as it’s always good practice to update and upgrade the system. When the update installation is finished, type “sudo apt-get install tightvncserver” this is a software that needs to be installed and it takes a minute or two. Type “y” for yes and send.
Figure 6: Installing tightvncserver
Step 9;-
After the installation has completed, type in “tightvncserver” and click send. You’ll then be prompted to enter a password to access the desktop and at this point, type in a password of your choice that you can easily remember as it will be needed later on to establish a connection. Verify the password and for View only password, type “n” and click send.
Figure 7: Enter password of your choice
Step 10;-
Send “tightvncserver” command to the Pi and note down the desktop number which in our case was “2” as it will also be needed later on. Minimize the SSH App but don’t close it.
Remote Control
Step 11;-
Open the VNC Viewer app on your android device and click on the “Plus button” at the bottom to create a new connection. For the Address field, type in the IP address of the Pi with the desktop number that was recorded earlier with a colon in between them. For example “192.167.42.78:2” where the last digit after the colon is the desktop number. For the name type in “Raspberry” or any other name that you so desire and click on “Create”.
Figure 8: VNC Server Settings & Configurations
Step 12;-
Then click on “Connect”. Ignore any error alert messages that might pop up, just press “OK” and continue. For Authentication, type in the password you created earlier and click continue.
Figure 9: Error message and authentication
Step 13;-
Finally, at this point your android should be acting as a monitor to Raspberry Pi and you can remotely control it without touching it at all.
Figure 10: VNC Server Pi Desktop GUI
Disconnection
Step 14;-
To disconnect the Remote Control Connection, just click the “X” on the VNC Server and then head to Mobile SSH click Menu -> Disconnect to terminate the current session.
Step 15;-
Follow the same procedure always whenever you want to establish a remote connection.
Conclusion
Basically, this is how you use your android device (smartphone/tablet) as a monitor to remotely control your Raspberry Pi.
In the next tutorial, we will learn more on how a Raspberry Pi Single Board Computer can be used as a full desktop computer…