What Is USB OTG? 5 great ways to use It on Android devices

You may have heard the term “OTG” used when discussing data transfer between your Android device and external storage. Using a USB drive to move data between PCs is the simplest thing you can do. But can a USB drive be plugged into a smartphone and used immediately? No, most people would respond. Actually not at all. Without a computer acting as a buffer, you can connect a USB drive directly to your smartphone using USB On-To-Go (Go). In this post, we define USB OTG and list its top 5 applications for Android devices.

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What is USB OTG?

With USB On-The-Go, you may read the data from a USB drive that is plugged directly into your smartphone. An OTG cable, which plugs into your smartphone’s USB Type-C or Type-B port and has a USB Type-A port on the other end, enables this. Your smartphone must have USB OTG connectivity in order to use this feature. If you want to know if your smartphone supports USB OTG, simply Google it or check the box it came in.

How to use USB OTG on Android devices

You’re undoubtedly curious about how an OTG can be used with an Android device. The options are infinite because the OTG cable enables you to connect any USB device to your smartphone. The top 5 methods for using a USB OTG on an Android device are shown below.

Connect a Pendrive or an External hard drive

The ability to directly transfer data between external storage and your smartphone without utilising a computer may be the most popular usage of a USB OTG. To access the files on your smartphone’s external storage, simply attach the USB drive or external drive to the USB end of the OTG cable.

For the external storage devices to work with your smartphone, the file format needs to be FAT32 or exFAT. You may play movies and music immediately on your smartphone without transferring them first if you keep them on external storage.

Connect a keyboard to your Android device

Even though today’s smartphones and tablets are capable of almost anything, a traditional keyboard is still preferred while typing documents. This is so because, despite being quite handy, on-screen keyboards weren’t meant to be used for typing a lot of text. You may easily connect an external physical keyboard to your Android handset using an OTG cable and start typing. It is made simple with plug-and-play functionality.

Connect a video game controller

As Android apps improve year over year, more people want to use a console controller to play them. This becomes a rather simple operation when using an OTG cable. Because Android is natively supported by Xbox controllers, pairing one with a smartphone or tablet is as simple as plugging it in. You might need to root your Android devices to enable basic connectivity for PlayStation controllers.

Connect a printer

Have you ever needed to print something quickly but didn’t have access to a computer or laptop? You may effortlessly print out any document by connecting your printer directly to your Android device using USB OTG connectivity. You must switch your smartphone or tablet’s USB mode from mass storage to PTP or MTP mode in order to print a document. It’s possible that some printers don’t support plug-and-play, so you’ll need to obtain the required drivers before utilising them.

Connect a microphone to your Android device

Yes, the majority of headphones have a built-in microphone. However, it is well known that the audio they capture is hardly acceptable for a phone call, much less a professional recording. You can simply record audio on your smartphone if you’re a podcaster or YouTuber and need to do it while on the road. Simply plug your microphone into your Android device using the OTG cable. When comparing the audio recording quality of microphones connected via USB and those connected by 3.5mm jack, it’s like night and day.

Learn how to download Dynamic Island on your Android smartphone here.

Conclusion

These are the top 5 applications for Android devices that support USB OTG. There are many other things you can accomplish with a USB OTG connection in addition to these features. Some people will even use a USB OTG to reverse charge a smartphone or utilise an ethernet cable to connect to the internet. If you have a DSLR, you can transfer photographs directly from your camera to your Android device just like you would with any other mass storage device.