I want to believe that most of us must have one way or the other come across devices with OTG support and we are yet to know its functions.
Some Android devices such as
theNexus 5 support a very useful
feature that manufacturers don’t
really make a whole lot of fuss
over: USB On the go, or OTG. At
the very basic core, it means that
you can use your Android device
as a USB host and connect, for
example, a USB stick directly to
the smartphone. At the core, it
has a bunch of other uses. What
else can USB OTG be used for and
how it works, we’ll explain
below.
With the help of a small cable,
you can connect a mouse,
keyboard, or USB flashd drive to
your Nexus 5.
What is OTG?
As stated above, OTG stands for
“On the go”. With two devices
that are USB OTG compatible you
can make them communicate
with each other and perform
certain functions. The most
common one we use is when we
use a PC, which acts as a host,
and connect a USB flash drive or
a smartphone to it. With the
introduction of more devices
being OTG compatible, you can
now bypass the PC: photos can
be sent directly from your
camera to a printer, a keyboard
can be connected directly to a
mobile device, or a USB stick can
be connected to a smartphone.
One of the easiest ways to figure
out whether you have a device
that is USB OTG compatible is to
look for the following USB logo
with green arrow.
If you see this logo, your device
is USB OTG capable.
How can you use OTG on your
smartphone or tablet?
The applications of USB OTG are
varied and based on compatible
hardware. With smartphones
and tablets, the technology can
be used to connect keyboards,
mice, hard drives, and USB sticks.
However, not all smartphones
and tablets are OTG compatible. If
you’re not sure whether your
device has the capability of
acting as an OTG host, you can
easily figure it out by
downloading a free app from the
Play Store called USB Host
Diagnostics.
Just having a device that is OTG
compatible isn’t enough though
as you’ll also need a suitable OTG
cable for your device. Of course,
you can easily grab one for a few
bucks at a few online portals,
including over at Amazon.com.
Furthermore, to connect storage
devices such as a USB flash drive
or a hard drive, you may also
need an app likeUSB Host
Controller or Total Commander.