MTP Fix No Longer Working - But an Alternative Solution

Earlier on this week I posted about a problem I have been experiencing with the MTP USB Device driver, for which I also included a fix. Whilst this has worked a few times, regrettably I stumbled across the issue again yesterday, which I was unable to fix.

Now, at this point, I spent many many hours trying to resolve this and have hit another dead end. I don't have many more hours to waste as I'm extremely busy with university and kinda expect a phone to be simple to use without needing to go through all of this.


This said, I have looked into other options, and have found one that suites me rather well! Whilst it may not be possible to perform backups without PC Companion, or to the storage card with the new Xperia Devices (alternative backups are an issue I will look into at a later date), updates come OTA so this is not too much of an issue, even if it does mean the update is delayed as they usually come through PC Companion first, my main concern has been the ability to transport media to and from my phone via. my PC. I have found a fantastic solution, called AirDroid.

AirDroid is a free service available to android users that provides the phone with a web interface that can be accessed through Firefox or Chrome (It can also be accessed through IE, however a message will be received advising the service is optimized for the prior browsers).

AirDroid's desktop interface through Chrome for Windows

Connecting to the interface will provide you with a desktop like service, allowing you to a range of things from viewing photos, organising your music, files, call logs, contacts, even sending and receiving text messages, and uninstalling apps.

AirDroid is far from perfect in its current state. The technology is there to make a wide range of improvements, including some of the technology which is already present on the interface (HTML5) which would allow additional quirks such as dragging and dropping from your PC interface to the phone's desktop interface for fast bulk media transfers. As it stands, sending media is a little tedious, however I have been putting anything I want to send across into ZIP files, sending the files across, and then using Astro on the phone itself to extract the files.

The developer's website contains a user guide (although the service really is VERY easy to use) along with an active forum containing a feature requests section and a blog which contains information on updates, last updated just three days ago. All these things on the developers website really does show that this developer is serious about this product, and I would expect this really to take off with a strong audience over the next few months.

So, if you're an Xperia user (or any android user for that matter) who is having severe problems trying to connect your device to your PC, look no further. Give this a wiz!