This Android Phone Connects With A MacBook In Ways That Even The IPhone Can

If you ask a group of Apple users why they decided to go iPhone over Android, or Mac over Windows, one of the most cited reasons is likely the superior ecosystem and seamless connectivity between devices. While that’s true for the most part, what if I told you the phone that plays nicest with a Mac right now is not an iPhone, but an Android phone that doesn’t even sell in the US?

I’m talking about Vivo’s latest foldable phone series, whose software, OriginOS 4, can connect to a Mac in ways that even the iPhone can’t. For example, I can drag and drop files between my Vivo X Fold 3 Pro and my MacBook Air. I can mirror my phone screen on the MacBook screen, or control my Android phone remotely with the MacBook trackpad.

To be clear, some of these things I mentioned, other Android phones can do with a Windows PC. But the fact that Vivo’s OriginOS is able to do it with a MacBook is what makes this so unusual and interesting.

What is OriginOS?

Let’s back up a bit and explain OriginOS, since you may not be familiar given its limited regional availability. Debuting in 2021, OriginOS is Vivo’s phone software based on Android (an Android skin, so to speak). But despite Vivo selling phones around the world (except in North America), OriginOS is a China-exclusive software. For example, Vivo devices that sell in Thailand or Turkey or Tunisa run on the brand’s global ROM, named Funtouch OS (which doesn’t actually offer the features highlighted here).

OriginOS is a colorful and lively software that does several things different from Android such as having interactive widgets, reshapable app icons, customizable swipe gestures, and of course, the ability to connect to a MacBook.

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How to connect OriginOS 4 to a Mac

The first thing you have to do is install Vivo’s Office Suite on MacOS. You can install the software from Vivo China’s website, or by plugging an OriginOS 4 device into a MacBook and dragging the installation file directly over to the MacBook.

The Vivo app icon on the right

Once installed, opening the app will require remote access permission on the Mac. So yes, this right here could be a dealbreaker for some readers. But considering the number of people in the US using the latest Vivo foldable which is only sold in China is very low, this article will just be for American curiosity anyway.

Once you’ve given permission, you have the option to connect to the Vivo device wirelessly by scanning a QR Code displayed on the Vivo Office Suite, or by connecting the Vivo phone to the Mac via USB-C cable. I mostly used the wired option because I am in a location with poor WiFi, but I have tried doing this over WiFi connection and it works.

Once connected, the Vivo Office Suite will first show all the phone’s files in a file system format. From here, I can drag and drop files from the phone to the MacBook, or vice versa.

dragging a file from Vivo X Fold 3 Pro to a MacBook

This feature saves me from a major hassle: I often have to move files from an Android phone to a MacBook because I mostly use an Android phone, but a MacBook is my main work computer. Since there is no AirDrop between Android and MacBook and I do not own a USB-C thumb drive, I would upload files to Google Drive and then download them on the other device. This direct port saves me a lot of time.

But that’s not all. Once connected, you can display your Vivo phone screen on the Mac screen, and the virtual phone screen is usable on the Mac, meaning that I can operate the Vivo phone using just the MacBook’s trackpad and keyboard.

Opening the camera app of a Vivo phone using the MacBook

But the coolest part to me is that I can also do the reverse of this: I can actually control my MacBook from the Vivo phone. With a tap of a button, I can mirror my MacBook screen on the Vivo phone. From here, I can operate the MacOS interface on the Vivo phone screen using its touchscreen.

Now, is this experience very functional? No. There is noticeable lag when mirroring the Mac screen on a Vivo device (much more noticeable than when mirroring the Vivo interface on a Mac screen). And even though the Vivo foldable gives me an 8-inch inner screen, it’s still too small to display a Mac screen that has not been optimized for touch or such a small display.

Vivo’s workaround is to turn the bottom half of the foldable screen into a trackpad if you put the X Fold 3 Pro in Flex Mode. In this way, you can navigate the Mac screen with a conventional mouse arrow instead.

In the video below, you can see how the connection works, while I control the MacBook by touching only the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro.

Truth be told, there aren’t many instances I’d want to mirror my MacBook screen on my phone, but I suppose this can come in handy, like say if I want to control my MacBook’s video or audio streaming from across the room. Still, a very niche use case.

But I see a lot of use cases for connecting a phone to a work computer. Aside from the aforementioned drag-and-drop capability, I can respond to text messages on the phone without taking my eyes or hands off the computer. And I can view superior mobile versions of apps like Instagram or Twitter on the computer screen instead of relying on the web browser version.

The iPhone should really be able to do this

As I said, this entire article is mostly for curiosity’s sake, because there probably aren’t a lot of XDA readers who happen to pocket the newest China-only Vivo foldable. But it’s nice to see what a phone/laptop connection looks like on a Mac.

Now the elephant in the room is: why can’t the iPhone even do this? The MacBook actually plays quite nicely with the iPad, with the former able to use the latter as an external display. Or I can use an iPad keyboard to type on the MacBook screen. But after seeing what Vivo Office Suite can do with the MacBook, I wish Apple would consider building something like this for iPhone users. You should be able to mirror your iPhone screen on a MacBook, or quickly use your iPhone screen as a trackpad to navigate through MacOS.