Two Spacedesk viewers don't reconnect reliably

#1 · 02/10/2026, 23:55

I’m running two Android phones using Spacedesk.

I need them to operate just like monitors on a PC – when the phone gets power on the USB, it needs to boot up if necessary and do the USB connection to Spacedesk, automatically.

When I reboot the PC, rarely both phones connect to Spacedesk.

More often one phone connects and not the other.

– Sometimes one phone totally drops Developer mode.

– Sometimes one phone drops PTP as the Default USB Configuration.

– Sometimes one phone stays ‘locked?’ and a simple swipe gets it connected.

I’m running Spacedesk driver v2.2.32 on the PC,

and the Spacedesk Android viewer v2.1.38 on the BLU K2 Android phones.

I’m in need of help to get this setup working reliably. Thank you.

#2 · 05/10/2026, 22:40

Unfortunately, using iPhones for our displays is out of our budget.

I need to purchase the commercial Viewer licenses when I can see that these Android viewers will work okay. Would the commercial licensing change any of the behavior I am seeing?

Is there a log system that can show what the Viewer is doing when it fails to connect?

#3 · 06/10/2026, 04:25

Hi @bryan-10,

Firstly, you do not need to turn on Developer mode to use spacedesk via USB. We actually would prefer you to not turn on Developer Mode while using spacedesk. Second, spacedesk cannot unlock your phone when the Primary Machine boots up. You might need to disable your Android phone’s lock in order for your setup to work. In the case of the USB Mode changing, that is handled by the phone itself, not spacedesk so we cannot control that. Regarding the licensing, the behavior of the Viewers will not change even when you purchase a commercial license. Please try turning off developer mode and removing the lock screen on your devices then try again. Thank you.

#4 · 06/10/2026, 23:58

Thanks for your reply. I have now turned off developer mode on both Android phones, and turned off the lock screens. Also updated the PC’s spacedesk driver to v2.2.33 .

The PC and phones no longer announce ADB when USB cable is plugged in, which is not unexpected given the change.

After restarting all, I was able to get both phones connected to spacedesk. Then I tried restarting the PC, and waited, and the phones did connect perhaps a minute after the main monitor was displaying. But on further PC restarts or off/on cycles, the phones are not connecting to spacedesk consistently. What can I try next, or can I gather log info?

#5 · 07/10/2026, 04:27

Hi @bryan-10,

This connection issue is due to how your Android devices behave when connected via USB to your PC. This is not covered by the spacedesk app’s functionality.

#6 · 07/10/2026, 23:10

What does the Android device (or person running it) need to do or not do when connected via USB? What behaviors are you referring to that are required for standard spacedesk operation?

One thing I’m finding that it needs is to turn on the Android display manually, after a PC reboot. But at other times ‘wake up display’ is not enough – I can’t get spacedesk to connect after a USB disconnect + reconnect no matter what I try. What other Android actions or behaviors are needed?

I’ve done everything listed in https://www.spacedesk.net/documentation/ for Android USB. Thanks!

#7 · 13/10/2026, 20:02

What other Android actions or behaviors are needed so that spacedesk can reconnect?

#8 · 14/10/2026, 11:41

Hi @bryan-10,
we are referring to the default USB configuration/mode set and making sure that it’s either in MTP/PTP/File Transfer mode.