seems KDE Connect does not work over USB and i’d rather not use wireless or scrcpy
are there any other alternatives for controlling an Android device from a Linux PC?
i’d like to be able to edit contacts and perform backups primairly
If you enable USB tethering on your phone, and load the IP of your phone into KDE Connect, it can. At least I have done it (on my Pixel 9).
KDE Connect is a little clunky, but it definitely needs low latency to be usable. Wifi is not a good start there.
A few years ago I was trying all sorts of remote keyboard/mouse stuff, similar software you are asking for. My use case was a little different, as it was for virtualised guests. But I was always let down on how awkward and clunky it was. I found a better work around, which doesn’t help your situation.
But I did have more options, often it was advertised as KVM over IP! Back when that when KVM meant Keyboard/Video/Mouse (for KVM switches?), and now it means something entirely different inthe Linux kernel. But that may widen your options when searching around.
With a proprietary phone, I found remote desktop clients work much better, if that is even an option. Blame the Play/App Store!
If you enable USB tethering …
someone else mentioned tethering worked for them too, but when i tried it (PC/phone connected directly through USB) and went into ‘about phone’, my phone had no IP address, which i’m guessing means that the PC (Manjaro/KDE) isn’t assigning one (DHCP issue?)
so i’m guessing i need to set up a new connection on the PC, but i’ve no idea what type when i look in connection manager settings
You can do quite a lot from the command-line using adb (available in the android-tools package).
ADB commands list
Note though that this doesn’t give you access to apps’ files in /data. Though for any app that has been installed using a debug APK, you can use run-as from within a shell on the device. So for example, my own Beermad app’s package name is org.beermad.beermad2, so I can get to files it owns using
run-as org.beermad.beermad2
This can either run a single command (by adding it after the above line) or just enter an interactive shell with the raw command.
i prefer to not use ADB, only because i’d rather not enable dev ops on the phone (security) which is why i mentioned i’d rather avoid scrcpy - of course i can toggle dev ops on the phone, but i’m trying to keep things as simple as i can
It is possible to run ADB over WiFi, though I’ve never played with that and can’t say how feasible it is.
But to be honest, if you don’t want to enable dev ops, you’re not going to be able to do any controlling over USB.
Pretty much every app for controlling the phone via usb will need adb as requirement.
Never tried it actually, because i do not see the point - wireless is how i would go if i need it. With Airdroid or similar app.
I use KDE Connect over Wifi. I set it up and generally don’t have any problems.
works fine over wifi for me too - i was just trying to avoid wireless ‘cause my PC doesn’t have BT and my network is wired
My network is mainly wired as well, although I do have a wireless router for all the laptops and phones around the house…
You should always have one address from your provider?
What phone model is this?
I am also in Canada, where are phones are configured very differently than EU and others (hardware and software).
I have heard of other Android phones where the NAT network, is private and any phone apps cannot access this network directly.
This is where abd may help you.
My Wi-Fi 6 in my basement in a remote Canadian suburb gets pretty good throughput, latency, and no packet loss. The mouse in KDE Connect? Pretty smooth. It’s no where near using a touchpad, but it’s not bad.
It’s not the case if stray too far from my router. Or use it with my Steam Deck in the big city, frequencies can be pretty saturated. Cursor updates so slow you have to guess at movements, on any sub par wifi really.
You should always have one address from your provider?
oops - i forgot to address that - i didn’t think air mode would block a wired tether connection … it does 
- still never got it working via USB tethering
What phone model is this?
Pixel 9 running GrapheneOS
i looked at what KDE Connect had to offer when i tested with WiFi and i’m not so sure it’d be as useful to me as i thought - so i guess WiFi will do
I have not used GrapheneOS, but they say outright that these subnets are blocked for security.
And the abd route I believe requires abd root, so I think you are doubly hooped there. (At least the way I have done in the past, that just worked adding your own route and a couple iptables -j ACCEPT commands.)
It would be sad for me to accept that fate.
It’s been a while since I’ve used it, so this question is to anyone.
Shouldn’t be there a way with abd reverse? (That shouldn’t be blocked, even in Graphene?)
To top that, KDE Connect seems like a 
-show of ports.
i can connect with ADB, and when i attempt to connect with KDE Connect, the PC sees … something (i get a notification), but the ADB clients apps themselves cannot see each other (firewall ports were opened)
no big deal - as i said, the Connect app doesn’t seem like it’s be all the useful to me after playing with it (WiFi)
Anecdotal:-
I’ve personally not found any worthwhile application for KDE Connect – I’m sure there must be for others, otherwise, why would it exist?! – So far it hasn’t been a particularly viable substitute for manual interaction with a local device.
My setup is, well how top put it lightly…kind of convoluted.
I use it so that I can read my SMS messages on my PC, mainly, because I don’t carry the phone* that has the simcard in with me.
The other phone** doesn’t have a sim slot, so it’s kind of useless for that. BUT it does have an 8000mAH battery, and I mainly use it for reading anyway, so the big battery is awesome!
I also use KDE connect for the occasional file transfer and have Syncthing set up to keep some things in sync between my PC and the tablet(s).
* It’s actually a tablet. Mounted permanently on an arm and permanently on “charge” for if I need to reach it.
** It’s also actually a tablet.
Let’s hope you never have to swallow it.
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I’m normally OK with swallowing tablets, sometimes even dry. (Startled the nurse in the hospital quite a bit when I did that. I thought it was funny.)
But in this case, I’m hoping with you!
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A lot of its functionality seems pretty niche, though I find being able to send SMS messages from my Linux command line very useful (the SMS GUI has never worked for me) and I find the media player integration handy when I’m not actually sitting at my computer.
But scrcpy is far more useful (especially when I need to do a lot of typing into an app, where a “proper” keyboard is nicer) and adb is more convenient for a lot of stuff (like copying files back and forth).
I suppose I’m oldschool – I prefer to get up off my backside.
The SMS perspective seems convenient, though I tend to favour email or direct voice communication.
Recently, I rediscovered the Krusader file manager, which among other features, offers a familiar drag/drop interface when working via KDE Connect.
Using the Total Commander app on Android gives a similar experience in the reverse direction.