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el-John-o

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Nov 29, 2010
1,588
766
Missouri
Hey all,

So I have tried a few remote desktop solutions for my iPhone, and I've liked some (some perform better than others, and some are on more platforms than others. My current favorite is teamviewer, because it's free and works great, plus it has a Linux app!)

However it seems like all of them require dragging a cursor OR dragging a screen around a centralized cursor, tapping again to "click" This is not very intuitive. It would be great if it worked like plugging a touch screen into a Windows machine worked, where you simply tap on whatever (say the start button) and the cursor jumps to that position and "clicks".

Is there such a beast? Performance is nice but not a deal breaker, if it's laggy it's okay. The main uses are for proprietary apps for Windows / Ubuntu, that there is no decent alternative for on iOS, nothing graphically intensive however. It would also be awesome to use Photoshop and Lightroom on my iOS device, but dragging the cursor to something is too much of a pain to be productive.

Also, and I'm probably asking for too much, but if it allowed me to send files TO the server? For example, using the camera connection kit, to snap photos with my DSLR, pop the card in, send them to my PC at home and even pull them up in lightroom for minor editing and tweaking? It's not a replacement for working from the PC, but when I've got downtime it seems like a good use of it.

-John

EDIT: I should mention Linux isn't a dealbreaker, that would just be for doing stuff that can wait until I get home anyway. If it's compatible with Windows 7 is will do 95% of what I want it to do.
 

Matthew Yohe

macrumors 68020
Oct 12, 2006
2,200
142
It would be great if it worked like plugging a touch screen into a Windows machine worked, where you simply tap on whatever (say the start button) and the cursor jumps to that position and "clicks".

This doesn't really make much sense. Especially on an iPhone where the screen is so small.

You wouldn't want it clicking every time you tapped. Seriously, sit back a moment, and think that interaction through. I know at first glance it seems "easy" but I assure you, it's non trivial.
 

el-John-o

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Nov 29, 2010
1,588
766
Missouri
This doesn't really make much sense. Especially on an iPhone where the screen is so small.

You wouldn't want it clicking every time you tapped. Seriously, sit back a moment, and think that interaction through. I know at first glance it seems "easy" but I assure you, it's non trivial.

Well even on the iPad, and I'm sure if it existed for the iPhone such an issue could be worked out (it is a multi-touch device after all, two fingers to drag the screen, one finger to click for example.)

Thinking this interaction through, I don't see a reason why it wouldn't work. Once again, this type of interaction works well on touch-screen PC monitors. There is no need to move a mouse if you interact directly with the destination.

With an iPad 1024 x 768 resolution, it's perfectly acceptable to have the entire screen on the iPad. On the iPhone, once again, a multi-touch setup where, for example, two finger dragging could be implemented. Tap start, tap all programs, tap Microsoft office, tap word, tap the document, type type type, tap office button, tap save, tap the "X". Tap lightroom on the desktop, tap 'import', tap source, tap picture, drag sliders.

I'm thinking this through, but can't seem to think of a situation in which clicking where you tap wouldn't work. After all, once again, it's been done for years. I used to own a Tablet PC (Windows XP tablet), which utilized a stylus, but still, I didn't drag the cursor everywhere, I just tapped.

I appreciate your input but it doesn't really answer the question, unless I'm missing something, but I'll have to disagree on whether or not it would work.

-John

Edit: Should also mention that Windows 7 includes the enhancements that Windows XP Tablet PC edition had, and can be setup to be easily used by a touch screen or stylus input system. It's not as intuitive as a touch-only OS like iOS, but it certainly can be done.
 
Last edited:

SteveAbootman

macrumors 6502a
May 12, 2008
618
96
Have you tried Splashtop remote? It uses the touch to click functionality you describe and it works quite well. The only downside is no ability to control pc from 3G you have to be on wireless. They have a lite app, give it a shot.
 

el-John-o

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Nov 29, 2010
1,588
766
Missouri
Have you tried Splashtop remote? It uses the touch to click functionality you describe and it works quite well. The only downside is no ability to control pc from 3G you have to be on wireless. They have a lite app, give it a shot.

Thanks! No 3G stinks but it's a better solution than anything I've seen so far!

I appreciate the input.
 

bmcgonag

macrumors 65816
Mar 20, 2007
1,077
0
Texas
Thanks! No 3G stinks but it's a better solution than anything I've seen so far!

I appreciate the input.

Mocha VNC free (lite)...requires you to setup VNC on the server machines, but it works the way you describe, and it's decently fast on wi-fi...3G will always be a bottle-neck, but you can set most server progs and client progs on VNC to blank the background, change the resolution, etc to make it run a bit smoother.
 

TonyL08

macrumors regular
Sep 25, 2007
108
0
Screens supposedly does what you're talking about.

Exit Cursor
Screens is a 100%, fully touched-base VNC client. Forget the cursor. Click, drag and scroll where your fingers are, not the cursor.
 

el-John-o

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Nov 29, 2010
1,588
766
Missouri
Mocha VNC free (lite)...requires you to setup VNC on the server machines, but it works the way you describe, and it's decently fast on wi-fi...3G will always be a bottle-neck, but you can set most server progs and client progs on VNC to blank the background, change the resolution, etc to make it run a bit smoother.

Thanks!

Also, screens looks great, I'll report back on what I find that seems to work best.

Yeah I know 3G will be a bottleneck but for what I need it for, performance isn't mission-critical, and if I'm somewhere only on 3G, I should be ok.

Not to mention, for some odd reason, the VERY rural area that I live in enjoys 4mbps+ download speeds and 1mbps+ upload speeds almost everywhere. Go figure. Point is, most stuff people say performs poorly over 3G I'm like "What are you talking about?" I've gotten as high as 6 down.

-John
 

bmcgonag

macrumors 65816
Mar 20, 2007
1,077
0
Texas
I've seen a few other threads listing iTeleport as the ipad app of choice for this as well. Might be worth a look.
 

Alvi

macrumors 65816
Oct 31, 2008
1,207
309
Mars
Get Jaduu iTeleport, It's Universal, and it works well, it doesn't feel cheap like many VNC Apps
 

TBi

macrumors 68030
Jul 26, 2005
2,583
6
Ireland
Have you tried Splashtop remote? It uses the touch to click functionality you describe and it works quite well. The only downside is no ability to control pc from 3G you have to be on wireless. They have a lite app, give it a shot.

I'm pretty sure you can use it on 3G. You just need to know your home ip address (dynamic dns?) and do some port forwarding. That's how I access my computer at home.

Get Jaduu iTeleport, It's Universal, and it works well, it doesn't feel cheap like many VNC Apps

I wish it did RDP too. I know there's a separate app for it but I have no idea why they can't combine it. RDP is a very powerful protocol.
 

EmmEff

macrumors 6502
Oct 27, 2010
271
60
Ontario, Canada
I wish it did RDP too. I know there's a separate app for it but I have no idea why they can't combine it. RDP is a very powerful protocol.

Looks like there's no iPad version of Jaadu Remote Desktop. Can anybody else recommend an RDP client that works well?
 

sim667

macrumors 65816
Dec 7, 2010
1,390
2,915
Looks like there's no iPad version of Jaadu Remote Desktop. Can anybody else recommend an RDP client that works well?

Pocketcloud will do both RDP and VNC, there's a free version to try, but it is just a standard app, not with special click functionality or anything.

Someone metioned about having to have a background vnc server running on your mac earlier, you dont need to do this, in the sharing pane on mac os x just enable 'screen sharing' then port forward 5900 on your router. If you want to do rdp then there's three ports you need to forward, cant remember what they are.

If you're router has a dynamic ip supplied by your ISP, then you'll need something like a Dyndns account, and the application to update your dns ip.... (if you dont want to have a dns updater running on your mac all the time, you may be able to set your router to do it automatically).
 

EmmEff

macrumors 6502
Oct 27, 2010
271
60
Ontario, Canada
Pocketcloud will do both RDP and VNC, there's a free version to try, but it is just a standard app, not with special click functionality or anything.

I will have a look at that, thanks.

Someone metioned about having to have a background vnc server running on your mac earlier, you dont need to do this, in the sharing pane on mac os x just enable 'screen sharing' then port forward 5900 on your router. If you want to do rdp then there's three ports you need to forward, cant remember what they are.

I want the RDP client to allow me to connect to other machines on my home LAN. As an example, VMs running under VirtualBox.

The main RDP port is 3389. The others might be printer and/or file sharing support. I don't use those features so I've never bothered with them.

If you're router has a dynamic ip supplied by your ISP, then you'll need something like a Dyndns account, and the application to update your dns ip.... (if you dont want to have a dns updater running on your mac all the time, you may be able to set your router to do it automatically).

Got that too :)

Thanks for your reply.
 

AGVirt

macrumors newbie
Mar 13, 2011
8
0
You can also try Ericom AccessToGo, a free RDP client for iPad, iPhone and Android devices. AccessToGo also includes the Ericom Secure Gateway which can be installed on any Windows OS. If you use AccessToGo with Ericom's Blaze server (a commercial, not free product) it becomes the fastest RDP client for mobile devices for working with graphic applications over a remote connection.

For more information about AccessToGo, visit:
http://www.ericom.com/AccessToGo
 

VPrime

macrumors 68000
Dec 19, 2008
1,722
86
London Ontario
I just got remoter for iPad .. It is only 99 cents ( for now) and VERY good. much faster than mocha Vnc lite on my ipad2. It is pretty comparable to teleport.
It also has ssh and telnet clients built in as in app purchases. I bought the SSH addon. It is nothing fancy just a basic terminal window. BUT you can connect to a VNC server securely with SSH and RSA keys. Very feature rich VNC client with a nice UI for only 99 cents!
Oh it is also a universal app so works on all iOS devices.
 
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