VNC for iPad - tablet Mac at last (iTeleport)

The moment I’ve been hoping for! There doesn’t seem to be a non-game iPad app forum to post this in, but I see that Jaadu VNC (now called iTeleport) arrived for iPad a few days ago. Be warned: it’s the VNC version, NOT the Windows RDP version. The few bad reviews seem to be from RDP users who didn’t understand the distinction. (Maybe an iPad version of Jaadu RDP is on the way too?)

Since I’m on Mac (and when I run Windows, that too is on my Mac) VNC is all I need anyway. (VNC is a standard for Windows and Linux too, but maybe not as automatic as it can be on Mac.)

iTeleport has been THE #1 app I value the most on my iPhone, despite the “high” (for iPhone) price of $25. It’s also a neat demo to show off. The one feature I was hoping for? The option to pay $25 all over again so I could have it on iPad. (Just kidding. I don’t want to pay $25 again, but if it works as well as the iPhone version, it’s well worth it. It’s both very useful and very cool, with a slick UI.)

http://appshopper.com/productivity/iteleport-for-ipad

http://www.iteleportmobile.com

I don’t have an iPad yet, so I’m curious about anyone’s experience with this. (And apparently it support hardware keyboards if anyone wants to try that!)

My iPhone (NOT iPad) experience: On WiFi in my house, there was no setup at all, just auto-discovery via Bonjour once I enabled Screen Sharing in Snow Leopard. For long-distance access, setting up your router and network/security properly can be a real bear, but Jaadu offers some methods (which I didn’t bother trying) that are fairly automated. Hang in there and seek help if you have problems—it’s worth the pain.

Once you’re set up, the app is awesome: a full-screen (no audio) Mac in my pocket! With Exposé and scrollwheel gestures, pinch zooming, extra keys (everything from media control to modifier keys to F keys) and chromeless full-screen if you want it. And the mouse control (three modes to choose from) is outstanding. Very precise.

Over WiFi in my house it’s very fast—making it a great couch remote control for my iMac. (You can turn off the screen display even, and then it’s like a giant trackpad with an excellent feel.)

At WiFi hotspots it’s usable but don’t expect miracles! There will be lag. Over a weak 3G or EDGE signal, of course, it’s miserably slow. But I don’t care: it still at least worked over EDGE, and it saved my bacon when I was out in the boonies in another state and needed access to work stuff on my home iMac. Better to have annoying, slow access than none at all!


Tip 1: here’s what I do when traveling, to save power. I don’t want to leave my Mac on 24/7 “just in case” so I set it (via Energy Saver Preferences) to turn itself on for 30 or 60 minutes each day. If an emergency comes up while I’m traveling, I wait for that window, connect, and it stays awake until I’m done.

Tip 2: for extra security, switch your Mac to the login screen. Then a password is needed if anyone snatches your iPhone/iPad away and finds your VNC connection before you get home to kill it. (I’m paranoid. I even use the encrypted method to connect, which is trickier to set up.)

Tip 3: if you don’t have a static IP address, you’ll either need to use the Google solution (built into iTeleport) or a service like no-ip.com. Otherwise, when/if your ISP changes your address on you, you’ll lose your remote connection.

P.S. there are some newer options out for accessing just your files on iPad, or accessing one window/app at a time in a more iPad-like way. (Such as Wormhole and Here File File.) Those sound pretty useful too, so check them out—I’d love to hear some comparisons. But if (like me) you want FULL access to your Mac, with the full screen and all the controls and complexity that comes with it, iTeleport seems to be the best choice. (Or your PC or Linux, but I can’t vouch for those.)

 

Thanks! Those images make me jealous. Looks like it may be some other VNC client I haven’t tried, and not iTeleport? (But if it is... have you tried it with a bluetooth keyboard? Can iTeleport hide the virtual keyboard and still use the physical one? (One of their screenshots suggested to me that they had not thought of that. It shows both keyboards at once—but it was only a mockup I’m sure.)

Not so: a tablet needs a NEW kind of OS, and a new kind of interaction. Otherwise it’s the same miserable tablet compromise we’ve seen before. Use an iPad for yourself and you (or at least most people) won’t wish for a mouse pointer and windows and drivers and directory trees! Mac apps on a touchscreen are inferior to Mac apps on a laptop. Badly inferior. While a true touch-centric interface has strengths all its own.

However, when the need arises to use that massive tower on your floor back home, VNC is awesome!