Still enjoying working from home? Then there is a good chance that you have already logged in to a remote desktop of the company. In other words: you simply work on your 'own' work PC, but from home. This requires a remote desktop app. And those are also available for iPadOS and the iPad.
Before this article, we focus on the iPad. Although remote desktops are also available on the iPhone under iOS, it naturally works a lot less pleasantly on the much smaller screen of a smartphone. More something for in case of an emergency, so install the apps mentioned on your iPhone with peace of mind.
What is a remote desktop?
A remote desktop – or a remote desktop – is exactly what the term describes. You log in to – often – your Windows computer elsewhere via a specially made program. You can then operate Windows remotely as you are used to. Especially from the iPad armed with the most recent updates, this is easy to do thanks to mouse support.
In fact, thanks to the high-resolution screen of this device, your Windows environment will probably look better (sharper) than ever. Provided you are using the correct app. Furthermore, your boss must have set up a remote desktop to be able to use it at all. J
You therefore need login details that come from your company. Sometimes VPN has to be used, which makes it extra safe. By the way, Windows uses the native RDP or Remote Desktop Protocol as standard to operate a system remotely. There are also other protocols, VNC is undoubtedly – after RDP – the best known.
RD Client from Microsoft
For starters, let's take a look at Microsoft's own RDP app called RD Client. What stands out in any case is that it is an app that lags behind the facts. For example, there is still no support for a mouse to start with. Not a problem if you don't use it anyway. The screen acts as a virtual touchpad, so it's fine to live with it. But it is precisely a mouse and a Bluetooth keyboard (which is supported fortunately) that allow serious work on a Windows system. In short: an absolute flaw of this app.
Furthermore, no high resolutions are supported. This has advantages, but also disadvantages. The advantage is that the screen construction will also run fairly smoothly with slower internet connections. The disadvantage is that you are looking at a somewhat 'woolly'-looking whole on your iPad. In short: a basic app for remote desktops, but certainly not the best!
Remotix
As far as we're concerned, the big winner in terms of remote desktop apps is without a doubt Remotix. With an amount of €16.99, this app is certainly not free, but you do get a lot in return. On the technical side, the app supports both RDP and VNC. Full mouse support is also provided, so you can enjoy dragging, left and right clicks and so on.
Once you've made a connection, you don't really notice that you're working on an iPad. It "feels" like Windows. Or macOS, because Remotix can also connect to this if desired.
It's nice that it fully supports the Retina resolution of your iPad. A matter of clicking on the cogwheel behind the connection in the connection settings of a system in the overview. Scroll down a bit in the settings window and choose back Desktop Size in front of Autofit (Retina). Then choose behind Desktop Scale a magnification factor (to avoid being treated to very small priegel texts); 175% or even more works great on an iPad.
If you now connect to the remote desktop you will see Windows as you (probably) have never seen it before. With the current fast broadband connections, you can increase the quality with impunity (also adjustable in the settings per remote system).
Feel free to experiment with the settings under the heading PERFORMANCE. Finally, it is practical that using Remotix feels smooth. And it can be even faster by installing the Remotix PC or Mac software on your desktop. You can even play games with it, according to the makers!
jump
A similar app to Remotix is Jump a €16.99. In the meantime, after the most recent updates, this app also offers full support for the mouse, as well as Retina resolution. In short: a complete and impressively sharp-looking Windows remote experience. Because Jump supports both RDP and VNC, it would have to go crazy if making a remote connection failed.
Using Jump feels 'nice', although we have the feeling that the image construction in this app in the standard configuration (either via standard RDP or VNC) is slightly slower than with Remotix. But if you want very fast image construction, there is again a proprietary desktop tool available that realizes that. However, your employee will prefer not to install these kinds of tools for security reasons, for example.
One of the other nice touches of Jump is that you can use the remote system on another monitor connected to your iPad. This way you have both your iPad and a remote desktop at your disposal at the same time.
Which?
If you want to get started for next to nothing (read: free) and mouse support is not really a plus for you, then the simple RDP app from Microsoft is a nice option. For longer and more serious work, however, you will soon run into limitations, with the (relatively) low screen resolution most striking. That just doesn't work very well if you're working in front of a screen for a longer period of time.
The differences between Remotix and Jump are not that big. Both are excellent apps that you will have a lot of fun with. It is important – if necessary in consultation with your company's system administrator – to take a close look at the precise technical possibilities that each of the two apps has to offer. Perhaps one app is just better suited to what your company has set up and to avoid disappointment, it is important to install the correct copy.
One last tip: most remote desktop apps support copy, cut, and paste actions between iPadOS and the remote machine (and vice versa). In other words: select and copy, for example, a piece of text on your iPad and paste it in Word running on the machine elsewhere.
