Desktop Remote Control with iPhone: LogMeIn Provides Seamless Simplicity

by Bill French on 07/09/09 at 7:30 pm

Bill French is an information architect specializing in Internet applications. He is also the co-founder of MyST Technology Partners and Senior Editor for iPhoneCTO.

I’ve been a big fan of desktop remote control for a little more than a decade. The ability to access and control your home or office PC while away has made a huge difference in how I work and (more importantly) when I am able to work. I go to Hawaii often and it’s unbelievably convenient to be able to simulate sitting in front of my PC at home when I’m actually 3600 miles out into the Pacific ocean.

About a year ago I started to experiment with remote desktop networking from my iPhone. While this is not recommended over the Edge network, it actually works. With Edge connectivity it’s clunky, but it’s functionally good enough for emergencies and there are a number of VNC applications available in the App Store. With 3G connectivity (or better, WiFi) the experience is far better of course and it makes this one the the must-have business apps for iPhone.

LogMeIn

provides a variety of remote access services and solutions including remote backup, remote support, and more advanced services for remote PC and mobile device management for IT organizations. Today we’ll focus on one of their most important services – remote desktop control – a basic requirement for mobile professionals and business people. And we’ll focus on the free version – the pro version provides a number of advantages including file transfer, remote printing, and file synchronization.

Setup: Instant and Seamless

If you’ve setup Windows Remote Desktop Networking, you’re aware that the network and router configuration issues are complex and difficult for most users to grasp. LogMeIn changes the game by providing a single location to access all the computers you’ve designated for remote access. No worry about static IP addresses and no need to remember all the addresses; just login to your LogMeIn account and chose the computer you want to connect to.

Mouse Clicks vs Taps

I’m really comfortable with tapping; LogMeIn for iPhone requires you to position the remote desktop screen under a statically positioned arrow cursor and then tap to effectuate a mouse click. This is not intuitive but you can get used to it. Regardless, it’s not productive – they really need to think this through a bit. Other VNC tools allow you to just tap where you need a mouse-down event to occur.

LogMeIn for iPhone at $29.99 sounds pricey, but it’s reasonable given the seamless setup and one-touch accessibility. Take a look at this quick demo and overview of their service.