iPhoneCTO

RemoteTap; Innovative Remote Desktop Management Solution for iPhone & Macs.

by Bill French on 05/02/10 at 5:00 am

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 huge fan of remote desktop networking since it was possible in Windows 98. Being able to freely access my desktop PC’s create big productivity payoffs especially during those few hours leading up top a long trip. With a solid remote desktop accessibility configuration, you never have to worry about what’s on your notebook; just grab and dash.

A few months ago we visited this subject with a review of LogMeIn , a remote desktop solution that unifies remote access across PC’s and Macs. RemoteTap from ReadPixel is specifically designed for iPhone-to-Mac connections and because it has a narrower focus, the creators were able to provide some very innovative features. As Geoffrey Moore said, “No one ever failed because they were too focused”.

There are many unique aspects of RemoteTap 4, each with the single purpose of improved usability of your big desktop on a small screen. Usability advances come in the form of performance increases such as display scaling processed on the Mac instead of the iPhone, and configurable keyboards that can help you get things done efficiently. The remainder of this article covers the high points of RemoteTap, but the complete list is worthy of comprehensive review.

Advanced Gesture Support

Three cursor types provide advanced click and gesture features specific to iPhone allow you to right click with a two-finger tap, and simulate a mouse-scroll with a two-finger swipe. Triple-click with the hand cursor zooms the tapped window to fit your iPhone screen.

Virtual Spaces and Multiple Monitors

Select virtual OS X “Spaces” directly from your iPhone. View the arrangement and select multiple displays using an intuitive configuration selection. RemoteTap 4 also supports more than two monitors.

Advanced Keyboard Features

If you spend a lot of time using your Mac from a distance, you’ll appreciate the ability to create custom keyboards and programmable sequences. This feature requires some forethought to define the types of time-saving keystrokes and mappings that will work for you, but the productivity gains are likely to be significant.

• User editable custom keyboards
• Custom keys supporting whole sequences
• Edit custom keys right on your iPhone / iPod
• Create, edit, and manage custom keyboards on your Mac
• Sync custom keyboards between Mac and iPhone / iPod
• Use your own key images for extreme customization

Application Launcher/Selector

This is a cool feature that really accelerates remote activities. Tap on the “Apps” button, and a list of all running (or all Dock / all) applications will transparently overlay the screen. Launch, hide, or quit any application with a single click.

Downside

It’s a VNC app for Mac-only and while I appreciate the purity of this pairing, I almost want the authors to develop one for Windows since they’ve done such a good job for the Mac. This doesn’t rule out the ability to run your Windows apps in Parallels or VMWare with RemoteTap. I tested it with VMWare 2.4 and it seemed to work fine with the occasional cursor freeze ups that also occur using a mouse directly. I think this problem is related to VMWare tools and not RemoteTap.

I like this app a lot. It has the capacity to be shaped in ways that fit your requirements. If you spend a bunch of time iPhoning home to your Mac, this is app will save you many times its cost in one month.RemoteTap from ReadPixel is specifically designed for iPhone-to-Mac connections and because it has a narrower focus, the creators were able to provide some very innovative features.

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