Remote Desktop Mobile

Microsoft hasn’t been known in the past for smoothly interoperating with products from other software companies, but their Remote Desktop clients are an exception. Connections are smooth even over LTE and most of the Windows client features and options are available. There are two input methods: a simple tap-based method which works well for UWP apps, and a cursor-based method that more or less uses your phone screen as a trackpad. The input method can be switched with two taps, and the keyboard can be shown with one tap. The only thing I would like to see is a way to access certain keyboard keys that aren’t present on iOS, such as arrow keys. You can open the On-screen Keyboard in Windows, but a virtual keyboard being clicked by a virtual mouse being controlled by a touchscreen becomes pretty laborious to get anything done with.

Still no 3D Touch. Taptic touch shouldn’t replace it on iPhone X and below. Developer response: I understand your reasoning but it’s still false to say force touch has been “replaced” on iPhone X, as it still works to use force touch to do all those things you mentioned, with press + hold as an alternative method. It is quicker and less error-prone for users to do a force touch to right-click rather than hold and wait, which is less intuitive and not as efficient. There’s also no haptic feedback so it just doesn’t feel right. Update 3: crashes fixed! But force touch removed?? I see a response that says iOS13 removed force touch but that is false.. it is still supported on iPhone X and right-click was much better with it. Update 2: still crashes twice upon opening.. Update: taking off a star because it crashes a lot now After years of waiting we got the update we were waiting for, and it’s a big one! The app is overall much improved and even supports dark mode. When connected, the display still does not fill the full display of iPhone X with no option to change that. It does use a larger portion of the screen than before though. Overall great update and looking forward to future improvements!

Microsoft's Remote Desktop Client for iPad has always been a solid (and free) app that made it easy to connect to windows machines. The App had some issues in the beginning but with every update Microsoft has really improved the App and added some neat features. The App is so good now it works nearly flawlessly. The latest release has a great new my Desktop page, and is very responsive to inputs. I would give the app five stars if it weren't for the lack of Touch ID security (it’s very surprising and annoying that this app doesn’t have any security feature to launch it). It’s also limited to Windows machines. Adding Touch ID and the ability to remotely connect to Macs on my network would make this the best Remote Desktop app on the market.

It’s too bad so many people are giving this app poor reviews based on things that have nothing to do with the app itself. Yes, you need to have a vpn server in your home network to use outside the network. This is true of all rdp connections. Also, keep in mind your upload bandwidth needs to be sufficient to support the connection. I’m running 3 work stations on my home network with a UniFi controller and a usg with radius server for vpn. My upload speed is about 30mbs. This app lets me flawlessly connect to any computer on my network from anywhere on the planet through an encrypted connection. Oh, and it’s free. Yes, I’m not going to be working on spreadsheets on my iPhone but it is nice to have another way to connect in a pinch. Love it!

I regularly use Remote Desktop from inside my network and outside my network with port forwarding. Primarily for software development. I also use teamviewer since one of my computers has an issue where it will only connect from windows Remote Desktop one time before needing the WiFi card disabled and reenabled. I can tell you that using this on an iPad and iPhone is like having the computer right in front of you. When away, it depends on your network connection speed, but I regularly use windows RDP for work, school, and leisure. If you’re going to use it via port forwarding though, I recommend reviewing your security settings on your router, because it is a risk...but necessary sometimes.