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The best Remote Desktop solution with iPad and Mac?

akash.nu

akash.nu

macrumors G4
Original poster
May 26, 2016
10,874
17,011
As some of you know, I've recently got myself the iPad 2017 for those occasions when I'm out and about and when I don't need to be physically present in front of the MacBook. Primarily I've bought the iPad for portability as shown in the picture below.

f8235f5e2ae1f46876fdda5e93d56ff2.jpg


But in certain odd occasions I may need to access my MacBook while out and about with just the iPad. I was wondering what could be a perfect setup that will give me access to the MacBook using my iPad remotely. Bearing in mind, most likely I will not be on the same network when such needs arise. My mac will be either at home or office connected to the internet and I would like to access it from airport / coffee shops / using my iPhone as a hotspot.

Any ideas is welcome.

Cheers
 
Hello! i use Jump Desktop to remotely access my Mac Mini and my wife's iMac 23" via my iPad and iPhone. It's a bit pricy but it works like a charm (and I can also remote into my mom's PC when she needs help with something too). Super easy to setup and doesn't consume a lot of system resources.
 
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stevebaker42 said:
Hello! i use Jump Desktop to remotely access my Mac Mini and my wife's iMac 23" via my iPad and iPhone. It's a bit pricy but it works like a charm (and I can also remote into my mom's PC when she needs help with something too). Super easy to setup and doesn't consume a lot of system resources.
Click to expand...
Here's another vote for Jump Desktop. Not only has it been rock solid for me, it also supports the use of physical mice on the iPad. (Citrix X1 and Swiftpoint mice only) Using a mouse on the iPad to remotely connect to a macOS/OSX device makes the iPad very productive.
 
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stevebaker42 said:
Hello! i use Jump Desktop to remotely access my Mac Mini and my wife's iMac 23" via my iPad and iPhone. It's a bit pricy but it works like a charm (and I can also remote into my mom's PC when she needs help with something too). Super easy to setup and doesn't consume a lot of system resources.
Click to expand...

sracer said:
Here's another vote for Jump Desktop. Not only has it been rock solid for me, it also supports the use of physical mice on the iPad. (Citrix X1 and Swiftpoint mice only) Using a mouse on the iPad to remotely connect to a macOS/OSX device makes the iPad very productive.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your suggestions. Jump Desktop certainly looks good. Just a quick question, did you have to make any specific changes to the default setup for being able to access your computer via public / mobile networks?
 
akash.nu said:
Thanks for your suggestions. Jump Desktop certainly looks good. Just a quick question, did you have to make any specific changes to the default setup for being able to access your computer via public / mobile networks?
Click to expand...
Nothing special. Just installed it on both iOS and macOS devices and go.
 
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I have been following this thread with interest and before going out and buying Jump Desktop I wonder can anybody please clear up the following for me. Yes, as you can guess, a newbie here. I have a macbook pro, iphone and ipad 9inch (non pro - hopefully getting that in December when my current contract expires). On top of that I also have a Surface tablet. At the moment I have "Private Internet Access" installed on macbook pro and ipad. Should Jump Desktop work alongside this setup? Or can somebody suggest something else. I have read Jump Desktops homepage several times and it looks good but Im still not 100% sure. Thank you
Whokuni
Japan
 
Thanks guys, just another quick one. What kind of internet speed are you guys using these applications on?
 
I was wondering if anybody has tried VNC Viewer with VNC connect?

Also, has anybody used TeamViewer?!
 
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akash.nu said:
I was wondering if anybody has tried VNC Viewer with VNC connect?

Also, has anybody used TeamViewer?!
Click to expand...
I've used TeamViewer. It worked pretty well but would often stop listening for incoming connections... thankfully my wife was at home at those times to restart TeamViewer.
 
Another vote for Jump Desktop. I don't use it to remote into my iMac but I do use it from my MacBook/iMac/iPad/iPhone to connect to my work's datacenter running Windows Server 2008. Works better than Microsoft RDP.
 
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sracer said:
I've used TeamViewer. It worked pretty well but would often stop listening for incoming connections... thankfully my wife was at home at those times to restart TeamViewer.
Click to expand...

I see, I'm trying out TeamViewer for some time, especially because I won't need it all the time and it seems to be free. If things don't work up to my expectations then I'll get Jump Desktop.
c46d330d0f55ee7d55ef3df8cbc40aee.jpg
 
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akash.nu said:
I see, I'm trying out TeamViewer for some time, especially because I won't need it all the time and it seems to be free. If things don't work up to my expectations then I'll get Jump Desktop.
Click to expand...
Mouse support is a top priority for me for any remote desktop software and TeamViewer doesn't support a mouse on the iPad and so... #plonk! :)
 
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sracer said:
Mouse support is a top priority for me for any remote desktop software and TeamViewer doesn't support a mouse on the iPad and so... #plonk! :)
Click to expand...

If I’m at a situation of needing mouse then I just use the traditional computer. I don’t want my iPad to become my standalone computer. There are clear differences between the two in my work setup.
 
I just noticed that you resurrected a year old thread. :confused:
akash.nu said:
If I’m at a situation of needing mouse then I just use the traditional computer. I don’t want my iPad to become my standalone computer. There are clear differences between the two in my work setup.
Click to expand...
Well, if that works for you, great.

For me, having the ultra-portability of an iPad is important. I don't want my iPad to become a standalone computer, but for those times that I need to do desktop-y things, remotely connecting to my iMac w/JD and a mouse is a great experience. If my work-at-hand requires a desktop, then I use a desktop.

If I'm using my iPad and need to edit an image for some document I'm working on, I'm not going to stumble and fumble with iOS-based image software. I'll remotely connect to my iMac, do what I have to do with Pixelmator, and pull the image over. The little amount of additional effort to get to the iMac remotely, is more than made up for by the productivity of using that desktop app.
 
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sracer said:
Well, if that works for you, great.

For me, having the ultra-portability of an iPad is important. I don't want my iPad to become a standalone computer, but for those times that I need to do desktop-y things, remotely connecting to my iMac w/JD and a mouse is a great experience. If my work-at-hand requires a desktop, then I use a desktop.

If I'm using my iPad and need to edit an image for some document I'm working on, I'm not going to stumble and fumble with iOS-based image software. I'll remotely connect to my iMac, do what I have to do with Pixelmator, and pull the image over. The little amount of additional effort to get to the iMac remotely, is more than made up for by the productivity of using that desktop app.
Click to expand...

Ah I see. My work is mainly technical. So if I need to “work” for a longer period then I’d rather use a proper computer. Remote access in such situations don’t really work for me. Having said that I can do a fair bit using the iPad if it’s just accessing servers and doing specific things.
 
sracer said:
I just noticed that you resurrected a year old thread. :confused:

Well, if that works for you, great.

For me, having the ultra-portability of an iPad is important. I don't want my iPad to become a standalone computer, but for those times that I need to do desktop-y things, remotely connecting to my iMac w/JD and a mouse is a great experience. If my work-at-hand requires a desktop, then I use a desktop.

If I'm using my iPad and need to edit an image for some document I'm working on, I'm not going to stumble and fumble with iOS-based image software. I'll remotely connect to my iMac, do what I have to do with Pixelmator, and pull the image over. The little amount of additional effort to get to the iMac remotely, is more than made up for by the productivity of using that desktop app.
Click to expand...
Jump Desktop is the best remote app for iPad because it does support the Citrix X1 mouse - it feels like I’m accessing a local computer with the speed and mouse support with Jump Desktop.
 
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I'm pretty much 100% in line with sracer's recommendations.

akash.nu said:
Jump Desktop certainly looks good. Just a quick question, did you have to make any specific changes to the default setup for being able to access your computer via public / mobile networks?
Click to expand...

No changes to router rules are needed because there are no unexpected inbound requests from the Internet. The host and client computers run software that connect to a third party server. (Both Jump and TeamViewer as far as I know.)

akash.nu said:
If I’m at a situation of needing mouse then I just use the traditional computer. I don’t want my iPad to become my standalone computer. There are clear differences between the two in my work setup.
Click to expand...

That's a nice philosophy and I get it, but at the end of the day you're remoting into MacOS which is designed for mouse and trackpad use, and does not have appropriate touch targets. And I'd say the same for Windows...despite Microsoft's attempts to make it touch friendly, I don't think it really is, and definitely most applications really aren't touch friendly either.

Jump does go a long way toward translating multitouch gestures into mouse commands, and you can definitely get by with that. But for anything more than quick connections to check on something or tweak something, I'd recommend a physical mouse and keyboard.

In my experience Jump Desktop is way better than TeamViewer. The mouse support alone is worth it. But on top of that I found the free TeamViewer to be irritating (lots of popups), and unreliable (the credentials would seem to change or something, not sure, but could not access remotely after some time had passed).
 
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this year i must have use 5 free mouse track pads for the mac mini that converts into apple tv at night time.
the 5 work great for a month then have connection issues.
i need 6th option or I'm getting an used apple trackpad for that guy in a shop downtown with 6 fingers on each hand.
or i can use the share screen on the mba to mini, sorry ol 6 fingered Sayid!
 
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