See Computer on iPhone
richie72846
Contributor - Level 1

Is there an "app" that allows you to see your home computer on your iPhone while you're away from home  and use it just as if you were sitting at home ?

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Re: See Computer on iPhone
mikedamirault
Contributor - Level 3

Of course, I do it all the time

 

Basically what you are looking for is for some sort of "Terminal Services" or "VNC" client app for the iPhone, which there are plenty of in the App store

 

First, determine what OS your computer is running, some OSs include Terminal Services or VNC host software preinstalled

 

If you are running one of the following OSs, you should have Terminal Services/Remote Desktop preinstalled on your computer

 

-Windows XP Professional (32bit)

-Windows XP Professional (64bit)

-Windows XP Media Center Edition (XP MCE is based on XP Professional, therefore contains all features found in XP Professional)

-Windows Vista Ultimate

-Windows Vista Business

-Windows 7 Ultimate

-Windows 7 Business

-Windows Server (I have not used enough of Microsoft's Server OSs to say which ones support Terminal Services or not, I think anything later than Windows Server 2004 R2 should support it)

 

(Hopefully I am not forgetting any, Windows XP Home, Windows Vista Starter/Home Basic/Home Premium, Windows 7 Starter/Home Basic/Home Premium or any Windows OS predating XP do not support Terminal Services/Remote Desktop hosting)

 

If you are running one of the OSs in the list above, then right click on "My Computer" (or "Computer" if on Vista or 7) and go to Properties, go to the Remote tab and there should be two options, one for Remote Desktop and and another for Remote Assistance, click the checkbox to enable Remote Desktop (you don't have to do anything for Remote Assistance, that's something else), then apply and close out, depending on your computer setup, you may have to log into your router and forward the port for Terminal Services (I forget the port number, but you can easily google it under "remote desktop port number"), then just search the app store on the iPhone for Remote Desktop or Terminal Services, make sure the app uses the Remote Desktop protocol, and you should be ready to go, then go to www.whatismyip.com and write down your IP address (you will need this to log into the computer remotely from the iPhone), then just type in your IP, username and password (your Windows username and password that is), and it should connect to your computer

 

If you are using a Linux based OS (Fedora Core, Ubuntu, Mint, Yellow Dog, Debian, SuSE, etc.), VNC should be preinstalled (if not, you should easily be able to find the VNC host software for Linux)

 

Now it's been a while since I have used Linux, or even VNC for that matter, so you are on your own on setting that up, though just like Remote Desktop/Terminal services, it may ask for an IP, username and password, and you may need to forward a port on your router for it to work outside your home, just like Remote Desktop, the App Store should be littered with VNC client apps, just search for "VNC"

 

Mac OS X has a type of Remote Desktop preinstalled as well, but it's not Terminal Services based, and in my experience, the client and host are opposite (you connect to a remote client vs. connecting to a remote host, typically used for computer labs when an instructor needs to take control of a student's computer), I have only seen it be used in a high school tech classroom, and I am not sure if there is an iPhone app for the "host", so I don't know if it is a possibility in this case

 

For any OS that does not have Remote Desktop (host) or VNC (host) preinstalled, you can always download VNC (host) on your computer (VNC is available for all OSs, it's just not preinstalled on Windows or Mac), or install one of following host programs on your computer

 

-LogMeIn (Win/Mac-Free)

-TeamViewer (Win/Mac-Free)

-Citrix GoToMyPC (Win/Mac-$9.95/mo or $99/yr)

 

Then just download their respective iPhone app (apps for what's listed above are free)

 

Unlike Remote Desktop/Terminal Services and VNC, the user installed programs/apps listed above do not use IP addresses to connect to your computer, instead, the host will give you a PIN number that you enter, one time, into the app/client, it will then save the host in a list (of other hosts for when you want to connect to other computers later) with a name for each computer (at least as far as I know)

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