The remote desktop market has soared thanks to the introduction of tablets, with businesses large and small – as well as individuals – able to use their computers remotely in an easy and convenient manner while on-the-fly.
As with any app for mobile devices, the functionality and overall usability fluctuates from app to app, and unless you do your homework before downloading, you can easily wind up with a laggy, poor representation. With prices often on the tens of dollars, it’s certainly worth researching the market for the very best option before parting with your hard-earned cash.
PocketCloud was brought to my attention via a lengthy analysis over at ArsTechnica, and as somebody who regularly uses a tablet (specifically, an iPad) while out and about, I felt compelled to give it a whirl.
As with most premium apps, there’s a free iteration, and after installing the desktop client on either Windows or OS X, you can be up and running in just a couple of minutes. It operates rather smoothly, allowing easy navigation, zooming and general processes to run without hitch. As you might expect, it does have its moments of latency, but on the whole, it’s a solid performer.
There’s very little need for the lengthy rigmarole of configuration often seen with remote desktop apps – just enter matching credentials, and you’re good to go. To enhance things even further, there’s an iPhone Pocket Cloud Explore app, which allows you to access specified files and folders while on-the-go, kind of like the cloud services Dropbox or SkyDrive. You can select which folders you wish to set as accessible, and you can easily launch them through your iOS interface.
The Pro version of PocketCloud Remote Desktop, which costs a cent under 15 dollars, is aimed at the business consumer – offering multiple computer support, and while not particularly necessary (at least not in my case as an iCloud, Dropbox and SkyDrive user), there’s a $5 a month premium cloud service.
All services are intertwined by your Google account, which most people will already have, and considering one can pay upward of 100 bucks for a remote desktop app, PocketCloud is certainly worth a punt, in my opinion.
Download Pocket Cloud for iPhone and iPad [iTunes link]
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