I’ve been using the LogMeIn Ignition app on my iPhone for a couple months now, enabling me to remotely access all of my computers, as well as several family members and friends, allowing me to easily manage and troubleshoot problems, right from my iPhone screen.
LogMeIn Ignition uses an intuitive touch interface to move around your computer screen, taking full advantage of pinch-zoom and swipe-to-scroll functions. One of the main issues plaguing remote access apps on mobile devices is in the way the device is able to present the computer’s much larger screen on the mobile device’s small screen, while still remaining functional.
LogMeIn Ignition tackles this issue, and largely succeeds. There are two different modes one can choose to use: the first mode where the pointer/cursor remains stationary in the center of the screen (shown above in the screen shot) and you swipe to move the screen contents around, and a second mode where your finger moves the cursor around on a stationary screen. I found the first mode the easiest to work with. Combined with the pinch-zoom and swipe-to-scroll functionality, navigating my desktop’s larger screen was a breeze.
One issue I found myself frequently up against, which is more of a Windows Vista issue than a LogMeIn issue, is that when making system changes in the Control Panel, one is frequently prompted with the UAC prompt, asking for confirmation before continuing. These prompts would often show up outside of the area of screen I am zoomed in to. Many times, I would be sitting and waiting, wondering if my connection had dropped, before deciding to zoom all the way out and noticing the dialog. I’m not exactly sure how to overcome this issue, but as this was probably my biggest complaint, felt I would mention it.
LogMeIn Ignition can work in both landscape and portrait views, though it is significantly more usable in landscape views. The app also has several buttons along the bottom edge, which fade out when moving the screen around with your finger. There is a button to access the pop-up keyboard for text input, a button to change the tap function from the left mouse button to the right mouse button (though, a two finger tap is also the same as a right-click, just like in OSX), a button to zoom in and out, an options button, and a button to send a Ctrl+Alt+Delete or Alt+Tab to the host.
Keep in mind that the keyboard is simply sending the keystrokes to the host operating system, and does not utilize the iPhone’s word correction or predictive input, so you will often find yourself backspacing and correcting your input unless you’re an extremely accurate iPhone typist.
On a recent afternoon, I was able to really put LogMeIn Ignition, and my iPhone in general, to the remote tech support test. While sitting in a rush hour traffic jam on the Interstate, I was able to assist my mother with a problem on her Mac. After upgrading to Snow Leopard on her MacBook Pro, she needed an updated version of the WMV add-in for QuickTime, in order to watch Windows Media files.
After unsuccessfully trying to walk her through several steps over the phone, I decided to fire up LogMe, since I had previously installed the agent on her computer for these types of situations. Since I was basically sitting still in traffic, and Oregon doesn’t have a no-cell-phone-while-driving law (yet), I was able to connect to her computer using my iPhone from my car. (Note: I would never attempt this while actually driving, and when the traffic started moving again, I promptly ended the remote session.)
After connecting my bluetooth headset to my iPhone so I could talk with her at the same time, I launched Ignition, and opened up a desktop view of her Mac. I was able to navigate her screen very easily over my 3G connection, with very little noticeable lag while also carrying on a full conversation. What would have taken me 20 minutes or more to walk her through verbally, I was able to accomplish in under five minutes with LogMeIn on my iPhone.
On another recent morning, checked my Exchange email on my iPhone while waiting in line for my morning coffee at Starbucks, only to see several alerts about a web application having crashed at my work. Since I support network systems for a large public entity serving nearly 30,000 users, having a web application offline at the start of business is not good at all.
I fired up LogMeIn Ignition, connected to my Windows 7 system at my office, launched a Remote Desktop session to the misbehaving server, diagnosed and resolved the problem with the application, and brought the service back up before any users (or more importantly, management) noticed, and all before my coffee was ready.
I’ve been using LogMeIn from my MacBook Pro faithfully for years, to manage client’s servers back when I owned my own consulting firm, to access my own home system while out and about, and to remotely fix family member’s and friend’s computer woes, and now having it on my iPhone has upped the usefulness to another level. I never would have thought, prior to Ignition, that sitting in traffic or waiting in line at Starbucks could be so productive.
If you frequently find yourself needing to access remote systems while away from your laptop, and wished you could do so with your iPhone, you’re now in luck. While LogMeIn Ignition isn’t cheap (compared to App Store standards), it is entirely worth every penny. This app has earned a permanent place on my iPhone, and is an app I’ll find myself using quite often, and enjoying it at the same time.
In order to connect to any remote systems, you must first create an account on their website and install a small software agent on each system. LogMeIn supports both Macs and Windows. Once a computer has the agent installed and is linked to your account, it will appear in the LogMeIn Ignition app when you launch it.
LogMeIn Ignition is priced at $29.99, and works with both the Pro level accounts, as well as the free accounts. You can find LogMeIn Ignition in the iPhone App Store here.
LogMeIn, Inc. provided a promo code to Just Another iPhone Blog for the review of LogMeIn Ignition. For further information regarding our site’s review policies, please see the “About” page.
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TAGS: iPhone remote access apps, IPhone remote control apps
