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First Look: Teleport, new VNC client for the iPhone

by Brett Terpstra Aug 1st 2008 at 4:00AM

Jugaari's iPhone debut, Teleport (iTunes link), is a new VNC client for mobile remote control of a Mac or PC (not the super-awesome pseudo-KVM app). It's a $24.99 investment, and I don't know many people who are going to dish out twenty five clams for an iPhone utility, but I know plenty who are curious about it and frustrated about the App Store's lack of any "try before you buy" mechanism. Here's a "look before you buy," either to help you make a decision or just to satisfy a curiosity.

Teleport is naturally subject to all the things that are intrinsically annoying about any VNC connection, which are then compounded by a (relatively) small screen and less-than-ideal network speeds; it's not the ideal way to access a remote machine. The options allow you to set the speed of the refresh rate, but "fast" is slow, even on a local wireless network. Those annoyances are obstacles to be overcome, though, and I think that Teleport makes a valiant effort to provide a usable interface in light of these hurdles.

Check out the gallery for a mini-tour, and see the rest of this post for more impressions of Teleport.

First Look: Teleport

  • Server catalog
  • Opening a server connection
  • Server settings
  • Modifier keys
  • Screenshot

Teleport automatically detects VNC servers on the local network, and catalogs "saved" servers for easy access on the main screen. The settings panel for each server allows for a few options, including a "Rotation Lock" (prevents response to the accelerometer) which I find quite useful, and I wish every app offered the option. I find the screen manipulation to be very intuitive and I picked up on its intricacies in a few minutes of playtime. My favorite feature: I wanted to scroll a page and, being primarily a MacBook Pro user, I dragged 2 fingers down the screen. It worked. I also like the fact that if I tap anywhere on the screen it clicks where I left the mouse cursor rather than jumping to the point where I touched the display. This makes hitting buttons much easier for me.

In addition to the standard iPhone keyboard, sticky modifier keys and a full array of function keys, Teleport also includes a basic remote control screen which is geared towards PowerPoint/Keynote presentations. It offers the basic arrow keys, page up, page down, etc., which is enough to provide remote control for a bevy of other desktop applications as well. I'm not sure I'd rely on it for my next big presentation, though, as Teleport is as likely as any of the larger apps (or any iPhone app) to disappear into oblivion right when you give up anticipating the crash and get comfortable.

What about Mocha VNC, the lite version of which is free and the full version only $5.99? $5.99 sure looks cheap in the face of a $25 app ... unfortunately, I've found Mocha to be unusable remotely. It makes a fun input device and is quite responsive, but the refresh rate is next to non-existent. Teleport, whether it's actually worth the comparatively exorbitant price or not, works.

Thanks Joe!



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Jugaari's iPhone debut, Teleport (iTunes link), is a new VNC client for mobile remote control of a Mac or PC (not the super-awesome...
 

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eric

can some one please help me figure out how to get this to work on windows xp ive been trying to do this for 12 hours and it doesn't work please help me figure this out my email is cirefit@gmail.com please help me

August 02 2008 at 3:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
STSanford

Does it do connections via a repeater (Ultra VNC Repeater)? That would get me to buy it.

August 01 2008 at 10:12 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ars_workerbee

I know plenty who are curious about it and frustrated about the App Store's lack of any "try before you buy" mechanism.

you know, i think we get it by now. harping on stuff like this is just annoying at this point.

August 01 2008 at 10:16 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Tomahawk

Citrix needs to come out with their ICA client for the iPhone. Now if we could just get them to add VNC to its list of features....

August 01 2008 at 10:02 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Tomahawk's comment
Dave

Why, so we can pay them a monthly fee to access our machines?

August 01 2008 at 1:33 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Marcos

Teleport (for the Mac) is a great little piece of software. Elegant, useful, simple, powerful, and free (donation ware actually, and I've donated).

It pisses me off that they are ripping off Teleport's name and charging so much for a VNC app. It might be the best one out there right now, but trust me, someone else will soon enough match it feature-wise and release it for a lower price.

August 01 2008 at 9:36 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Marcos

Teleport (for the Mac) is a great little piece of software. Elegant, useful, simple, powerful, and free (donation ware actually, and I've donated).

It pisses me off that they are ripping off Teleport's name and charging so much for a VNC app. It might be the best one out there right now, but trust me, someone else will soon enough match it feature-wise and release it for a lower price.

August 01 2008 at 9:36 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
dansays

It's worth twice the price if I can send a damned control-alt-delete (to log in to a remote windows server), and it's worthless (to me) if it can't. Sadly, I can find no indication whether it offers this feature or not.

August 01 2008 at 8:54 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to dansays's comment
Jayson

You CAN do Control-Alt-Delete with this. Anything you can do on a PC or a Mac, you can do with this app. There are a ton of special features. Look here: http://www.jugaari.com/teleporttips

August 01 2008 at 10:02 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Patrick

$10 says he knocks the price in a couple weeks. $25 is a bit much for a mobile app.

August 01 2008 at 8:31 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ben

How does the remote control work compared to ye olde Touchpad Pro? I remember I set a shortcut on my MacBook that set Front Row off when I tapped one of the buttons on the remote and it worked fine... Is that the case with Teleport? I'm reluctant to pay the UK price of £15 (So nearer $30!) for a copy,

August 01 2008 at 8:11 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Hawkman

$25? Jeez. And I thought he was being cheeky with Touchpad Pro's price! Maybe we'll get the original, VNSea?

I'm still hoping that we'll get a non-Chicken Of The VNC-based client; Chicken is ok, but Leopard's screen sharing doesn't like it much, and it's not the fastest out there.

August 01 2008 at 7:25 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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