I hope you people liked this article and all the information that are provided in Top 5 Best Remote access free Applications for Windows and Mac OS. So donât forget to share it and also keep visiting. One more very good remote access software for Windows, MAC, Android, iOS etc. Is R-HUB remote support servers. It is an on premise solution which works from behind the firewall and is only one time cost as compared to hosted services. Apple Remote Desktop 3.9 Apple Remote Desktop is the best way to manage the Mac computers on your network. Distribute software, provide real-time online help to end users, create detailed software and hardware reports, and automate routine management tasksâall without leaving your desk. Free remote access program free download - NTRconnect Remote Access for Mac, Pogoplug Remote Access, Apple Remote Access Client, and many more programs.
Who Needs Remote Access Software?
Ever been in a meeting in another company's office and realized that the PowerPoint presentation you were planning to dazzle them with is back at home on your computer? Or tried to help your parents, who live halfway across the country, figure out why their computer just won't open a file? These are exactly the scenarios that remote access utilities are made to handle.
Remote access apps let you either access your home or office computer from another location, or allow others to have access to some or all of your files, as if they were actually sitting in front of your PC instead of somewhere else entirely. Some are tailor-made for personal use, while others, with their complex security protocols and granular menus, are better suited for a more corporate environment. Many even let you access a remote PC from your phone or handheld device. Here, we break down exactly what a remote access app does, and why one may make a lot of sense for your increasingly mobile life.
What Is Remote Access Software?
Remote access software lets one computer view or control another computer, not merely across a network, but from anywhere in the world. You might use it to log into your customers' computers and show them how to run a program, or sort out their technical troubles. Or you can even use it to invite friends or clients to view your desktop while you run a demo for them. You can use the screen as a temporary whiteboard, drawing lines and circles that help friends or clients understand what you're doing on your machine or theirs.
Remote access apps also let you transfer files between two machines without using email or file-sharing services. You can use remote access to print a file stored on someone else's machine on a printer connected to your own machine. Your tech-challenged relatives can use remote access software to give you access to their machine so you can repair their mistakes or clear out malware. It's far, far easier to grab the wheel yourself than it is to try and talk someone through the process of troubleshooting their PC. And your high-tech colleagues can use it to collaborate on complex projects in real-time, complete with chat via text or, with some apps, voice.
Not Just for Help Desks
Corporate help desks are major users of remote access software, but these apps can be useful for anyone. I personally use it for three reasons: First, I can give tech support to friends by logging in to their machine, without going out to make a house call. Second, while on the road, I can connect to my home or office machine and find and view an ancient file that I haven't stored on a file-sharing service like Dropbox or Google Drive. Third, I can invite friends or colleagues to join me in editing documents in a more straightforward way, with easier communication than other online collaboration methods, such as the real-time editing features in Office 365 or Google Docs. You may have very different reasons for wanting a remote access than I do, but there's no doubt that they are quite handy.
I looked at five remote access apps that work easily between any machines running either Windows or macOS anywhere in the world. In addition to these third-party apps, Microsoft provides its free Microsoft Remote Desktop software that lets you access Windows PCs from other Windows machines, mobile devices, or a Mac, but not from Windows to a Mac. Microsoft's app lets you access any Windows version going back to Windows 7, except for 'Starter' and 'Home' versions, for which you'll need a third-party app. Apple offers its $79.99 Apple Remote Desktop app for accessing other Macs onlyâbut that only connects to Macs running OS X versions 10.8 Mountain Lion or later.
I use Microsoft Remote Desktop from my Mac laptop when I want to run a program on a Windows desktop in another room in the same house, but only a full-fledged third-party remote access app lets me take full control of any machine anywhereâif the machine's owner wants to let me in.
Security Concerns
One of the first questions you may ask yourself when considering using remote access software is whether or not this is secure. If you've been using a PC for a while, you may remember pcAnywhere, which used to be the remote access software that was almost everyone's first choice. Symantec bought pcAnywhere from its original developer and eventually, after some major security breaches, stopped supporting it in 2014 and recommended that customers stop using it.
Some other remote access vendors have reported security breaches, but these seem to have been triggered by users who chose the same passwords for their remote access software that they used at hack websitesâalways a bad idea. Some remote access apps let you use relatively weak security if you choose, but they all encourage you to choose strong security, and our Editors' Choice products, GoToMyPC and TeamViewer, won't let you make an end-run around their security precautions.
What Remote Access Software Offers
We tested remote access software by installing each app or service on four machines: desktops running Windows 10 and Windows 7, a laptop running Windows 7, and a Mac laptop running macOS. We also installed each vendor's iOS-based mobile-access app for connecting to a Windows or Mac machine, though I wouldn't want to try running my desktop machine from a phone or small-screen tablet unless I were desperate.
All the remote access apps we tested provide the same basic features. They offer remote access to another machine that has the app's server software already installed; remote access can take the form of full control over the other system or mere passive viewing. All feature a shared clipboard (in some cases optional), so that text or images that you copy to the clipboard on one machine can be pasted into the other. All have a text-based chat feature. Each app provides file-transfer features via a standard two-pane file manager interface.
GoToMyPC and LogMeIn add the ability to drag and drop files between the local desktop and the viewer window that displays the desktop of the remote machine, but this feature works only when connecting to and from Windows computers. TeamViewer has a FileBox window into which you can drag files that will be accessible to both machines. LogMeIn, TeamViewer, and VNC Connect include whiteboard features for drawing lines in the viewer. For more on each remote access apps individual features, see the individual reviews, which are linked to below.
Which Remote Access App Fits You Best?
We focused on remote access software designed mostly for one-to-one connections, though it's possible with all these apps for more than one user to log in to a remote machine. If you're looking for advanced conferencing features like a whiteboard, you should probably look elsewhere, though LogMeIn includes a whiteboard feature that makes it work well as a basic collaboration app.
The vendors of some of the remote access apps we tested also offer a specialized video conferencing app that uses an interface similar to the remote access versions. For example, GoToMeeting is a conferencing version of GoToMyPC; Splashtop Business Access offers Splashtop Classroom; and TeamViewer offers Blizz.
Security features differ markedly among these apps. Some make it possible to provide access in a straightforward way if you choose to do so. Others require you type in passwords more than once and provide email verification before you can do anything useful. All let you customize security to varying degrees, and you should take a close look at the options that you'll feel comfortable using.
If you're a complete hermit who never leaves the room, you don't need remote access software. But if you often find yourself as the de facto IT tech for family and colleagues, or if you need to connect to other computers for your business, or if you need to connect to your own computers while you're on the road, then you'll need remote access software. Check out our reviews to find the one that best suits your needs.
Best Remote Access Software Featured in This Roundup:
Screens for Mac and iOS is the best remote access solution for accessing our Macs when away from home. It uses industry-standard technology for remote access (VNC), but the free Screens Connect service makes it easy to setup. This removes the requirement to use a static IP address or configure your router manually.
If your machine is behind a corporate network that prohibits Screens from working remotely, we recommend LogMeIn. The iOS and Mac apps are free, but the service is prohibitively expensive for most users.
Free Productivity Guide: Download our simple guide to productivity to help you improve your workflows and be more focused with your time and attention. Get it here.
Why do you need remote access?
With the rise of services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and iCloud, remote access services arenât necessary for simply accessing files remotely. There are countless ways to sync documents and access them from anywhere. Accessing a PDF file using PDF Expert that is stored in Dropbox is certainly better than remotely controlling a Mac and opening the document. I use remote access to manage a Mac mini at Mac mini colo and my Plex server at home. Accessing a Mac remotely allows you to run desktop applications, have access to a full web browser from iOS, and access files and programs that are only on that one machine.
ScreensHow does it work?
Screens, at its core, is a VNC client. VNC stands for virtual networking computing. It was created by The Olivetti & Oracle Research Lab back in the late 90s. The lab was later purchased by AT&T, but shut down in 2002. The original VNC source code is now open source. With VNC apps, there are two pieces. You have the VNC server (typically a laptop, server, or desktop) and the VNC client (another laptop, desktop, or mobile device). The client generally connects to the server from port 5900 and allows the client to see the display of the VNC server. Screens is using industry-standard technology, but with an easy-to-use and beautiful user interface.
Design
Screens has stayed current, following Appleâs ever-changing design standards. Both apps received quick updates for the new iOS 7 design a couple years back. The iPhone and Mac apps share a lot of similar buttons and layout functions, so users of both apps can swap back and forth without having to re-learn workflows. The apps look for available machines on the local network, and also shows you the ones available with Screens Connect (more on that later). Create a test program for mac. Double tapping/clicking on a machine launches it and either logs you in or prompts you for the passcode depending on how the security of that machine is setup.
Once you are logged into a machine, you are free to use it like you would just sitting in front of it. There is a dedicated Screenshot button, options to send/receive the clipboard, an option to scale down the display when network conditions are not optimal, and the ability to manage multiple displays if they are available.
On the Mac side, using a remote machine feels extremely normal. Both devices use a mouse and keyboard, so itâs fairly easy to implement that.
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On the iOS side, you are taking a touch screen device and making it work with a desktop OS.
You quickly find out why Apple didnât simply port Mac OS X as-is to the iPad. A touch-based OS requires drastically different interactions than a mouse/keyboard paradigm. With that being said, Screens offers the best experience in my opinion. Itâs easy to zoom in and tapping moves the cursor to your desired location and initiates a click on the server. There is also an optional trackpad mode that turns your display into a trackpad and will make the cursor follow your finger around as you track. Both options work well, and it just comes down to personal preference.
Our friends at MacMini Colo discovered a great product to use on a remote Mac that is âheadlessâ (a Mac mini or Mac Pro) in order to use higher resolutions. If you plug this dongle into the HDMI port, youâll get access to all available resolutions up to 16Ã9 1080p.
Free Remote Access Software For MacFeatures
Since Screens is built on open source technology, it is probably always going to lose the feature check list game when compared to custom-built services like LogMeIn or TeamViewer. Companies that are building their own technology have the ability to do whatever their product managers can come up with. Screens is built on open-source VNC technology, so itâs going to be a much simpler design. Most of the extra features arenât needed in 2015 for most people (remote printing, file syncing, etc) anyways. Screens offers exactly what I want out of remote access without a monthly fee.
Access Options
Screens is available for Mac OS X and for iOS. It does lack a web access component, so if that is a feature that you need, then you should look at one of the other options below. Web access used to be important to me, but that was before I had multiple iOS devices in my bag. Iâve actually found myself using Screens on my iPhone 6 Plus quite a bit, not to mention the extremely capable iPad version.
Setup
As I mentioned earlier, Screens is really just a beautiful VNC application. VNC server support is built into Mac OS X by default, and this app is just building a VNC client. The main downside with VNC, since itâs an open-source platform, is that the setup can generally be tricky. You have to make sure the computer is configured right, and you need a static IP from your internet provider (or use a service like No_IP to update your dynamic DNS to a static host).
Screens has a free service called Screens Connect that takes care of that for you. You create an account, install the Screens Connect app on the Mac you want to remotely access, and log in with your user name and password. On the client side, you simply log in with your Screens Connect account, and you see your logged in computers. The only place this service wonât work is when a corporate firewall is blocking VNC traffic. Screens also offers a free program called Screens Express that makes it easy to connect to a friend or family memberâs Mac with a temporary link.
Reliability
In my experience, Screens has been rock solid. I bought it a few years back after LogMeIn discontinued their free service and havenât looked back. Screens is really the best of both worlds. Itâs pairing open-source technology thatâs built right into Mac OS X with a well-supported and frequently updated app. On iOS, the developer has worked to add things like TouchID support, Touch Bar support, an adaptive toolbar and more. Regular updates help us feel more comfortable relying on this app day in and day out.
![]() Runner UpLogMeIn
LogMeIn ($249.99/year for two computers) is our runner up for remote access solutions. We also recommend it for the times when VNC technology is blocked or a corporate firewall prevents Screens Connect from working. LogMeIn is easy to install and easy to use. In fact, I use it on a few machines at work in order to always have easy access to them from offsite. LogMeIn allows me to keep my firewall locked down, but still get to these machines. It works from the web, but they also recently added a Mac client that is installed when you sign up. It allows quick access to a machine.
LogMeIn also offers free iOS apps. Iâve found that their iOS apps are the easiest to use. I found scrolling and tapping/clicking to feel the most native of anything other than Screens. From a security perspective, LogMeIn uses SSL/TLS for all its communications. You can also use RSA SecurID or 2-factor authentication along with requiring your Macâs username and password.
One of the main reasons we chose Screens over LogMeIn is the price. Screens is a one-time app purchase where LogMeIn is $249.99/year. Itâs difficult to justify that price unless this is something you depend on every day.
Free Productivity Guide: Download our simple guide to productivity to help you improve your workflows and be more focused with your time and attention. Get it here.
The OthersBack To My Mac
Back To My Mac (free) was originally a feature of MobileMe, but it is now a part of iCloud. Since iCloud is free, itâs a natural choice for a lot of users. However, we donât feel like itâs the best solution due to the fact that we canât get it to work the majority of the time.
Appleâs support document mentions a few tips related to its own routers, but not much else. Some users have no issue getting it to work, while others have no success at all.
Free Remote Access Program
Another reason that itâs not our pick is there is no way to use it on iOS. I use remote access apps as much on my iPhone as I do other laptops. Back To My Mac is free with an iCloud account, but itâs support and features reflect the price tag. Security-wise, Back to My Mac uses IPSec and SSL encryption between your Mac and Appleâs servers. It uses Kerberos with digital certificates to verify that you are authorized to connect to the Mac in question.
Apple Remote Desktop
Apple Remote Desktop ($79.99) is a tool thatâs aimed at Mac system administrators, but itâs really not that useful for them any more. It goes years without updates, and the ones it does see are usually for Mac OS X compatibility. Like Back To My Mac, it also lacks an iOS component. Setting it up to work remotely is also going to take some networking configuration on your router and VPN setup. Most Mac system administrators have moved onto a tool like Casper Suite from JAMF Software. Apple Remote Desktop fits in a weird place of not being useful for the prosumer, but not powerful enough for the IT department. Iâd rather see it become a Back to my Device app and work with iOS devices (remote access from a Mac to iOS) and make it work similar to Find My iPhone. From a security perspective, you can encrypt your session with an SSH tunnel, but it does come at a security cost. Authentication to clients uses an authentication method based on a Diffie-Hellman Key agreement protocol that creates a shared 128-bit key. This key is used to encrypt the login credentials using AES. The Diffie-Hellman key agreement protocol used in Apple Remote Desktop is similar to the one used in Mac file sharing.
Chrome Remote DesktopRemote Access Mac From Iphone
Chrome Remote Desktop (free) is a Google Chrome plugin that allows you to access other Macs that are logged into your Google account (with the Remote Desktop extension installed) through the web browser. The price is right, itâs simple to setup, and offers iOS access. Best email program for mac. I found the iOS app to be subpar compared to Screens, though. It functionally worked fine, but Screens handled multi-monitor setups better, scrolled easier, and was just all around more functional. Remote access tools are already a bit of a hack, so smoothness and speed are imperative. Chrome Remote Desktop uses Chromeâs SSL features, which includes full support for AES. None of your session data is ever recorded by Google, and in most situations, the connection is directly from the client to the remote session without passing through Google. Itâs free, so there is no reason not to give it a shot if a free solution is what you are after.
TeamViewer
TeamViewer (free for non-commercial, starts at $795 for commercial) is another popular remote access solution. Like LogMeIn, it handles the router configuration for you. You install the client on your Mac, and then you can log in from the web or an iOS device. TeamViewer works well and is fast, but the setup and configuration was a bit more complicated than LogMeIn. While it is a remote access solution, its also heavily pitched as a remote support and online meeting solution as well. The price is right, but LogMeIn is easier to use, and Chrome Remote Desktop is easier to set up. TeamViewerâs encryption is based on RSA private/public key exchange and AES 256-bit session encryption.
RealVNC
RealVNC (free and paid products available) was founded by the original developers of the VNC protocol (itâs open source). They offer support for Mac and iOS, and also offer free and paid plans, but itâs not a product we recommend to most people because of how difficult it is to set up for off-site access. It involves knowing your public IP (most residential users have a dynamic IP that can change) and forwarding ports on your router. The paid products offer 128-bit AES encryption or better. If you are looking for a free solution, we recommend Chrome Remote Desktop since it is a lot easier to set up.
GoToMyPC
GoToMyPC ($11.95/month or $114.72/year) is one of the most well-known remote access plans. It shares a lot of features with other popular options, but itâs a little pricey per computer compared to its competitors. There is no configuration needed on your router. You simply install the client, and then you can access your computer from the web or an iOS app. You can print to your home computer from your work computer, drag and drop files, and copy/paste between computers. From a security standpoint, it supports 128-bit AES encryption, dual passwords, and end-to-end authentication.
Alternative technology
Remote access solutions arenât as essential as they once were. I used to use them to access files from off-site, but with the popularity of folder syncing services, we can have access to most of our files from any device or location already. Here are a few of the common options for Mac users:
Dropbox
Dropbox (free up to 2 GB, $9.99/month for 1 TB) is the go-to folder syncing solution for a lot of users. Its client is relatively stable, it has great third-party app support, and offers a free plan for beginners. Paid plans start at $9.99/month for 1 TB of storage. This makes it a nice option for storing large amounts of data and having access to it from anywhere.
Google Drive
Google Drive (free up to 15 GB, plans start at $1.99/month for 100 GB) will be a great choice for a lot of users due to the fact they likely already use Gmail. Google Drive is best used on the web, but it has a Mac client as well that works very similarly to Dropbox. The client works well, but it lacks some of the features of Dropbox related to bandwidth control and controlling which folders are stored locally on your Mac. Google Drive only supports selective sync on root folders, where Dropbox supports it for sub-folders. The price is right for up to a terabyte, and then Dropbox offers similar plans. Google Drive is ideal when you need more than 2 GB, but less than 100 GB, and it does offer better web support than Dropbox. Google Docs, Spreadsheets, and Slides are much better than anything Dropbox offers in terms of web-based editing.
iCloud Drive
iCloud Drive (free up to 5 GB, plans start at $.99/month for 20 GB) is Appleâs answer to Dropbox. Itâs a folder than syncs on your Mac. Contents can then be synced to an iOS device or another Mac. It lacks true web access, though.
OneDrive
OneDrive (free up to 15 GB, plans start at $1.99/month for 100 GB) is Microsoftâs answer to Google Drive. It includes Microsoft Office online for free. 1 TB is only $6.99/month and it offers access to Office 365 which includes Office for Mac and unlocks a few features on the iOS apps. It offers selective sync support that is similar to Dropbox, but web access that is similar to Google Drive, so itâs an attractive choice for heavy Office app users.
Synology
If you want to have a bit more control over your files, consider a device like Synology. Itâs a network-attached storage device aimed at the prosumer. It offers a lot of great features, but at its core, itâs storing your files and making them available everywhere (web, iOS, etc).
Plex
If the only thing you want to access a Mac remotely for is your media collection, you might consider using Plex as a media manager (movies, TV shows, music, photos, etc). It installs on your Mac, and then you can access it from the web and iOS ($4.99). It handles all of the login management, so there are no router configurations needed. An optional Plex Pass gives you features like syncing offline, camera roll uploads, and cloud sync (backup your media to various cloud services in case your server goes offline).
Conclusion
While remote access to a Mac isnât as essential as it once was due to multiple options for syncing your files across your various devices at low cost, Screens is the best choice for when you need it. With native apps on Mac and iOS, it offers the most streamlined experience without a subscription. If you have more complex needs or your Mac is behind a corporate firewall, I recommend checking out LogMeIn.
Free Productivity Guide: Download our simple guide to productivity to help you improve your workflows and be more focused with your time and attention. Get it here.
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