Want to impress your friends and bore the crap out of your wife? I have got the app for you! Jaadu VNC allows you to remote control your home or office computer from your iPhone.
Warning: you need to have a little geek in you to a) want to do this b) understand the technology to get Jaadu VNC to work. If you feel like your home router is not that scary, this is easy.
Remote Control a Computer from Your iPhone
What is not to like. Jaadu works great. I tried other VNC apps for the iPhone will much less success. The setup could be a challenge if you are not super tech savy, but it makes for a great learning experience. The downside is this is the most expencive app on the face of the planet ($25).
What’s the practical application, you ask?
- Sometimes there are things you would like to see on the web, that you can’t see from the iPhone.
- You could use your home as a proxy.
- Access files you may have forgot.
- Spy on your kids.
- Install a camera and take the spying to the next level.
The possibilities are endless.
What You Need
- Computer You Wish to Remote Control
- Internet Connection (Preferably with a stable IP)
- Router (Recommended, more for general security)
- iPhone
- Jaadu App
Note: Preferably all your networking devices envolved in the VNC would be connected via Ethernet cable.
Getting Set Up
The instructions on Jaadu’s site are very good. But in summary you need to enable VNC on you server (machine you want to control) and then forward port 5900 from through the router. Sounds complicated but its really not. If you run into problems a simple Google search usually will provide a solution.
If you have set up a gaming console to play online, you can do this.
Ideally, you would set your computer to have a static IP on your LAN. Again a Google search can help you accomplish this. If your external IP changes regularly you might want to look at a free service like no-ip or dynip.com
Jaadu VNC Interface
It takes a second to get used to. Basically you move the mouse by dragging you finger around the screen. You can zoom in and out with all the normal jestures. Left click is a tap and right click is a two finger tap. I really have to give them high marks for making this easy to use.
Jaadu Problems
Normally Jaadu works great but sometimes when on 3G it can get a little sluggish. Also without using their server app, screen updates can get a bit slow, making clicking on things or navigating menus a challenge. This should not discourage you from trying Jaadu. These problems are easily solved by jumping on Wifi
Hey, doesn’t Remote Jr do the same thing for 20 bucks less?
Remote Jr is actually very similar. From what I read on their site: If you are looking for more of a media controller, Remote Jr is a great option. The downside is it requires a server app to be installed on the server side. Jaadu is more of a system admin type tool and is based on VNC, which most OSs usually have built in. Having said that, Jaadu also has an optional server application that increases functionality.
Realistically Remote Jr. Lite is probably a great app for most home users.
Security DVRs are a great reason for this app. If you can watch it on your computer you can watch it on the iphone. You can have both XP in Parallels and OSX available on your iphone at the same time. My home computer can display web sites much faster than Safari on the iphone. I have stopped using Safari iphone app. Anything you can control from that computer you can control with your iphone. Lights, Home Security DVR. Fixed the Slingbox from 1500 miles away. Connect your Mac to HD tv and Jaadu is an awesome remote control. With Slingbox you can watch TV, and surf the web on your HD TV at the same time all controlled with iphone.
I am over the edge with Jaadu but it is awesome. If the itablet can do this I won’t need a laptop