There are over 575,000 apps in the App Store. You’d think that they’d cover every conceivable base, but the truth is, there are gaps here, there, and everywhere -- missing heavy-hitters like Microsoft Access, not to mention the little Mac utilities you've come to rely on. Your only choice is to access your PC from your iOS device. Luckily, a wide range of VNC clients are available -- and some of them are even free.
LogMeIn’s Ignition ($129.99) lets you control a remote Mac or PC courtesy of a free app installed on the client machine. It presents a copy of the remote desktop on your iPad or iPhone, which despite the device’s lower physical resolution, remains surprisingly usable on the portable device. It can wake a sleeping computer, so you don’t need to keep your desktop machine active to use it, and can control an unlimited number of machines, so you can access your home computer or your office machine.
You dont need to leave your computer running to use remote services--most can wake it over the internet.
LogMeIn Ignition is pricey -- one of the rare over-$100 apps in the store, although it is universal for iPad and iPhone. But if you don’t need Ignition's flashier features, like printing to AirPrint-compatible printers, HD video support, and file transfers (which we covered how to use), then consider the free LogMeIn app, which still offers Ignition’s core features, but without the hefty charge.
Splashtop Remote Desktop for iPad (usually $19.99, but currently on sale for just $4.99, and the iPhone version for $1.99) performs a similar function, locking on to a free client app -- Splashtop Streamer -- running on your Mac or PC across the internet or a local network. In our tests we found it fast and responsive, with plenty of useful gestures through which you can implement mouse clicks, right clicks, scrolls, and so on. Note, though, that it does step down the resolution on your regular computer to 1024x768 so you don’t have to keep repositioning the picture to see what you’re doing. We reviewed Splashtop, and can also help you learn how to use it.
If you’d rather avoid scaling your screen in this way, check out a regular VNC client, such as Mocha VNC Lite (free), which connects to your Mac or PC using standard protocols built in to the operating system. The free version is easy to set up (we can walk you through it), and although it offers only minimal controls, it still lets you run applications that would otherwise be out of reach. A little bit of lateral thinking will also let you share remote files by email or through a cloud service like Dropbox so that they appear in your synchronized folders on your iPad client app.
If all you need is access to traditional, full-blown Microsoft Office -- as opposed to the file compatibility provided by Quickoffice Pro HD and its rivals—then a new app called CloudOn (free) gives you just that capability. The applications themselves run on the CloudOn servers, and although they look a little harsh when compared to the smooth characters and buttons on a native iOS app, they can’t be beaten for rock-solid compatibility. You need to have a Dropbox account for file storage, but this is all the better in our opinion as it means your synchronized documents will immediately appear on your regular computer so you can continue working on them when you get back to the office.
You should also check out OnLive Desktop (free), which lets you access a Windows 7 PC complete with the Microsoft Office applications and 2GB of free storage. We weigh its pros and cons (a separate software keyboard?) in our review, and take a first look at the Plus service, which adds more pro features, including Internet Explorer 9 access.
