Incredibly Useful App
This app is incredible to me because I live off-grid in a house where I can only get 2 bars of LTE and I can still access my Mac mini from miles away, nearly seamlessly.
It has some glitches from time to time, like failing to wake up my computer, but they can often be fixed by deleting and reinstalling the app.
One major thing I think the app is missing is the ability to click and drag content around on screen. You can’t resize windows, drag & drop files, or effectively utilize creative software without the ability to click and drag 🤕
Another thing that would be nice to have is an onscreen return key in the “additional keys” bar. It seems like when I use parallels on my iPhone/ipad without a keyboard, that’s the one key I need to open the software keyboard for the most.
Incredible job on the app, it’s well worth the money. I can get by without a laptop because I can use this so well on my iPad Pro. 👏
It has some glitches from time to time, like failing to wake up my computer, but they can often be fixed by deleting and reinstalling the app.
One major thing I think the app is missing is the ability to click and drag content around on screen. You can’t resize windows, drag & drop files, or effectively utilize creative software without the ability to click and drag 🤕
Another thing that would be nice to have is an onscreen return key in the “additional keys” bar. It seems like when I use parallels on my iPhone/ipad without a keyboard, that’s the one key I need to open the software keyboard for the most.
Incredible job on the app, it’s well worth the money. I can get by without a laptop because I can use this so well on my iPad Pro. 👏
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Great, but only works once per power cycle
It’s really impressive what the Parallels team has done as far as being able to connect to your desktop and use it from your mobile device over a bad cell connection.
That said, I have recently had an issue where I can only connect remotely to my mac mini one time, and if the connection times out or I leave the app or etc long enough for my computer to fall asleep after accessing it, the app can no longer be used to access my computer until i physically travel miles to my computer to turn it off and on again.
I didn’t have this issue before, and I get a very vague message on my iPad saying to “configure the computer to wake remotely.” I checked in the Mac app, and there is no indication that any setting is wrong or has even been changed since before I started seeing this issue. The message that shows on iPad has a “learn more” button that takes you to the support page, where there is no documentation or specific article about this.
It’s really frustrating that this happens now, because if I’m trying to access my computer remotely, having to go physically restart it every time completely defeats the purpose of paying for remote access in the first place.
Please fix this issue. I really depend on this app.
That said, I have recently had an issue where I can only connect remotely to my mac mini one time, and if the connection times out or I leave the app or etc long enough for my computer to fall asleep after accessing it, the app can no longer be used to access my computer until i physically travel miles to my computer to turn it off and on again.
I didn’t have this issue before, and I get a very vague message on my iPad saying to “configure the computer to wake remotely.” I checked in the Mac app, and there is no indication that any setting is wrong or has even been changed since before I started seeing this issue. The message that shows on iPad has a “learn more” button that takes you to the support page, where there is no documentation or specific article about this.
It’s really frustrating that this happens now, because if I’m trying to access my computer remotely, having to go physically restart it every time completely defeats the purpose of paying for remote access in the first place.
Please fix this issue. I really depend on this app.
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nearly perfect
Parallels is an awesome way for me to access my desktop on the go. My iPad is my main computer on-the-go, but every now and again, I need to accomplish one little task on my computer while I’m out.
Unfortunately, in my work as an artist/game designer, I often find myself struggling to “paint” anything because this app does not support clicking and dragging. If I want to edit a level in my game engine for instance, this means drawing one tile at a time instead of using more fluid motions.
If the devs could make it possible to use clicking and dragging interactions through parallels, this would be a 5 star app. Strongly recommend for 90% of workflows.
Unfortunately, in my work as an artist/game designer, I often find myself struggling to “paint” anything because this app does not support clicking and dragging. If I want to edit a level in my game engine for instance, this means drawing one tile at a time instead of using more fluid motions.
If the devs could make it possible to use clicking and dragging interactions through parallels, this would be a 5 star app. Strongly recommend for 90% of workflows.
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Useless if you have more than 1 display.
It only supports the primary display. If you have multiple displays, it’s supposed to aggregate open apps/windows on the primary display, but it doesn’t. Even if you force close apps remotely and reopen them, they open on other displays. But it gets worse, you can’t even access a parallels virtual machine (which might be running on 1 display). Mine, for example, always loads on the 2nd display. I guess if you run 1 display, it’s fine. In 2023, most of us don’t, so it’s an exercise in frustration. Who wants to physically unplug the other displays when they’re rushing out of their home or office? That’s the whole point of Remote Desktop. In the boards, Parallels advises users to just use the web portal. If you do that, though, you need to delete this app or it will load instead. In terms of user experience, web portals are just plain terrible on iOS b.c of browser limitations. They really need to fix this issue that’s been active in the parallels community for years. They have a great dev team (parallels desktop is incredible), so it’s just not a priority.
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Product Unusable And Support Is Awful
I have a Mac Mini (M1) running Ventura, and am trying to access it from an iPad 11” (4th Gen). The Mac is a new home installed system that was used to replace a Mac-In-The-Cloud VM that could not be upgraded beyond Carolina due to the cloud provider’s configuration. So I bought the new machine, and hosted it myself. Set it up, and can access it with a keyboard and monitor perfectly. Installed the Parallels Access configuration, and have regretted it ever since. Every few moments, it freezes with the message ‘Pasting from “computer name”’, and will not release until I press cancel. About 70% of the time, the screen stops responding to mouse clicks, and I am forced to exit the session, and log back in. This gives me about 5-10 minutes of use at a time. And there does not appear to be any way to configure it to stop trying to paste from my remote machine. I tried to contact support, but they make it very difficult to actually ask them anything, only read their FAQ, which by the way is only a glowing review about how awesome their program works. Very annoying when their program is not working awesome, and simply adds to the frustration. My best suggestion is to skip this program, and go with one of the other Remote Desktop solutions on the market… This one is not worth the money, and their support is even worse.
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A Really Great Option for Remote Access
There are many remote access options but this is the best I’ve tried. Very slick, not perfect, but a great addition I’ve come to count on.
I was quite worried when this was made part of Corel, but I have not seen any issues with stability or updates.
I was quite worried when this was made part of Corel, but I have not seen any issues with stability or updates.
An important tool for getting real work done on an iPad
I’ve used Parallels Access for years and when I am working remotely I will sometimes use it for 3-4 hours a day, controlling my iMac at work remotely through the iPad. I can say with 100% surity, after examining all the other options for controlling a Mac or PC through an iPad, that this is the best. BUT, it’s not perfect. My main beefs with the control system is that, on a Mac at least, certain keys cannot be typed through the controlled computer, because the developers ignore the tickets I open when I ask them to fix these small but frustrating control issues. The following keys cannot be typed (they get ignored when typed on a Bluetooth keyboard or Apple Smart Keyboard while controlling a Mac): *, ~ (shift + `), and +, though there might have bee a few more.
So Parallels, fix this frustrating usage issue and I’ll give you a 5 star rating!
So Parallels, fix this frustrating usage issue and I’ll give you a 5 star rating!
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Parallels works great
I use Parallels because it is reliable and effective.
Unreliable Use
This app worked great when I started to use it years ago. Lately very chancy to connect with computer. Always need to restart computer or have somewhat else to do it. Finally just bought a new Windows computer to make connections. Still would love to use iPhone or tablet to connect on the go.
Dismal
do not pay money for this app this performance is so disappointing the remote access on my local Netwerk gave me low resolution extremely low frame rate very disappointing and basically not worth your time. I don’t know what they did to make it so below mediocre but as far as I can tell this app is a cash gram they don’t care about making an actually useful and well performing VNC Viewer. Especially true when you take into account that Google makes their own remote desktop application which is entirely free and performs the best out of any that I’ve tried to go for the free option not this load of dung
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Response from developer
Hello, Our Support Team would need additional details to help to get this fixed. Please contact us at scs@parallels.com Thanks, Parallels Team
Junk Beta Release
When I first downloaded and used it, I loved it. Great functionality and UI. Until it stopped working. The remote computer just shows offline, tried all the knowledgebase troubleshooting steps, even called and wasted 30 mins with tech support. Don’t work. Don’t waste your money. Frustrating when a really nice piece of software doesn’t actually work. I think these guys are more mac oriented, if that side works, they should just drop the windows functionality altogether. (The tech on the phone said Sir can you reboot your mac, without even asking what kind of a computer I had). lol.
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Screen on computer enlarged
When using Parallels access on my iPhone, the screen on my computer enlarges and I can’t scroll over to the right hand side of the screen
No stars
Parallels and Access in particular has poor support, poor programming and fails continuously. Do not buy the scam yearly fee makes it worse. Spent an entire weekend with the feeble tech support having me do all the actions on their site even I did them already. The iOS app simply collapses when launching a remote program from both my Mac OS X machines and Windows machine. Twenty reports sent to Parallels and no result. Utter garbage do not purchase any license, simply theft of your money for something that doesn’t work and they can’t seem to fix .
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Spotty coverage
Connection does not reliably work. When I need to pull a file or presentation from my home computer this is a HUGE disappointment, and defeats the point of the app if I can’t rely on it 100%. Go with google Remote Desktop or other desktop viewer with better reliability.
Do Not Use - no Longer working
This app was a lifesaver for the last 2-3 years. I could access my home or work laptop from my iPad Pro and it allowed me to not have to carry either around —
Well, it no longer works. Just sits and spins and loads — contacted support via messenger (no response), via chat (no one ever connected) , and via email (auto response promising follow up that never happened).
My support ticket says “solution provided” that seems impossible without communicating with the person that submitted it.
If you were one of the people I recommended this now defunct program, I am very sorry that the product has failed and the customer service is even worse.
Well, it no longer works. Just sits and spins and loads — contacted support via messenger (no response), via chat (no one ever connected) , and via email (auto response promising follow up that never happened).
My support ticket says “solution provided” that seems impossible without communicating with the person that submitted it.
If you were one of the people I recommended this now defunct program, I am very sorry that the product has failed and the customer service is even worse.
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Response from developer
Dear jasharber, Sorry about issues you are experiencing. Unfortunately due to some changes introduced by Apple in macOS 11.4 update, Parallels Access agent on your Mac requires additional screen recording permissions. We are working on the update to mitigate this issue. Meanwhile, to solve this, please open System Preferences -> Security & Privacy, find the section Screen Recording, and make sure that BOTH Parallels Access.app and Parallels Access Agent.app have screen recording permissions granted. This should resolve the black loading screen issue.
Locked me out of my computer
The app crashed and I’m locked out of my computer. I forced a shutdown and lost my work but when I turned it back on I’m still locked out. The screen is dark and it won’t let me do anything. My assignment is due in a couple of hours.
Misleading Info
This app is only free for ONE WEEK, then you must subscribe and pay. My second complaint is that access to a desktop computer can only be made when\if the Parallel Access is open on that computer. For me—that means no one else can be using my desktop computer. That’s exactly the time I would want to access the computer from my iPad. Bummer☹️
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Predatory Subscription - Waste of time
You're asked as the user to create an account or log in using your apple ID. Then, you're asked to install an application on your PC. Then, you're asked to provide a multitude of permissions to this application. Including full read & write access to the entirety of your HDD, Screen recording and control permissions.
Understandable, if they didn't immediately turn around and force you into a subscription service the minute you try to launch a remote session. With little, to no prior mention of a subscription service being required.
Complete waste of my time.
Understandable, if they didn't immediately turn around and force you into a subscription service the minute you try to launch a remote session. With little, to no prior mention of a subscription service being required.
Complete waste of my time.
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Response from developer
Hello, We are sorry to hear that you're unhappy with the Parallels software and we are here to help. Please email us at scs@parallels.com for the further issue investigation. Thanks, Parallels Team
Poor
There are no instructions. I cannot open an ap from my iPad I get the screen but cannot get past screen saver. Cannot get help!
Not ready for M1
Working great on 16” MBP running Big Sur! Easy in and go. However, won’t reliably connect to M1 MBP. Overall, GREAT product. Hope the M1 “spinning wheel” gets fixed soon! :)
