Remote Desktop vs MXa

Your computer, in your pocket. Remote Desktop lets you see and control your Mac or Windows PC right from your iPhone or iPad — anywhere you have internet. No complicated setup, no servers to run, no port forwarding, no monthly fees. Install the free host app on your computer, select your device, and you're connected. Beautifully simple Most remote desktop tools are built for IT departments. This one is built for you. There's nothing to configure. Open the app, click once, and your computer appears on screen — live, with sound, and fully controllable. What you can do • See your computer's screen in crisp, real-time video • Hear your computer's audio streamed straight to your device • Tap, scroll, and drag with an intuitive touch-cursor • Type with your on-screen or hardware keyboard • Use a connected trackpad or mouse for precise control • Works great on both iPhone and iPad Set up in seconds Download the free Mac or Windows host app Sign in with the same Apple Account on both devices Select the device you want to control Done — you're connected Private by design Your connection is direct and end-to-end. Pairing only works between devices signed into your own Apple Account, so no stranger can ever reach your computer. There's no middle-man server storing your screen or your data — the video, audio, and controls flow straight between your devices. • Free to use • No account to create • No router settings to change • No subscriptions • Just works Whether you need to grab a file, check on a long-running task, run a desktop app on the go, or help yourself from the couch — Remote Desktop keeps your whole computer one tap away. Note: Requires the free companion host app for Mac or Windows, and both devices must be signed into the same Apple Account. A reliable internet connection is recommended for the best experience.

MXa turns your iPhone or iPad into a screen and a keyboard for a computer you own. You see the whole desktop, exactly as it is on the machine itself, and you drive all of it: move the pointer, click, scroll, type, send keyboard shortcuts, copy and paste between the two devices. Nothing is installed into the apps you work with over there. Getting in takes two numbers. The other machine shows a 9-digit ID and a 6-digit code; you type them here once. No account to create, no email to leave, no VPN to configure, no router port to open. On the same Wi-Fi the two devices talk directly and the picture never leaves your network. Over distance they meet at a relay that only moves bytes — the 6-digit code never crosses the wire, and the keys are derived at the two ends, so what passes through the middle cannot be read there. The picture is H.264 at 30 frames per second, encoded by the hardware at the far end. On a thin connection the bitrate drops instead of the picture freezing. Lose signal, switch Wi-Fi, lock the screen and come back: the session rebuilds itself. Made for a finger, not for a mouse pretending to be one. Tap where you want the pointer, drag to scroll, pinch to zoom into a corner of a large desktop. The shortcut row sits on the software keyboard, so Command-Tab and Command-Q are one tap away instead of a hunt. Also here: a clipboard shared both ways, several displays to switch between, and text in Vietnamese or any other Unicode script typed straight through. WHAT YOU NEED A computer you own, running macOS 14 Sonoma or later, with the free MXa desktop app on it — and this device. Both ends are the same connection: no server to rent, no ports to open. On your own network there is no time limit. Over the internet a session ends after a while unless the machine you are reaching has been activated.