Daily App: Splashtop Personal Is A Versatile Remote Control

For a stable remote-control system that works on all major platforms, we suggest trying Splashtop Personal. For Windows 8, the free tool this week was the second-most downloaded business tool in the U.S. and four other countries, and is currently No. 1 in Canada and the U.K. Splashtop can control all functions of a Mac OS X from a Windows system and vice versa, and can control either operating system from Android and iOS.

Splashtop Personal for Android and for Windows Phone are free for nonprofessional use on a LAN, as are versions for Mac OS X and Windows. Splashtop Personal for iOS costs $2.99. There's also a Splashtop Personal for Ubuntu currently in beta.

Testing the Windows 8 version for controlling a MacBook delivered impressive results. Installation took just a few minutes and involves creating an account at Splashtop.com and downloading the Streamer App on any system to be controlled remotely. Activating the Streamer app requires restarting and logging in using the account created in the previous step. With that done, the machine to be controlled appears in a list when logging in from another machine or mobile device. Up to five computers can be accessed using the free license. Business licenses start at $1.99 per month per user and add Internet and 3G/4G access to remote systems. An Internet connection is required for operation regardless of the version. Web-based access to remote systems from Android and iOS client also can be added in-app for $4.99.

Logging in from Windows worked flawlessly, although it did step the host machine's screen resolution down without warning. Attaching from the Android client presented a list of resolutions to switch to. We opted to accept the screen's native resolution of 1,920 x 1,080, which matches that of our Samsung Galaxy S5 test device. Upon connection, the app presents hits about gestures and how they map to mouse movement, all of which were in line with what we would have guessed. An icon on the host machine changes color when it's being controlled. A software keyboard is a tap away, as is a scrollable button bar to disconnect, record the screen and invoke trackpad and gesture modes for using the device as a remote for presentations.

Splashtop also can be used for streaming media from the host to a remote device. Host-side preferences permit host-only or remote-only audio to playback, override of sleep settings and host-side screen blanking. All communications are secured with SSL and 256-bit AES encryption. Additional security can be added by requiring a custom code or local system login. The local keyboard and mouse also can be disabled during remote sessions. There's no perceptible lag when operating a controlled system locally or remotely. Splashtop is a tool that's well worth having.

PUBLISHED JAN. 13, 2015