Chrome Remote Desktop goes mobile

http://chrome.blogspot.com/2014/04/chrome-remote-desktop-goes-mobile.html

by deanmoriarty • 12 years ago

118 54 12 years ago

chrome.blogspot.com

srhngpr• 12 years ago

Works well and the setup was quick and easy.

1. Install Chrome extension

2. Open the "App" in Chrome and enable remote desktop on computer and set pin

3. Install Android app, open it, then choose desktop from list and connect

karl42• 12 years ago

On my Mac I also had to run the Chrome Remote Desktop Host installer.

VikingCoder4• 12 years ago

This probably doubles how much I value my Nexus 7.

wvenable3• 12 years ago

I'm not sure what the value of this would be on a Nexus 7 -- there are plenty of remote desktop apps available for Android.

VikingCoder4• 12 years ago

Chrome Remote Desktop authorizes under my Google account, which I have configured to require Two-Factor Authentication. That's nice.

Plus, the machine I'm remoting talks up to Google, so I don't have to configure any firewall rules to allow incoming connections.

Plus it was authored by Google, so I trust it significantly more.

Already works for Remote Assistance for Windows, Mac, and Linux. And I have expectations it will work for remote control for all those platforms, soon, too.

Oh, and I can have the Chrome Remote Desktop client on any PC that has Chrome. I've found that several of the "remote desktop apps available for Android" ONLY have an Android client.

wehadfun• 12 years ago

didn't even know this was in chrome how secure is this?

Zhenya• 12 years ago

Not a direct answer but Chrome team is very security conscientious. Furthermore, it is probably more secure than using a 3rd party app and handing over to them credentials to your machine.

drdaeman• 12 years ago

it is probably more secure than using a 3rd party app and handing over to them credentials to your machine

Well, unless you consider your computer Google-owned, this is using a third-party (Google) app and handing over to them credentials to your machine.

However, trusting a third party for connection initiation is the only option unless one has a computer that's globally addressable and accessible from the Internet.

Still, as (IIRC) Chrome Remote Desktop does not provide end-to-end authentication (i.e. peers don't visibly - in a manner acknowledgeable by the end-user - authenticate that they're genuinely securely communicating to each other without third party inbetween), so it's probably less secure, if compared to a VPN-to-home service.

eli• 12 years ago

It isn't in Chrome until you download and install the "Chrome App" for it: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/chrome-remote-desk...

AFAIK the app contains binary code for each supported platform, so it's really more like Chrome-as-app-store than anything else.

btgeekboy• 12 years ago

Finally! Been hoping for this for years, especially now that LogMeIn is no longer free.

rogerbinns4• 12 years ago

Sadly you can't enter an access code to accept invitations to view other's desktops. Also the exporting a desktop side doesn't support Linux, although you can invite others to view. (CRD distinguishes between accessing other's desktops while they are seated there versus accessing your own unattended desktop.)

One gotcha to watch out for is that your unattended desktop has to actually be awake and running. If it goes into power saving mode you can't access it. It also seems to take CRD a long time (often hours) to realise that a sleeping system is no longer sleeping.

voidlogic2• 12 years ago

Also the exporting a desktop side doesn't support Linux, although you can invite others to view.

This makes me wonder how much more work Linux desktop support would have been?

rogerbinns4• 12 years ago

The unattended export needs to run as a daemon and potentially get involved on the security side (ie let you unlock the desktop even when not in front of the machine).

It mainly seems to me that Google really just doesn't care about the Linux desktop even though reports are half the employees using Goobuntu. Another example is Google Drive not being available for Linux.

stedaniels• 12 years ago

It might not be supported, but you can get it working perfectly well on Ubuntu and Arch.

moskie• 12 years ago

This will probably be how I control my HTPC from now on.

mbillie1• 12 years ago

Just gave it a shot from my Samsung GS3 to my 15" Retina MBP. The setup on the client computer is a bit annoying, but once it's up, it's very straightforward.

I did notice that the resolution was downgraded on the MBP and I had to manually restore it to the best setting via System Preferences after the connection. Other than that, it worked fine.

basicallydan• 12 years ago

I'm using it to post a comment from my Nexus 5. Naturally the connection is particularly good because they are on the same WiFi Network but really, this is pretty great. Really good mouse cursor control too.

matkam• 12 years ago

I noticed the mouse position shown on my Android phone didn't match with the actual mouse postion on my Mac

TheEzEzz• 12 years ago

This is the sort of thing I expect Windows Phone to really excel at. Should be one of the big benefits from Microsoft unifying their code base and UI between mobile and PC. Does this feature exist, or is it in the works?

batmansbelt• 12 years ago

I couldn't figure out how to click.

esMazer• 12 years ago

tapping on the screen worked for me

jamesbritt3• 12 years ago

So this is like VNC, except VNC will work with my Ubuntu desktop.

Is there something else to this? That page is pretty sparse on details.

rogerbinns4• 12 years ago

The actual display protocol isn't that interesting. The things that matter are connectivity and convenience. You can be in any random network location, as can the desktop, and it will be able to do the connectivity plumbing. On the convenience side it hooks into your Google authentication (blessing or curse) and requires an additional PIN for the connection.

The Chrome extension for viewing lets you invite someone to access your desktop. The viewers and desktops can be any combination of Linux, Windows or Mac.

Unlike skype, viewers can interact with the desktop.

jamesbritt3• 12 years ago

Ah, ok, cool. Thank you.

aray• 12 years ago

It can be setup on Ubuntu https://plus.sandbox.google.com/+FrancoisBeaufort/posts/2fHN...

jamesbritt3• 12 years ago

Thank you; I need to give this a shot.

mandlar• 12 years ago

The best part of Chrome Remote Desktop is that it punches through firewalls.

zavi• 12 years ago

This is great, but I was really hoping they would add a way to remotely control other Android device.

alinspired2• 12 years ago

I'm happily using https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.freerdp.af... for direct RDP connection Windows (and Linux with xrdp installed). Might take a port forward to setup, but direct RDP quality is unbeatable

neutronman• 12 years ago

The security is beatable, unfortunately. Do RDP through a VPN for the sake of your own sanity.

j_s2• 12 years ago

The details: http://www.fishnetsecurity.com/6labs/blog/remote-desktop-pro...

isaacwaller• 12 years ago

You might want to try https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.... , the official Microsoft RDP app; works great in my experience

alinspired2• 12 years ago

I tried both and like afreerdp better

clarkdale• 12 years ago

Don't forget the official Microsoft Remote Desktop app[1] or the Citrix Receiver app[2] if your office supports that.

[1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft....

[2] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.citrix.Rec...

voltagex_2• 12 years ago

Citrix Receiver has been broken for me since Kit Kat.

tarr11• 12 years ago

You can also build your own Remote Desktop if you wanted, since DesktopCapture [1] was released for extensions in Chrome 34 Stable last week.

[1] https://developer.chrome.com/extensions/desktopCapture

TomC7• 12 years ago

This only allows capture right? Or is there control?

voltagex_2• 12 years ago

I think I'll stick with TeamViewer. Anyone used both who can give a quick comparison?

fiatjaf• 12 years ago

TeamViewer is a lot faster, but Chrome Remote Desktop has its advantages.

pavanky• 12 years ago

Doesn't work on Linux + Chromium. Anyone else having similar issues ?

tdicola• 12 years ago

I don't think Chrome Remote Desktop lets you share a Linux desktop. I tried a few months ago and found it's a long standing (year plus!) request to Google on their support group. Kind of sad that Google can't or won't support Linux here.

wiradikusuma• 12 years ago

Aww man, "This app is incompatible with all of your devices." in the Play Store. And when I clicked detail, "This item cannot be installed in your device's country." :(

secfirstmd• 12 years ago

I wonder how far we are away from your Chrome OS basically being run or mirrored completely in the cloud. With Google hosting/mirroring your entire OS bit like a kind of VM on a server.

Chrome Remote Desktop goes mobile

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