The iPad received its own iPad operating system (iPadOS) based on iOS 13 in September 2019. Almost simultaneously, the long-awaited Microsoft’s Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) became available. Why the ezeep team is especially happy about two iPadOS innovations and what they have to do with Windows Virtual Desktop can be found in our video and blog post.

You can use the Remote Desktop client for iOS to work with Windows apps, resources, and desktops from your iOS device (iPhones and iPads). Use the following information to get started. Be sure to check out the FAQ if you have any questions. IPad Use Microsoft Remote Desktop for iOS to connect to a remote PC or virtual apps and desktops made available by your admin. With Microsoft Remote Desktop, you can be productive no matter where you are. Jul 12, 2017 In Windows 8 or 10, hit Start and search for “Allow remote connections to this computer.” In Windows 7, hit Start, right-click “Computer,” and then choose “Properties.” No matter what version you’re using, though, the System Properties dialog will look the same. Start a Remote Desktop connection Tap the remote desktop connection to start the remote desktop session. If you're asked to verify the certificate for the remote desktop, tap Accept. To accept by default, set Don't ask me again for connections to this computer to On. As an alternative to the built-in Remote Desktop Connection tool, you can use the Microsoft Remote Desktop app in Windows 10. Install the app from the Microsoft Store and launch it.

Working with Windows Virtual Desktop and iPads

The new iPadOS 13 offers many interesting business features, such as slide over and split view, which optimize working with multiple apps on the iPad. The newly designed home screen, where widget pins can now be added for a better overview, or the improved file app are further examples. However, here at ThinPrint we’re particularly excited about two iPad features that will make working productively and accessing Windows Virtual Desktop so much easier.

With iPadOS 13, Safari becomes a desktop browser

Apple has updated its Safari web browser. From iPadOS 13, the iPad will act as a macOS computer for web servers. For users, this means that Safari will no longer display the mobile versions of web pages but will allow them to access the desktop versions of websites. This allows them to conveniently use web applications like Google Docs and WordPress on their iPad, easily download files with the new download manager, and better collaborate with colleagues.

And that’s not all – Safari’s “desktop-class” version makes it easy for users to access Windows Virtual Desktop. Using desktop-class browsing, users can then simply access a Microsoft hosted website that runs on the Azure platform along with the virtual desktops.

iPadOS 13 supports a mouse

With iPadOS 13, the iPad can be connected to a mouse via USB or Bluetooth and fully operated this way. A mouse cursor is then displayed that simulates a finger. The mouse connection makes it much easier for iPad users to work on a Windows Virtual Desktop with apps such as Excel.

Ipad Remote Desktop Windows 10

The Windows Virtual Desktop App for iPad(iOS)

In addition toaccessing a Windows Virtual Desktop via Safari browser, the Remote DesktopiPadOS app is also available in the Apple Store. This is more convenient andalso offers the possibility to save login credentials. By default, a mouse canalso be used as input device. An especially useful advantage is that the screenresolution can be adjusted to the user’s requirements.

Windows Virtual Desktop and printing from iPads

With iPadOS 13, the iPad is moving further in the direction of desktop computers and will be able to be used even more productively in the corporate context. To enable users to not only edit but also print files on virtual desktops, ThinPrint, selected by Microsoft as an integration partner, offers ezeep, its cloud printing solution for the upcoming Windows Virtual Desktop. ezeep takes on all print management tasks and saves IT departments the hassle of printer drivers and printer assignments.

What about iPad users? They open Windows Virtual Desktop in their desktop-class Safari browser or the Remote Desktop app, open the desired file on their iPad, with or without the mouse, and hit the print button. ezeep ensures that they can immediately take their printout from the printer.

Since the introduction of the Magic Keyboard, interest in using an iPad as a remote terminal for desktops is bigger than ever. The tool of choice for many iPad enthusiasts seems to be Jump Desktop, which supports VNC, RDP and their proprietary Fluid protocol.

Connecting to a Windows machine using Jump Desktop’s RDP support yielded a crisp, Retina experience with perfect 1:1 pixel mapping from the Windows desktop to the iPad. When connecting to my MacBook however, the result was always a blurry letterboxed mess, regardless of the protocol or settings used.

When I contacted Jump Desktop support, they informed me that even though the Jump Desktop Connect (the Fluid server, if you will) can change the resolution to match the one on the iPad, it’s limited to the resolutions available on the Mac. That list unfortunately does not include the slightly odd 10:7 aspect ratio 2388x1668 screen of iPad Pro 11'. Luckily I found a way to fix it.

Enter SwitchResX

SwitchResX is a shareware application that’s been around since the early days of macOS (or Mac OS X as it was called back then). It allows you to add resolutions to the macOS system, that may or may not work. In the steps below I’ll show you how to set things up for the iPad.

Prerequisites

I tested this with the following setup:

• 2020 iPad Pro 11'

• 2019 MacBook Pro 16' running macOS Catalina 10.15.5

• Jump Desktop Connect 6.0 running on the Mac

• Jump Desktop 9.4.26 on the iPad

For this tutorial you will need Jump Desktop on both the iPad and the Mac. I suspect the instructions below might not work if the main display on your Mac is not a Retina one due to how macOS handles video, but I haven’t tested it.

Step 1: Disconnect external displays

If you have a mix of Retina and non-Retina displays connected to your Mac, things get complicated and may not work. So to start off, disconnect any external displays and keep just one.

Step 2: Download and install and SwitchResX

Visit the SwitchResX website and download the 10-day trial version. If your experiment is successful you can buy a license.

Step 3: Define two custom resolutions

Open SwitchResX from the System Settings and add two resolutions. One for the native 2388x1688 resolution and one for the 1194x834 halved ‘Retina’ one. You need both in order to be able to use Retina mode. After creating the resolutions your screen should look like this:

Close SwitchResX to save the settings, then reboot your Mac to activate the resolutions. After rebooting you should be able to see both the HiDPI and the regular resolutions in SwitchResX.

Click on a resolution to ensure the switching works as expected.

Step 4: Non-retina mode using Fluid

Open Jump Desktop on the iPad and select the properties for the ‘fluid remote desktop’ connection to your system. Ensure the display resolutions are set as follows:

Once you connect, the resolution will automatically be changed to the 1194x834 filling the entire screen of your iPad, albeit a bit blurry:

The performance in this mode is excellent.

Windows Remote Desktop For Mac

Step 5: Retina mode using secure VNC

Retina mode is currently not supported when using Fluid desktop protocol so we’ll resort to using VNC through Jump.

First enable the VNC protocol in Jump Connect and enable Screen Sharing in the system settings:

On your iPad you should now see a second connection to your Mac showing up, labeled ‘secure screen sharing’:

Ipad Pro Windows Remote Desktop For Mac

Once you connect to this, you will notice that the screen resolution is not automatically changed. So open SwitchResX and activate the HiDPI 1193x834 resolution as follows:

Finally, enable the highest quality setting on your iPad:

Now your iPad will show a pixel-perfect Retina macOS desktop:

Unfortunately the performance with these settings is pretty bad, even over local Wi-Fi. The image quality is great but updates are sluggish. So for now you might want to consider lowering the quality setting.

Conclusion

Remote Desktop For Ipad

By using SwitchResX with Jump Desktop the remote desktop usability for the iPad Pro 11' has been improved a lot. Unfortunately Retina mode performance is still lacking, especially compared to Windows RDP connections with suffer none of the lag. Let’s hope the people of Jump Desktop continue to improve the performance of the fluid protocol and offer native Retina support as well in the future.