Operate a Windows PC Using a Windows Phone

1 PC Remote Windows

PC Remote makes use of its own protocol for communication, which means that you will not only need to configure the firewall to make exceptions for its custom port but also install additional software on the PC. At the same time, use of a non-standard protocol may also imply undocumented security risks. However, that has not prevented its Windows Phone app from crossing a million downloads. Once the network and ports' configuration has been done properly and the corresponding client installed on your Windows Phone, the rest should be easy as the app supports auto-discover of PCs running the PC Remote software in the same subnet. If you are running a Windows 8 PC, you can obtain the app(which is actually meant for Windows 8 tablets) from the Windows Store, which will guide you on how to go about setting up the server on your PC. The corresponding Windows Phone client is visually appealing. Not only can you use the Windows Phone touchscreen as a keyboard and mouse but you can also use it for dedicated controls for your PowerPoint presentations, media center remote, etc. The client also has a paid, ad-free version which sells in the Indian Windows Phone store for Rs. 160. On our system, the PC remote server immediately after installation brought up a firewall window asking for appropriate exceptions to be made. The server can be configured to automatically launch during Windows startup and will have an icon in the system tray.

You can provide password protection for connecting to the PC Remote Server. In the client, keyboard functions are neatly grouped into alphanumeric keys, special command keys, Function keys, arrow keys, etc. Mouse movement and tap detection works in a reliable manner. However, the app seems to lack properly structured documentation. The help provided is not upto the mark whether be it on the website or in the app itself. In fact, its FAQ states to have no clue as to why a specific Windows' socket error may be encountered on some systems(although strangely enough the resolution is provided without the cause being determined!). It is written in the FAQ as “This is some unknown Windows issue which goes away”!

2 Mocha RD Lite

This makes use of the popular RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol), hence you do not need to install any additional software on your Windows PC. However, what you do need to ensure is that: remote connections are accepted by your Windows system, the appropriate users are included in the `Allow' list and the firewall has been configured to allow RDP traffic.

In Windows 8, you configure Remote Connection settings by accessing System Properties > Remote settings (you access System properties either by pressing Windows key+Break or through Control Panel > System and Security > System or by right-clicking the `Computer' icon and selecting `Properties').

As of the time of writing, the app supports only a limited set of screen resolutions, the highest of which is 1280x1024 when running on an HTC HD7. Like PC Remote, Mocha RD Lite too has a paid counterpart in the Windows Phone store, which can be yours for Rs. 310 in India and comes with additional features such as support for function keys, mouse wheel, etc. You can store settings for different PCs so that you do not need to reconfigure the RDP settings the next time you connect to that PC (provided the target IP address is the same as earlier). Mouse gestures such as pinch and zoom are supported but tapping is not as accurate as with PC Remote. The keyboard makes use of overlays for indicating the keys that need to be pressed corresponding to a particular item on the screen, much like how speech recognition software adds overlays to on-screen elements to enable easy voice commands.