Control Your Mac from Your iPhone
When version 2.0 software came out for the iPhone a few weeks ago, the one big thing that I was exited to see was the ability to control your Mac via your iPhone. A nifty little program called VNC Lite does just that.
Using VNC Lite is a two-step process.
Step 1 - On Your Mac
In order for VNC Lite to work, your Mac must be configured to enable remote management. In System Preferences, go to the Sharing tab on the third line.
In Sharing go down to Remote Management, and make sure that it is selected. When you select it, click options, and a box like this will appear.
These are the items that I selected. Just incase someone sneaks on to my home network (which is password protected) and gets in-control of my computer, they can’t do too much damage.
Above options, there is another button called Computer Settings, open it, and another box will appear.
For ease of use, and just one extra layer of security (even though its nearly 100% safe to use at home, because you can only access via local network), I selected the top three, and set a password.
When you select “OK”, you will get an IP address (most likely staring with 192). Write this down!
Step 2 - On Your iPhone
If you haven’t already downloaded it, download Mocha VNC Lite from the AppStore (it’s free).
Launch VNC, and in the upper right-hand corner, press connect. Remember that IP address that I made you write down? In the VNC Server IP Address field, enter that number. Because you are on a Mac, you don’t need to fool with the VNC Server Port. However, if you set a password, make sure that you enter it correctly in the password field. If you simply want to use VNC, you don’t need to go on.
Press connect, and presto! You can now control your Mac from your iPhone (or iPod touch). You can even go into landscape mode. Most everything that you can do on your Mac, you can do on your iPhone, its just a little (okay, a lot) more complicated.
In my testing, I discovered a slight delay on both sides.
I can’t wait to see what kind of things can be developed for the iPhone using this technology. Using a powerful server hooked up to the iPhone, can create entirely new applications that the iPhone alone couldn’t handle (video editing anyone?).
Be aware that using VNC Lite does drain your iPhone’s battery.
