App Store completed its first anniversary some time back and is now a big warehouse full of apps ranging from all spheres of technology world. Developers at Xform Computing decided to create a hybrid app to bring the power of cloud computing to the iPhone. AlwaysOnPC, apart from the name, is an innovative app combining the power of Jaadu VNC and Open Source platform to bring Firefox and full blown Office Suite to the iPhone.
AlwaysOnPC managed to make its way through Apple’s clutches but not before getting a 17+ rating probably for providing access to Firefox browser. It basically is Jaadu VNC client that connects to a server running Fedora Core 8. Username and password for connecting to the server can be obtained by registering on the app’s site. Every user of the app is granted 2GB of online disk space for storing various files to be accessed on the move. The app offers extensive control options that I’ll get to a little later on. First let’s discuss the applications that come pre-installed on the server.
Fully Loaded Applications
Firefox is the first thing that will catch your fancy with its big fat icon as soon as you are presented with your desktop screen. You guessed it right, Firefox has somehow managed to make its way to the iPhone! The full blown Firefox browser is Flash-enabled, so finally you have a way to access all those junk Facebook apps on your iPhone. But so much for the good part. The Firefox experience is no where close to what Safari offers on the iPhone platform and browsing is a bit of pain due to slow refresh rate and non-nativeness. But the extensive touch gestures supported by the app make life easy in general. So now I get access to sites that were not optimized or compatible with Safari and even with pathetic EDGE speeds, I can browse Internet at >10Mbps!1
OpenOffice Suite comes in its full glory allowing you to view and edit your office files on the move. This feature could make a few users jump to this app as editing of files in a full blown Office Suite has obvious advantages over limited editing options offered by Quickoffice and alike. I did load a couple of files in OpenOffice to make a few changes and it did not take much time. As everything is done server side and results displayed on your screen, having a stable and decently fast Internet connection is of high priority to utilize the app to its potential. Along with OpenOffice you have Tasks and Project Management applications to organize your time efficiently. I would any day prefer Things and Outpost over them as they offer numerous advantages such as native UI, offline access, sync with online service and much more.
Pidgin Internet Messenger and Evolution2 are other applications installed on the server but then again there is no reason to move away from apps like Beejive and Mail. The programming applications might interest some. These include Eclipse and Glade Interface Developer both depending heavily on input and hence usability would be restricted on iPhone. There might be loads of image editing apps on the App Store but none of them even comes close to GIMP, the open source image manipulation software loved by many. Before you get too excited, let me tell you there isn’t a way to edit images stored on your iPhone unless you upload them online and access them through Firefox browser or something, too much off a hassle anyhow. There are a few games to play around with and the powerful Terminal can very well act as a substitute to the SSH apps.
Extensive Control Options
So that’s more or less about the applications that you have access to, now getting on to the controls. If you have used the Jaadu VNC app then you would be familiar with the control gestures supported. One finger tap is equivalent to a click. Two finger tap leads to a right click, vertical swipe with two fingers lets you scroll and three finger gestures to switch between tasks are also supported. The complete list of supported actions can be found at this link.
Apart from the actions, the menu bar at the top has a pop-up keyboard, special keys such as Shift, Ctrl, Alt in the modifier menu and key combination such as Ctrl-Alt-Del, Cut, Copy, Paste for quick access in the remote menu. The app has an initial learning curve but once you are comfortable with the actions and know the whereabouts of shortcut keys in the menu bar, the app experience is totally different. The one glitch I found is that the keyboard does not automatically pop-up when a text field is selected, you have to manually bring it up from the menu bar, can be quite irritating.
Performance
Talking about the performance which is a key aspect upon which all the applications depend. Performance of the app is not only dependent on the connection speed but also the latency. Low connection speed or high latency can result in sluggish performance. Action response is dependent on latency while screen loads require good connection speed. The AlwaysOnPC server is located in LA, California, US, so go figure how this would work with your connection. At my end on EDGE connectivity, I could get good refresh rate when the colors setting was at hundreds while on WiFi, I could get the same performance with color setting notched up one level. Friends in the US should get better performance on their AT&T 3G network.
If you have been wondering all this while on how to carry your desktop files along, here is the answer. The developer utilizes the power of Java VNC client for your desktop. This serves two purposes. One, you get to try the app free for 5-days on your desktop and buy for iPhone if convinced. Second, it lets you upload files from your desktop to the server to access them on the move. There isn’t a way to directly upload files from iPhone to your account on the server. I am yet to try installation of the Dropbox application which could makes things a lot more easier. Yes, one can install applications manually, the video tutorial would be uploaded on the app site soon. Brief instructional video tutorials to demonstrate various aspects of AlwaysOnPC operation can be found here. The app comes with email support to assist with any difficulties or queries that you might have regarding the app or its working.
Bright Future Awaits
Xform Computing, the developers of AlwaysOnPC, did not have their sights on the short term when they set out the develop the app. They have a slew of changes planned for the app in the near future and have ambitious plans for the long term too. The app comes at a flat price of $29.99[iTunes Link] that might deter users to try out the app. To overcome this they would be coming out with a subscription based model through their own direct e-commerce site as they find Apple’s in-app subscription model “poorly implemented”. A Lite version of the app is also in the wings. In the long term substantial new features on both client and server side are planned that include new application additions, update to Fedora 11 desktop, inclusion of file sharing and group management applications/features, and user upgrades such as enhanced storage capacity. Telephonic support would be added when the subscription based model kicks in.
For now, my grudge against the application would be its initial high price, older versions of Fedora desktop and other applications, limited disk storage and inability to upload images from iPhone. Developers could have done a much better job with the app icon and thought of a more innovative name. AlwaysOnPC is great app for anyone looking to carry desktop files around and not have five different apps to access them. Having said that, make sure you are comfortable with Fedora OS before taking out your credit card. Firefox and OpenOffice are the two biggest features that I absolutely love. The app has a bright future and subscription based pricing could bring in a lot more sales.
