iPad Pro as Remote Desktop for Indigo client?

Hi all,

I'm planning out a major hardware upgrade in the coming months, and right now I'm leaning toward an M1 (or M1x/M2 if Apple revs fast enough) Mac Mini that would serve as my main desktop Mac, Apple Music Server, and Indigo box.

But that's not what I'm mainly wondering about: For portability, I'm strongly considering a 12" iPad Pro M1 instead of a MacBook Air M1. My only real concern about this decision is how well I can remote in to the Indigo Mini from the iPad. I'm tinkering with this now on a smaller older iPad it seems OK if not optimal compared to my current ability to remote in with Screen Sharing from my old MacBook.

Does anyone here use an iPad for remote access to their Indigo desktop? Did anyone give up on doing so because it was clunky?

And related: Matt & Jay, any plans to release the full blown M1 compiled Indigo desktop client for iPadOS? That wouldn't completely eliminate my need for Remote Desktop from the iPad, but it would cut it by about 80%.

[jay (support)]

Matt & Jay, any plans to release the full blown M1 compiled Indigo desktop client for iPadOS?

While you can run iOS/iPadOS apps on a Mac, unfortunately the opposite is not true. We would have to completely rewrite the Mac client for it to run on iPadOS which would be a HUGE TASK.

Ah, good to know! Thanks. I wasn't aware that the programming required had such a difference in effort required going from Mac to iPad.

[jay (support)]

The Mac Client has some low-level stuff that it shares with the Indigo Server and Indigo Touch, but the vast majority if its code/design is around the UI (using the Cocoa APIs, which predate iOS). That is not portable over to iOS even if it were technically possible to cross compile (it's not).

Indigo v2021.1 will be native to both Intel and Apple Silicon-based Macs, but that doesn't really get us any closer to a full iOS/iPadOS client. That effort was about compiling for the specific low-level CPU hardware and only changing APIs that had been previously deprecated (i.e. it'll use Core Location to determine the Indigo Server location) and are no longer available to Apple Silicon Macs.

And related: Matt & Jay, any plans to release the full blown M1 compiled Indigo desktop client for iPadOS? That wouldn't completely eliminate my need for Remote Desktop from the iPad, but it would cut it by about 80%.

Just out of curiosity, is there any particular functionality that gets you part of the way there (towards minimizing the need for remote desktop) that doesn't involve full blow edits? For example, having ability to restart plugins, etc.? Or do you really just mean the need to add and edit devices, create new objects, etc.?

Updating plugins, file level operations, external script stuff, adjusting triggers, action groups and such. Even the log display is different on the iOS app compared to the desktop client.

Updating plugins, file level operations, external script stuff, adjusting triggers, action groups and such. Even the log display is different on the iOS app compared to the desktop client.

Okay, gotcha... from what I have seen of the protocol and how remote clients work, I would think that operations that are not popping up UI windows (e.g. adjusting the triggers, external scripts, etc.) are far more likely to be possible in the mobile app in the nearer term. But sounds like other than maybe the log display, most of those other requests require just that.

I've remoted in to my machine from the Chromebook and have only ever been happy when using the keyboard, I found the touch interaction via screen sharing to be less-than-ideal. With the keyboard it was at least tolerable, though not the same as being on a dedicated laptop or desktop.

If you want to remotely control your server I recommend trying a VNC app. I use Remotix https://apps.apple.com/de/app/remotix-v ... d407498378 as a Client. I have no iPad Pro though.
Hope this helps..
Cheers
Wilhelm

Could you not use SideCar or Duet. Not a Remote Desktop App per-se but gives functionality?

Vangelis

Thanks for the insights gents.

I'm using a VNC app now, but I haven't really used it a lot. And SideCar isn't a possibility right now because my current Indigo machine is an old MacBook Pro with a broken screen running High Sierra. But it might well be the best option in the new set up.

ok, just because I also used Realvnc and Mocha VNC and they were all pretty slow meaning unusable on my MacMini.
Remotix made it really nice to work with.

i’m using Screens for Mac from Edovia (https://edovia.com/en/screens-mac/ with great success for both local and remote access to a number of headless Mac Mini Indigo servers

It will also allow access using iPad.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I use Google Remote Desktop for my home pc remote control needs. Its cloud enabled, free, secured via two factor with google authenticator and is multi-OS

- Host can be Mac, Windows
- Clients can be iOS(app) , Mac, Windows (Browser based)

Using a Remote Desktop is how I’ve worked with indigo primarily for the last few years, but unfortunately I really find it sucks quite badly. A native UI would be much better.. even if it was one with basic functionality that could be added over time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Durosity, do you mean remoting in via iOS?

I remote in from macs all the time in my current set up because I HAVE to due to the laptop it runs on having a broken screen. I don't find that a problem to do at all, but I wonder about the quality of life with iOS clients.