Reach Windows Server and Windows 10 or 11 Pro from your iPhone: NLA, Active Directory domains, Ctrl+Alt+Del in one tap and the SSH terminal in the same app. An alternative to Windows App (formerly Microsoft Remote Desktop).
Microsoft's own client is the obvious starting point: Windows App, formerly Microsoft Remote Desktop and listed as Windows App Mobile on the iPhone, is free and official. SSHive takes another angle and puts an RDP client in the same app as your SSH terminal for iPhone, SFTP, VNC and a VPN client, so an incident that starts on a Linux proxy and ends on a Windows server does not mean switching apps. It signs in with Network Level Authentication (NLA) to Windows Server and to the Pro and Enterprise editions of Windows 10 and 11, takes the Active Directory domain in its own field, and lets you turn NLA off for one profile when an older server needs it.
RDP is part of Pro: the one-time purchase of $12.99 unlocks it on iPhone, iPad and Mac. An RDP profile can bring up its VPN before the session and disconnect it when you close the session. The session is held by the app rather than by the screen, so turning the iPhone sideways does not drop it. No subscription, and nothing sent to us.
The Domain field is separate from the user name and takes a NetBIOS name (CORP) or a DNS name (corp.example.com), so there is no CORP\user to type. NLA is on by default, as current Windows servers expect; one switch per profile turns it off for an older server that does not support it.
On the first connection SSHive records the server's certificate fingerprint. If a later connection presents a different certificate, it refuses and shows you both fingerprints, which is the moment to stop and check. Trusted certificates are listed, and can be removed, in Settings > Known hosts.
Two touch modes, switched from the toolbar. In trackpad mode a cursor stays on screen: swipe to move it, tap to click, hold still for a moment to drag a window. In direct mode, you tap exactly where you want to click. In both, a two-finger tap is a right click, a two-finger drag scrolls and a pinch zooms.
A slim bar stays on screen without the keyboard: Esc and Tab; Ctrl, Alt, Shift and Win, which hold for the next key on the bar; the arrows, or F1 to F12 behind an Fn key; and Ctrl+Alt+Del in one tap, to unlock a Windows session.
The remote desktop opens at the size of your screen, in landscape: it fills an iPhone held sideways or an iPad, and turning the device does not cut the session. Pinch to zoom into a crowded Server Manager window, then drag with two fingers to move around.
Pick a VPN profile (IKEv2, IPSec or OpenVPN) in the RDP profile. SSHive brings it up before connecting, or skips it when the server already answers on your local network, and disconnects it when you close the session.
Windows App only connects to Windows. It has no SSH terminal, no SFTP and no VNC, so an alert that starts on a Linux load balancer in front of a Windows backend means two apps and two lists of servers. SSHive keeps RDP, SSH, SFTP and VNC in one app, with one list of profiles.
Each RDP profile keeps its password in the iOS Keychain, bound to the device; with Require Face ID / Touch ID on, none opens without Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. Shared accounts (Pro) let several profiles use one domain account, so when that password changes, you update it once.
RDP in SSHive is part of Pro, $12.99 once, which also unlocks it on the iPad and the Mac. Windows App is free. If RDP to Windows machines is all you will ever need on your iPhone, Microsoft's app is the simpler answer; SSHive earns its place when Linux servers are part of the job.
Microsoft's official client, free, listed on the App Store as Windows App Mobile. The right starting point if RDP to Windows is all you need and you have no use for SSH or SFTP alongside it.
A polished RDP and VNC client that also speaks its own Fluid protocol. The app is bought once on each platform, with no subscription for it; organisations have Jump Desktop for Teams.
On an iPhone, RDP is a rescue tool more than a workstation: you reach a Windows server for a few minutes, check a service, restart it, and go back to a computer. The screen is the constraint, so SSHive works on aiming. The trackpad mode, the default, gives you a cursor you move with small swipes and that clicks only when you tap without moving, so resting a finger never clicks by accident; hold still for a moment and the next movement drags a window. Pinch to zoom on a dense dialog, drag with two fingers to move around.
The case it serves best is an incident at the wrong moment. The alert arrives, you open the saved RDP profile, SSHive brings up the VPN if the server is not on your local network, and the Windows desktop opens. You check the Event Viewer, restart a service, run a PowerShell command. If the alert actually came from the Linux proxy in front, its SSH profile is in the same list.
On security, the connection uses NLA, so Windows authenticates you before it opens a session, and the server's certificate is pinned on the first connection: a different certificate later stops the connection instead of being accepted silently. Passwords stay in the iOS Keychain.
The limits are real. iOS suspends apps in the background, so an RDP session does not survive long in another app; when SSHive brought up a VPN for the session, leaving the app ends both the session and the VPN, so that the tunnel does not stay connected behind your back. On an iPhone the desktop is small; on an iPad the same session has room to breathe.
.ovpn file), then choose it under VPN profile in the RDP profile. SSHive connects it first, unless the server already answers on your local network, and disconnects it when you close the session. A VPN run by another app, such as Tailscale or WireGuard, works as well.Free on the App Store, no account needed: 2 SSH sessions at a time, 5 profiles, SFTP uploads up to 10 MB per file. Pro costs $12.99 once, covers iPhone, iPad and Mac, and unlocks RDP, VNC, the VPN client and remote tunnels in this app.
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