Take control of a Mac, a Linux desktop or a Raspberry Pi from your iPhone: Apple Screen Sharing, RealVNC's RSA-AES and the VNC password, a trackpad cursor and a key bar.
Apple's Screen Sharing app lives on the Mac, not on the iPhone, and plenty of VNC viewers for iOS stop at the classic VNC password. SSHive's VNC client completes the sign-in methods you meet most often: Apple Screen Sharing for a Mac, RSA-AES for RealVNC Server, UltraVNC MS-Logon II, and the VNC password. VeNCrypt is not among them on iPhone and iPad; a server that insists on it connects from the VNC viewer in the Mac app, which handles VeNCrypt with X.509 certificates.
The controls are made for a touch screen: a trackpad cursor or direct touch, a two-finger tap for a right click, pinch to zoom, and a key bar with Esc, Tab, Ctrl, Alt, Shift, a Win key that sends Command or Super, F1 to F12 and Ctrl+Alt+Del. For a server that only speaks plain VNC, an SSH tunnel opened from the iPhone carries the screen encrypted inside SSH instead of in clear. VNC is part of Pro, a one-time purchase of $12.99 that also unlocks it on the iPad and the Mac. No subscription, nothing sent to us.
Apple Screen Sharing for a Mac with Screen Sharing turned on, with a user name and password of that Mac; RSA-AES for RealVNC Server; UltraVNC MS-Logon II for Windows accounts on an UltraVNC server; and the classic VNC password, offered by servers such as TigerVNC and x11vnc. VeNCrypt, for one, is not among them.
By default a trackpad cursor stays on the remote screen: swipe anywhere to nudge it, tap to click, hold still before moving to drag. On a large Mac or Linux desktop, pinch in on the corner you are working in: two fingers then pan the enlarged view, which also follows the cursor as you move it. Switch to direct touch once the zoom lets you aim with a finger. Unzoomed, a two-finger drag turns the scroll wheel, and tapping with two fingers right-clicks.
A bar stays on screen even when the iOS keyboard is hidden: Esc and Tab; Ctrl, Alt, Shift and Win (Command on a Mac, Super on Linux), which apply to the next key on the bar, or stay down after a long press; the arrows, or F1 to F12 through Fn; and Ctrl+Alt+Del. The iOS keyboard only comes out when you have text to type.
RSA-AES encrypts the whole session. With the classic VNC password, only the password exchange is protected and the screen travels in clear. For such a server, add a local tunnel (-L) to port 5900 in an SSH profile for the same machine, connect it, then point the VNC profile at 127.0.0.1 and the tunnel's port.
VNC is part of Pro: $12.99 once, a Universal Purchase that unlocks it on iPhone, iPad and Mac and that you can share with your family. No subscription to keep paying for a viewer you open twice a month.
A VNC session rarely comes alone: an SSH terminal to restart the VNC server, SFTP to read its configuration, RDP to the Windows machine next to it. SSHive has them in one app, with the same saved profiles.
VNC passwords and Screen Sharing credentials are stored in the iOS Keychain on the device, and reach iCloud only if you turn on iCloud sync (Pro). No vncpasswd file lying in a home folder, and no account with us.
RealVNC's own viewer, free. It is built around RealVNC Connect: sign in with your RealVNC account and the computers running RealVNC Connect appear, with sessions encrypted end to end. The natural pick if your machines already run RealVNC.
RDP and VNC in one polished app, plus Jump's own Fluid protocol for fast remote sessions. Bought once per platform rather than rented; Jump Desktop for Teams serves organisations.
VNC is one protocol with several ways to sign in, and each server offers its own list. A connection works when the viewer and the server share one. On iPhone and iPad SSHive handles four: the classic VNC password, a challenge that protects the password but not the screen; RSA-AES, RealVNC's method, which encrypts the whole session; UltraVNC MS-Logon II, for Windows accounts on an UltraVNC server; and Apple Screen Sharing, the method macOS uses. It does not handle VeNCrypt, the TLS-based method that some Linux servers, wayvnc for one, can be set to require.
That explains most refused connections. A Mac answers with Screen Sharing, RealVNC Server with RSA-AES, and TigerVNC or x11vnc usually accept a VNC password. When a server insists on VeNCrypt, either change that on the server or connect from the Mac app, whose VNC viewer handles VeNCrypt with X.509 certificates.
SSH is how you protect a plain VNC session. In an SSH profile for the same machine, add a local tunnel (-L) from a port on the iPhone, 5901 for instance, to localhost:5900 on the server. Connect the SSH profile, then open a VNC profile pointed at 127.0.0.1, port 5901. The screen now travels inside the SSH connection, and the VNC port never has to be open to the network.
For control, SSHive starts in trackpad mode rather than tapping where you touch: on a phone, a fingertip hides the very button you are aiming at, while a cursor nudged with small swipes lands where you meant. Switch to direct touch once the desktop is zoomed in far enough to aim with a finger.
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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