HippoRemote Blog

**UPDATE: (8/21/2011) HippoRemote Pro 3.3 restores support for Screen Sharing connections.**

For those of you making the jump to OS X Lion, please install HippoConnect. It is the recommended way to enable connections with HippoRemote. You can download HippoConnect here.

If you previously used HippoVNC for Mac, please disable the system server (if it’s running) and uninstall.

If all you ran before was Screen Sharing, I highly recommend you install HippoConnect. Lion makes a number of changes to Screen Sharing that are great if you actually want to share the screen to a remote location, but not so great if you just want to simulate a keyboard & mouse like HippoRemote.

I’m working on improving support for Lion’s changes to Screen Sharing, but in the meantime, HippoConnect is the way to go.

Hi folks! HippoRemote Pro 3.2 has been approved by Apple and is now available in the App Store!

### SPEED

The biggest change in this update is a major rewrite of HippoRemote’s networking code. This means smoother mouse tracking, more fluid gestures and more responsive typing. But the most noticeable impact is dramatically improved connection times. I’ve managed to speed up connection times 2x and as much as 5x in certain scenarios. If you’re like me and multitask while you watch TV, this means that you can get in, out, and back in to the app faster than ever.

These speed improvements apply to the Fast Reconnect feature as well, which was already pretty darned fast. In 3.2, Fast Reconnects can complete so quickly that you may not even notice that it happened at all!

All this speed doesn’t come without risk, however. The old networking code was tried-and-true, having proven itself with solid performance in a variety of environments. The new networking code is just that &mdash new. I’ve tested it as much as I possibly can in my “lab”, but it hasn’t had to face the wilderness of all your networks and computers. So if you run into some odd behavior, please let me know. I’m hopeful that problems will be minimal, but I ask for your patience while I work out any kinks that arise.

### SPECIAL FUNCTION KEYS

The other big feature in this update is support for special function keys. A lot of you write in to ask if HippoRemote supports the media keys on Windows keyboards, or the special feature keys on Apple keyboards. I’m happy to say that with 3.2, the answer is a resounding YES.

You can access the special function keys from the F-key screen of HippoRemote Pro’s keyboard. If you’re running HippoVNC on your Windows PC, or HippoConnect on your Mac, you will see a SPECIAL button that toggles between standard f-keys and the special function keys.

### HIPPOCONNECT?

Yes, there is one more thing. Effective today, I’m replacing HippoVNC on the Mac with HippoConnect. One of the problems with HippoVNC on the Mac was that it conflicted with Screen Sharing. HippoConnect solves that problem. You can run Screen Sharing simultaneously with HippoConnect without issue.

This is especially important for OS X Lion. Apple is changing a lot of things in Lion and Screen Sharing is no exception. The new per-user screen sharing feature in particular is great for letting multiple people access a single Mac, but it wreaks a bit of havoc on remote control apps like HippoRemote. I’ll try to work out some of the issues with Screen Sharing over time, but for the moment, HippoConnect is the sole supported option for Lion.

The good news is that the networking improvements that I made on the iPhone are also in HippoConnect. So using the two in tandem is ULTRA fast. If you’re using HippoRemote with a Mac, you really should switch to HippoConnect.

### WRAP UP

So that’s about all I have to say on the major features of the 3.2 update. However, as with every update to HippoRemote, there are a ton of small tweaks and fixes. The more complete list of changes is below.

If you like HippoRemote and the changes and updates, I’d really appreciate it if you would leave a five star review in iTunes. I’d love it even more if you would tell others about the app via Facebook, Twitter or the good old-fashioned way.

If you don’t like something, or just want to give me some suggestions, you can get in touch with me via email. My email address is on HippoRemote’s support page (http://hipporemote.com/support). Twitter (@HippoRemote) is also an option, but I find it’s pretty hard to talk about features in 140 characters or less.

Enjoy and happy HippoRemoting!

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MAJOR NEW FEATURES & CHANGES:

* Completely revamped networking. Connection times are now 2-5x faster!

* Added “special” button to keyboard for accessing additional functions including:
– Volume controls, playback controls & sleep.
РScreen brightness controls, Expos̩ and Dashboard on Macs.
– Back, forward, home, and favorites buttons on Windows.

* Added support for HippoConnect, our brand new, Lion-compatible desktop client.

OTHER ENHANCEMENTS & ADJUSTMENTS:

* Tweaked tracking momentum to not be so crazy.

* Thumb scrolling now has momentum/inertia.

* Added Connect on Launch setting – launch current profile when connection is established.

* Swipe to switch between arrow keys and function keys.

* Smoother scrolling in lists in tables, particularly on iPhone 4.

* Added bounce effect when swiping to switch between controlpads and keyboards.

* Other small interface refinements and optimizations sprinkled throughout the app.

BUG FIXES:

* Fixed potential trackpad resizing problem when rotating from landscape to portrait.

* Fixed issue where selecting a profile would not add it to favorites.

* Fixed bug that could cause keyboard buttons to temporarily disappear.

* Fixed rare stuck toolbar problem.