I would like a way to hide the little keyboard toolbar. Also, I couldn’t figure out file sharing. There’s a toggle in settings, but no explanation of what exactly it does or how to use it. I tried looking for a button to upload a file in all the little menus. I tried dragging my file onto the VM session. Nothing. I don’t know if this next thing is a problem is with this app or the VM, but sometimes when I use this app, the VM will configure itself to a really low screen resolution. It’s really difficult to use like that. The “activate windows” overlay takes like a quarter of the screen, windows are way bigger than the screen until you maximize, & you can barely fit any content on the screen. Most of the time, though, the VM serves a screen resolution that feels right for my iPad.
The good stuff first: Yes, this works with the Magic Keyboard, including its trackpad. What some reviewers who have said the opposite don’t realize is that you need to *disable* “Windows Native Touch Gestures” the app’s internal preferences. Why you need to do this is beyond me, and there’s no explanation of this anywhere in the app, but that’s the answer. Still problematic, however, is: (1) the fact that the app has weird on-screen widgety elements that cover parts of the Windows interface (super-annoying and unnecessary, especially on a small screen), (2) the fact that many normal keyboard combinations don’t work (even basic things such as shift-selecting multiple items in a list), (3) the fact that the preferences are so non-descriptive as to be useless, (4) the fact there is no “cancel” optio if the virtual environment is failing to load, and (5) the fact that the app for some reason has to reload your virtual environment if you leave for just a few minutes to use a different app. There should be a way to keep it in memory all the time when the app is open. But can I get my work done on an 11” iPad screen with a Magic Keyboard? Yes, I can, and that’s pretty great. Just fix the above issues, please.
I’ve been using this for my work VDI for a couple of years and it’s been pretty good, but not great. A recent update, however, has killed all functionality for me. There is normally a soft keyboard that has the option of using the function keys in a document. The function keys used to stay present on screen while you were typing so they could be used repeatedly if needed in a document. This was somehow changed on a recent update. Now if I use a function key to help navigate to a blank field in a document, the minute I type to edit that field, the menu drops away and has to be reactivated to be used again. I have had issues where after reactivating the function key menu, my document is also de-selected and I have to then reactivate the document and click the spot I need to edit to be able to start typing again. Overall it’s added about 5-6 clicks to something that worked perfectly previously. Where there are 30-40 fields to navigate in a single document, it’s not usable. My iPad has essentially become a $1200 paperweight. Thanks. Please fix this problem.
Horizon Client is great on macOS to allow me to connect to my Windows VDI for work, but on my M2 iPad the app still needs work. The keyboard on iPad OS doesn’t always appear for me to send an Ctrl-Alt-Del to login and I have to exit the app and reconnect. Moreover, once connected to my VDI on iPad, I cannot drag windows within Horizon Client (on my VDI). I do not know whether it is iPad OS intervening and thinking I want to drag the Horizon Client window or whether that is in Horizon Client’s domain to control? But, it is very annoying. I still rate Horizon Client app on my M2 iPad with 4 stars because it allows me to still enjoy my Apple devices all day even if I am relegated to work in Windows for work. 🙂
I really wanted to like this app, especially since my office is moving from Citrix to Horizon. But as someone who has previously used a beautifully designed app that is effortless to use, I want to jab my eyes out after using it for a few minutes. I’m giving it 2 stars because I suppose it is usable, but oh so painful. Here are some of the issues: 1. No pinch to zoom 2. In track pad mode it requires 3 full drags of the finger across the screen to move the mouse across once. This becomes tiresome. 3. I defy you to click/drag across a large block of text that requires scrolling the screen. If there is a way to do it accurately, I haven’t found it. 4. Switch away to another app for 2 seconds, come back, and guess what…you get to reauthenticate. Except that… 5. The app is now locked up in a death spin and requires being closed before you can reauthenticate. 6. The right click is quite the crap-shoot. You might get a right click, but you are just as likely to get a left click somewhere between the 2 fingers. 7. Sometimes the keyboard pops up with the typing area visible, and just as often it is covering the typing area, so you are typing blind. There are many other defects, but the rest would be tolerable (at least what I have discovered) if these first 7 show stoppers were addressed.
Client is working well with iPad Pro and mouse/keyboard/external monitor. I’d love to see true multiple monitor support rather than presentation mode, but I think this is more an iOS limitation. At least in this client I’m able to get full screen on my external monitor. The only issue I’m having is after I upgraded to iOS 15, the idle screen in the horizon client has changed from black to bright white. This is a real battery drain and it’s energy inefficient on the external monitor. Can the developer change tweak the client so it’s black on idle timeout when running on iOS 15? When I was on iOS 14 it was black. Otherwise, 5 stars. Thanks.
It connects very well and has great support for touch. The trackpad feature works great as well as being able to pinch to zoom on my desktop without affecting my work. However (and it’s a big one), the app will not currently recognize an external keyboard’s Delete, Page Up/Down, Alt, Home, Insert, End, NumLock, or ANY of the Function (F1-F12) keys. Also, when attempting to use any key combination that includes the Alt key, it will not recognize the following keystroke as the appears that the Alt keystroke is being repeated instead of held down for a combination. Finally, not all Ctrl combinations work with an external keyboard (such as Ctrl+Enter). The only way to do any of these unsupported functions/key commands is to use the onscreen keyboard which is split between multiple menus and grids my production to a screeching halt. Native support for an external mouse (USB or Bluetooth, only to control the Windows cursor) will need to be implemented as well for this to be a fully functional version of VM Ware. I cannot use this app until it is updated to FULLY support an external keyboard with all of it’s possible commands and functions (the way it works on any other Remote Desktop app). Avoid until updated.
This app is great for remote work on an iPad Pro since I use this as my daily driver rather than a Windows based mobile device. Something I’d love to see added would be the Magic Keyboard accessory for the iPad Pro — native gestures, such as scrolling with the touch pad isn’t recognized which would be awesome to have.
I’m really disliking the new version. The two screen widgets (left side bar and movable overlay radial menu) were already annoying in that you couldn’t disable them if you were using a keyboard and Swiftpoint mouse. Now with the new version, they also added in a strip at the bottom for function keys that I can’t disable. Its all fine and well to offer these touch menus for folks that want them, but please give people some kind of option to clear all the garbage off the screen so they can have a clean remote session with all of the available pixels used for the desktop, without navigating around bars and bubbles that chew up real estate and always manage to find their way into an inconvenient location where you are constantly shuffling them around.
As other reviewers have stated up until now many used the onscreen keyboard and touch. Now with implementation of the mouse and trackpad that apple has brought this app seriously needs an uphaul to make it useable. In its current state using ti with the apple keyboard and trackpad is is horrible. I use this in a work environment and cant even do a simple task such as add a space when typing nw with an external; keyboard. I wouldn’t think this should be a big ask. It is geared towards using a full desktop on a mobile device. Why would basic functionality such as this be so hindered. BT keyboards have been able to be used with an ipad for years now. The introduction of mouse and keyboard support and the apple keyboard trackpad combination should have been added but now to make this a complete mobile desktop solution. Please fix this ASAP!
I find working in the VM Horizon application to be challenging. The inability to drag or resize windows without moving the entire application is frustrating. Additionally, the persistent keyboard settings bar that obstructs the taskbar is bothersome, with no option to hide it. Despite attempting to use this application on my iPad, I cannot recommend it due to these issues. It feels like using this app is more of a time-waster than a productivity tool, and the adjustments required are not justified. I hope this feedback is taken into consideration, as I've been considering replacing my Dell tablet with my iPad for some time now. It would also be beneficial if there was a feature to lock oneself within the application, preventing accidental resizing when trying to close software within the VM
I’m a government employee and use this app to check things when I’m teleworking. It is serviceable for small things like that, but what really drags down the experience is that if I close the app for 5 minutes, I have to re-enter my password. Needless to say, this leads me to typing my password some 20 times when I’m teleworking. If I leave the app closed too long, more than a half hour, it logs me out completely, so not only do I have to enter my password again, I also have to wait 5 minutes for my virtual desktop to load. Since I’m government, I have very little control over their interaction with Horizon, but this seems to be a problem only with the app. The PC version doesn’t do this, but it is slower. So the problem is likely on Horizon’s end. It’s very irritating.
This app crashes about once every fifteen minutes when connected to my remote work desktop. I’ve been experiencing these issues for a while now, and have seen similar complaints in the App Store reviews from when I downloaded the app over a year ago. This isn’t a new thing, nor is this app Candy Crush. People literally depend on apps like this for paying their bills and you have repeatedly shown your ineptitude and complacency in resolving these issues. If I had an alternative, I would use it. This app is a heap of junk and its implementation is so atrocious it’s practically criminal. Shame on you, you money grabbing, self serving troglodytes.
Make iPhone Usable Track Pad When Using iPad Please
I literally just learned Apple is FINALLY allowing mouse support in iPadOS as an accessibility feature, so hopefully it will work with virtual desktops well. Either way, you should let people log in with their iPad & iPhone and use the phone screen as a track pad for the desktop on the iPhone. With new OLED devices, you can have a mostly black screen with outlines for left and right click and the battery life would be amazing. Maybe a scroll section in between the “buttons”? As a selectable option you could even let us use a hard force touch (unless that’s going away) for right click and a quick tap as a left click if you want. Honestly, I’m surprised this hasn’t been done yet. Even IF iPadOS let’s me use a proper mouse, this would still be a great option to have when traveling light.
If I’m on the go and need to just do simple tasks in my VDI session this works perfectly! I bought a Dash 3 pen for my iPad Pro and am able to precisely select things in outlook, vCenter and other apps I use to manage infrastructure. I know I can’t do really heavy things inside of this, especially without Mouse support (which isn’t VMware’s fault) but for being able to switch into it at the drop of a hat in a meeting without having to mess with bringing my laptop (it’s a tank), it’s great!
The remote login worked great then stopped connecting. It just gave the error message that the internet was too slow to make a connection. Desktop loading warning, Your desktop is loading too slowly because of poor network connection. Please try to switch to another network or contact your help desk for assistant. I’ve tried 4 different internets mine, friends, and even Starbucks. I logged in that morning no problem and then a couple of hours later cant login again. Fix fast.
I tried to contact VMware and they are not working today. This app does not say anything about needing to pay for anything. However, went to VMware they have fees for licenses. I do not see this as a subscription in my account, so I hope I do not get scammed. I do not know how anyone got this app to download and to work on their iPhone. I tried to report there was something wrong and I got redirected to VMware with a message saying this page is invalid. I guess I need to call Apple now to let them know what is going on here. Do not get this App! It should be taken out of the Apple Store!
What a disappointing app that gets in its own way. When a keyboard + mouse are paired (such as the Magic Keyboard) why is not hiding the virtual keyboard bar at the bottom (which seemingly has a mind of its own popping up) and the touchscreen quick access circular button + left-side tab? These unnecessarily clutter the display and take away from the experience, especially when using a keyboard and mouse. Why is it not simply treating the iPad Pro + Keyboard and Mouse effectively the same as the Mac VMware Horizon Client? That’s what it should do. Hopefully with Broadcom’s acquisition, this disaster of an app is fixed.
I’m not sure how to report a bug for this App, so I’m doing it here. Sometimes when you are connected with a desktop thin client (ie wyse terminal) that has two monitors and you have software open on the second monitor, when you connect via this app, the software will not show up on the screen. It gets locked to the second screen even though the app only thinks one screen is connected. The only way to get the software back up is to close it and reopen it.
If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, release notes are a thing software vendors use to explain additions, omissions and other important information contained in new releases. If you are responsible for your corporate software stack and you don’t read these then you get what you deserve. TLS 1.0 should be deprecated everywhere and it will be soon. If you’re upset by that....🤷♂️
This may work well with basic presentation mode, but with Stage Manager on a M1 or M2 iPad Pro and most current version of iPadOS, its a usability mess. Odd mouse and keyboard behaviors where both iPadOS and Horizon client are trying to trap and respond to input, and inexplicable connection drops. Understand of course, that working with Stage Manager vs. full external display control is a different challenge for the development team, but until that is resolved the integration with the current display features for the Pro iPads is lacking
Back to 5 Stars! I left the review below only yesterday and a new version was since released and I was able to login for work, the very first time I tried and without being booted out. Thank you so much! Hello, I have been using the app on my iPad for the last year with no problems. But since IOS14 i literally have to try 10-15 times to login. Each time I have to delete my server and re-enter it. There was is way to roll my iPad back to IOS 13 so I was hoping VMWare would have been updated. It was updated yesterday but it’s still not totally compatible. Please let me know if there will be another update and I’ll go back to 5 stars.
I tried to go to the app support and it states page not found. I use the Vm Horizon application on Windows and it works great, however, I have tried using it many times on my iPhone and now my brand new iPad and the connection always times out prior to me being able to connect. It will kick me off another device as though the connection is going through but I never get fully connected before it times out. Any help or support would be greatly appreciated!
As noted in other reviews I have issues with many basic functions. Additionally, I can not drag and select text in certain applications (Word, Outlook, etc.) which is extremely annoying. Also recently I have had an issue when I log n that all my icons and windows are zoomed in making them extremely large. The session needs to time out and then I have to log back in to fix it. All in all not an efficient way to access my desktop.
I don’t know what happened to this app. It crashes constantlyWhen this app works, it’s great. The connection is quick and it interacts well with my iPad & keyboard. The problem is that app crashes at least once almost every time I use it on the iPad. I end up having to re-open it and log into my virtual desktop from the beginning. On my Mac, the app works well. PLEASE look into the crashing issues with the iPad version of this app.
The latest update has two major issues for me. The first is that either Touch ID has been removed or hidden. The other is the extremely long startup time. We are running the latest version of VMware on our servers with the new Burst feature and internal thin client devices it works well, but the iOS version takes 5-10 minutes to launch the desktop. It runs fine after launching.
It sure would be a lot better if you could have it control the iPhone screen by staying on (needs a setting for that). It is constantly dimming the screen and then timing you out. Also, why not integrate biometric authentication so you could login with your fingerprint instead of having to type in your password every time you log onto your virtual machine.
Getting Better, would love to see M1/M2 Optimization
Keep it up, I am getting closer and closer to these devices becoming usable for work systems. They are vastly overpowered with these chips, now it is all software. VM has come night and day on their app since first trying it.
I give this app 5 stars because it works, and it along with my iPad has saved me more than once. For the record, I prefer to work on my PC instead of my iPad, but for one reason or another, I’ve had to work on my iPad, and this app has consistently allowed me to do so.
This app works well! Works with trackpad and can be hooked-up to another monitor. The only consistent issue I have is that the app will close at random and force a login, sometimes happens every two minutes, sometimes every two hours but never fewer than ten times a day.
Finally. If only in presenter mode it had the Bluetooth mouse pointer on the external screen I hook up, it would be nearly perfect. True perfection would be having the iPad and the external screen operate as a multi monitor single desktop!
Until the last update, the keyboard worked flawlessly. Since the last update, the shift keys, both left and right, work sporadically. Even with the caps lock key engaged, characters keyed only appear upper case sporadically. I replaced the keyboard to rule out a manufacturer defect, but the new keyboard has the same issue. The shift keys and caps lock key work consistently outside the VMWare Horizon Client application.
I used to use this app all the time. It was great to login to my virtual desktop without having to get my laptop booted up. But for about 4 or 5 months I can no longer use this app with my Logitech Keyboard. At first I thought it was my internet connection but that doesn’t matter. Typing “help” on the keyboard would put “hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllllllllppppppppppppppp” into my virtual desktop.
I have the Apple Magic Keyboard and the trackpad will not work with this. It allows me to use it to use the trackpad to navigate the actual app interface, but It will not allow me to use the trackpad to actually navigate on the Remote Desktop interface which kind of defeats the purpose of having this app. Hav to fix some of those major issues before this is an actual usable app.
The app is fine. It seems to work without a hitch. I really wish it would allow us to have multiple instances of the app running at once. I often need to connect to multiple computers at once while I am working from home.
Used to be usable, but now it crashes completely - just wipes right off your iPad screen and you have to start again. It’s not internet signal, I’ve tried different kinds from Wi-Fi to 5G. Awful, considering this effectively eliminates using this tool for working from home, which much of the world is still doing. What a shame.
Support added. Thanks very much. It seems to be working well for me. To users: Turn off “Windows Native Touch Gestures” in Settings or you may not be able to see the pointer.
Really want to deploy this to our outside sales teams but I don’t think it’s ready. Crashes every 10 minutes or so on a 5th Gen iPad Air with Logitech keyboard case and 2nd Gen pencil. It has improve a LOT in the last 6 months though.
Run it on the 4th generation iPad Air. Set up screen to 4/3, disable window native touch gestures and disable full screen touchpad mode. Pencil, bluetooth mouse and keyboard are all working.
Since the last update, Face ID on my iPhone XS Max has not worked. I go to settings and look in all areas to try to find a spot to turn it on and there is no spot to activate it. I have to use VMware to enter my time sheets for the week for my place of employment. If it weren’t for that I wouldn’t use it. They need to get that functionality back for me to rate it better.
This app states that my last log in did not log off and is still open. So, it tells me to try again later but never works again. I’ve tried logging off and deleting the app and re-installing spending all day with this crappy app. Maybe you could put in a statement in your registry key to force the app off when logging off, just saying.
On an 11” ipad, screen l estate is at a premium. When you connect to a vm and use the keyboard for anything, the toolbar appearing at the bottom of the screen takes up far too much of it. Why on earth there isnt a setting to disable that is beyond me. Do that and this app is 5*. I reached out to vmware enterprise support and they indicated it is an apple issue. If that is the case, how does the Microsoft RDP client get around it? The ipad would be IDEAL as a support tool if vmware would fire this issue. With LTE and instant on, quick connections to handle support issues would be cake. PLEASE fix this issue
External monitor still letter boxing on all 4 sides
So last update did address the keyboard shortcuts, Thank for that. But we need correct external display support, right now you still end up with black bars on all 4 sides. Last it would be great to bring audio redirect for things like Zoom, similar to how it is on MacOS
Unfortunately VMWare does not match up to the competition in this space... Both Citrix Workspace and Jump Desktop already have native iOS mouse support that works with ANY bluetooth mouse as well as the first party Apple magic keyboard (which has a built-in touchpad). I hope vmware realizes they need to implement this feature soon, otherwise I expect they will be losing a lot of iPad users.
It doesn’t stay open or running in the background every time I just swipe up to open another application and then I’ll come back to this one it’s already close again I have to a star over why doesn’t stay running in the background I have the iPad 12” m1 with 8gb of ram. Fix it 🤨
The app is improving slowly but surely. Mouse support being added to iPad OS has been helpful but still attempting to control the cursor of the VMs in connecting to has been EXTREMELY poor. Looking forward to further app improvements including better mouse support on iPad.
No Support for stage manager. Mouse is not responsive once you move your window to the external monitor. It supports external monitor but only in singular mode, I can't use other apps at the same time, bc the external monitor is going dark once I switch to something else than VMware Horizon Client.
The support for the Magic Keyboard Trackpad is severely lacking. When using the trackpad there is no visible cursor or “finger dot.” If there was Horizon could be used to turn my iPad until a full fledged laptop. There is support for third party Bluetooth mice, but not supporting first party hardware input devices seems user hostile.
This app was really helpful until the last update. I used it through my ipad; it was fast and efficient. Since the last update I cannot use at all. Right after the successful authentication, “loading desktop” is indicted for a minute or two and then I get the message “The session was disconnected Lost connection to server”.
VMware Horizon Client for iOS makes it easy to work on your VMware Horizon virtual desktop and hosted applications from your iPhone or iPad, giving you on-the-go access from any location. IMPORTANT NOTE: A VMware Horizon virtual desktop or hosted application is required to use the VMware Horizon Client for iOS. Contact your IT department for further assistance. FEATURES: ENHANCED USER EXPERIENCE The VMware Blast Extreme protocol used with Horizon 7 is designed and optimized for mobile users. Blast Extreme leverages H.264 hardware decoding to deliver the best remote experience while reducing power consumption. LEAVE THE DESKTOP BEHIND WITH HOSTED APPLICATIONS VMware Horizon 6 and later supports hosted applications in addition to virtual desktops. With hosted applications, leave the desktop behind and run applications like local iOS apps. BEST OF BOTH WORLDS Unity Touch bridges the gap between your touch screen and your Windows applications. With Unity Touch, you can easily browse, search, and open Windows applications & files, choose favorite applications and files, and switch between running applications all without the Start Menu or Task Bar. WORK SMARTER With an external monitor or AirPlay, your iPhone or iPad display turns into a trackpad / keyboard while the external screen shows your VMware Horizon desktop. UNMATCHED PERFORMANCE The adaptive capabilities of the Blast Extreme and PCoIP display protocol make your virtual desktop fast and responsive regardless of whether you are connecting over your corporate WiFi network or over a cellular connection at a local café. SECURE FROM ANY LOCATION Whether you’re at your desk or away from the office, you’re always secure with VMware Horizon. Leverage smart card authentication with the Biometric Associates baiMobile 301MP smart card reader. Use the integrated RSA soft token for simpler access. SUPPORT: Individual users of the VMware Horizon Client for iOS should contact their internal IT help desk or visit http://www.vmware.com/go/view. Only Support Administrators listed on a Basic or Production Support contract for VMware Horizon may log a service ticket with VMware Technical Support
