LogMeIn's iPhone product, LogMeIn Ignition, always struck me as a product that was relatively easy to set up, but not that much practical use except in emergencies. The small size of the iPhone's screen and relatively weak graphics processing power meant that controlling remote systems was a chore of pinch zooming, selecting and waiting endlessly for screen refreshes.
The iPad client — and it's a universal app, so if you've already purchased the iPhone client you'll automatically qualify for it — is another kind of critter entirely, and that's down more to the iPad's hardware than any massive tweaks on LogMeIn's part.
Setting up Ignition does involve setting up client software on any remote system you'd like to control. It works cross platform, so you could control Windows or Mac systems from your iPad. Installation ties that to a LogMeIn Account, with various features available depending on whether you're using a paid or free client model. For most basic tasks, the free client is more than adequate.
The client itself handles all the messy IP translation issues, logging into the LogMeIn servers on boot by default, so you don't particularly have to worry about opening up router ports or setting IP addresses to make the client systems visible online. Once that's done, you fire up the Ignition client on the iPad, enter your login details and pick your machine to control. At the other end, the client machine pops up a notice to inform you that it's being remotely controlled. And that's it.
Where the iPad makes a big difference for this kind of application is in the speed with which it processes commands and the additional screen real estate, which makes a huge difference for selections onscreen of whatever data you want to modify.
So as an example, this sentence i'm typing in right now has been done entirely through LogMeIn Ignition. I did have to drop back to the desktop and clean it up a little, but that's more to do with the iPad's onscreen keyboard than the LogMeIn client itself — something that could also be rectified with a Bluetooth keyboard. Compared to the iPhone client, where the small screen would make just typing that sentence an effort in frustration, the iPad version is almost effortless.
The biggest and most obvious strike against LogMeIn Ignition is the asking price. $36.99 isn't just on the high side for an iPhone or even iPad app. It's practically astronomical. It is undeniably a bit of a niche product though, and if you do work in a situation where having remote access and control over other systems — whether it's for data gathering, co-ordination or problem solving — it's an elegant application that works well and with a minimum of fuss.
