RustDesk Remote Desktop Reviews

App doesn’t work at all. I’m able to connect just fine when using my PC or another remote PC; however, I consistently get key mismatch error with the iPad app. I know the key is correct because it works from the PC.

App launches but window vanishes but still active in the dock.

I tested RustDeskRemoteDesktop between my iPad Pro 12 inch and my iMac M1 24 inch. Installing RustDeskRemoteDesktop seemed easier than installing Anydesk this morning.

Anydesk used to be simpler to set up. Now it took several tries to allow Screen Recorder, and the unattended setup had been moved from the settings to the initial setup, which I missed.

Rust is a strange name, but it guided me through the Security and Privacy permissions, which is better. It also has that older Anydesk look and feel.

Now for the negatives:
It either constantly stuck at the connecting screen,
Or it stuck attempting to see the screen. I only saw the mouse cursor.
Bummer. It is still very much a Beta product and not ready for prime time.

I find this maddeningly frustrating. Rust desk works fine on my windows and Mac computers, but access from iOS or iPadOS works and then suddenly doesn’t work for no apparent reason with no ability to understand why it’s not working. All you get is a message that says try again later. That’s not helpful at all.

At first it was just the touch mouse option - which definitely limits the ability of usages - now it’s touch pad option as well… I click once, lightly, and instead it clicks twice. This is so unbelievably annoying and in many cases it becomes totally unusable for this reason. If not for that, I do like RustDeskRemoteDesktop - it any issue deemed “unusable” gets no favors from me in a review…

before v1.2.7, it works like a charm, waiting for fix

Device: iPad Pro 11
OS: iPadOS 16.1
Bluetooth keyboard case
Using direct IP access

Problems:
1. When using a bluetooth keyboard, key presses are duplicated unless the keyboard icon is pressed/active. Changing another setting deactivates the keyboard icon, and it reverts to duplicating keys again.
2. Settings/Preferences are not preserved (at least not when using direct IP access instead of service mode). That means custom display or mouse settings have to be set every time you reconnect.
3. When the keyboard icon is active when using an external keyboard, the iOS language icon covers the arrow icon in the bottom right corner that collapses the Rustdesk toolbar. Fortunately, a sliver of the collapse icon is still visible underneath that (barely) allows for it to be pressed.
4. Previous direct IP sessions are not saved.
5. The Enter key does not work in the address bar. You have to type in the address and then manually press the arrow button to connect. A minor annoyance.

Fix those issues, and I'd easily give this client app 5 stars.

Now, in terms of feature requests, I'd really love to see an option to automatically switch the display/monitor to follow the remote window focus the same way AnyDesk does. That's very useful when connecting to a multi-monitor setup. Having to manually switch from one desktop to another can be rather tedious.

I really want to like it more than RealVNC, but the mouse and keyboard control scheme is much more of a pain to use. My biggest gripe is that the mouse actions aren’t configurable, and three finger scroll rarely works.

The arrow keys and other keys being at the top of the screen instead of being integrated with the device keyboard is also a little annoying. They don’t seem to register all of the time, either, and instead will trigger a left mouse click.

With that said, the connection tends to be more responsive and overall faster to load than RealVNC. This would easily be a 5 star app if it was more configurable.

Mouse overflows content so we can not click corners or any corner or side applications like autohide dock or autohide task menu

I use RustDeskRemoteDesktop to access a raspberry pi linux server.

When i remote into it, most of the time rustdesk shows a black screen even though inputs get properly sent. I'm guessing it is because it uses a wayland server instead of x11.

Update: After further testing when i press the -> arrow next to the remote id it will connect properly but when i select it from recents or favorites it will show a black screen.

Besides the weird connection quirk it is a great app compared to real vnc viewer with gestures like 3 fingers to scroll. also being able to access it from anywhere is really helpful.

Works well, even on my bad WiFi/data, but it keeps asking for my password even if I’ve hit remember me, so it makes it impossible to actually connect remotely, as I have to know the stupid password.

On iPad 1.2.2 version worked smoothly for me for the last 12 month. But I updated recently to Version 1.2.7 and RustDesk cannot even launch.

Can you please fix it?

Thanks

New update doesn’t let you connect using local IP.. nor external IDs and removed every saved connections you had

Edit: after reinstalling RustDeskRemoteDesktop , it works.. it’s a shame I lost the saved connections but at least now it saves local IP too

But I have one issue, I often try to scroll by using two fingers and end up moving the canvas (which I never need to do since I’m on an iPad) so an option to change what happens when you use two fingers would be nice sometimes there isn’t a scroll bar and when there is dragging that with the cursor is slower than moving two fingers

I love rustdesk. I have been using chrome Remote Desktop for years and have been looking for something that is free and doesn’t require me to log into my Google account on every machine (and actually works on Mac because chrome Remote Desktop does not despite what the website claims). This is as close to the Bomgar BeyondTrust system that I use at work as I have seen in a free version of any software.

As a convert from chrome Remote Desktop, getting used to the mouse controls is annoying. 1 finger press and hold then drag for hold left click and move and 2 finger move for scrolling is what I am used to. Having some way to remap those controls would be amazing. But I understand that this is most likely a very difficult or nearly impossible task depending on how RustDeskRemoteDesktop is built. Also having the remote screen center itself when zooming would be nice.

Would you install a program that has complete access to every part of your computer? What if it was designed to be accessed remotely? There is a big trust problem with remote access software and open source is the solution.

RustDesk is still early in development, but already shows a lot of promise. The ability to easily host your own server is also extremely nice.

The availability of their mobile app is what allowed me to cancel my TeamViewer subscription and I am never looking back. Thank you to the folks at RustDesk for your hard work!

I have been using this software daily for roughly 2 years now. It is significantly more feature rich and responsive than TeamViewer, AnyDesk or any of the other Remote Desktop alternatives. New features are constantly being added and the latency and quality are unparalleled by any other software that remotely (pun intended) attempts to call itself "Remote Desktop software".

If you're fed up with TeamViewer, AnyDesk, etc. and want full control over your remote sessions, this is the software to use. You can even host your own server to keep everything fast and private. Great job developers!

There is only 1 caveat I have noticed. RustDeskRemoteDesktop collects location and identifier data. Not a fan of this. Diagnostics are fine, but for OSS, location and identifiers, albeit not linked to my personal identifier, is uncharacteristic of the open source philosophy.

This is very well made app. It has client app for almost every operating system. I am using iPhone to control windows machine at work. Very nice for a small shop.

I love RustDeskRemoteDesktop!! I have cycled through so many different ones and they all either are extremely slow or cost money. There is NO input lag at all and it’s so easy to set up!!

However the Apple Pencil does not seem to work. It would be amazing if it was configurable to set the Apple Pencil to work as a mouse (tap = click, hold down & drag = click and drag, etc.)

Easy to connect