Using VMware on your iPhone

If your firm uses VMware to access a virtual desktop, don't miss that you can install an app for VMware on an Apple iPhone. I've tested the app, and it allows you to work on your desktop with about three-quarters of the efficiency of working on a laptop or desktop computer - provided you can connect a mouse to your iPhone—which is what makes all the difference.

The app will load your desktop, and the appearance will be quite the same as you see on a PC - even if admittedly you'll need to squint a little if you want to keep the same aspect ratio.

On the screen, you'll see an icon that allows you to access the usual controls you'd use on a PC:

Click the 'paired square' icon, and bring up six additional icons which will let you access the keyboard; up, down, left, & right arrows; settings; gesture help; and the option to disconnect from VMware.

The VMware Horizon app will move in and out of portrait and landscape mode quite smoothly. But, in order to really avoid having your flow of work compromised you'll need to pair a mouse with your iPhone. There's more than one way to do this, but if the mouse you are using has a USB-A receiver, and you have a USB-A to USB-C adapter, you can connect the mouse like this:

In order to enable the mouse on the iPhone, you'll need to enable AssistiveTouch:

The mouse should then work - a cursor will appear on the iPhone you're used to controlling with a fingertip.

If you click on the fuzzy circle assistive touch option it will give you the option to go back to the home screen of the iPhone, or switch between apps.

If you really want to have the option to jump on VMware on the go, without lugging around a laptop, this is way to do  it—though you may want to invest in a portable Bluetooth enabled keyboard as well.

Keep in mind that if the USB-A to USA-C adapter has a HDMI port as well, you'll also be able to connect to a monitor that may be around and increase your level of workflow efficiency even more.

Keep multiple versions of folder contents with Windows File History tool

Don't miss how easy it is to have Windows keep backups of folder contents, so you can always access the set of files that you had in a folder yesterday, a week ago, last year, or even 10 minutes ago.

In Windows 11, simply search for and open File History:

Select a location on your network, or on an external hard drive. Note that while File History will be set to back up files automatically at different intervals, you have the option to initiate a backup by clicking 'Run now'. You can exclude certain directories from the backup process.

You can set files to be backed up at 10, 15, 20, 30, and 60 minute intervals, or every 3, 6, 12, 24 hours. Windows can keep the backups for 3, 6, 9, 12, or 24 months, indefinitely, or until you run out of network space.

You can access the backups by selecting properties for a folder and looking under the 'Previous Versions' tab.

If you are using the home edition of Windows, it may not be possible to access the backups.

Testing the strength of a Zoom connection

During a Zoom session, you can get stats on the strength of your connection to help anticipate if the video and audio will be stable throughout the call.

In a Zoom call, click on the menu for the video icon and select 'Video Settings'

On the left side menu, you'll be able to click on 'Statistics'. It will give you metrics for the audio, video, and screen sharing connection.

Latency (or the data speed from source to recipient) of more than 100 milliseconds); packet loss (data that doesn't reach its destination, which is what can cause screen freeze, make the video pixelate or seem jumpy) of more than 2%; or jitter (how the latency goes up and down over time) of more than 30 milliseconds, will indicate that you’re going to have a problem with the connection. 

There’s also an option in Zoom to do an advanced test of a specific domain.   During a Zoom session if you press SHIFT + ALT CTRL + D, Zoom's Network diagnostics tool will come up. It has an array of tests that you can run.

On the 'Advanced Test' tab, you can run a test targeted at a specific domain for a meeting.

An MTR test is a mytraceroute test, which combines a ping and traceroute test. Ping simply measures how long it takes to send and receive data from another server. Traceroute tracks each host the data goes through from the source to the destination.

In reviewing the results for a MTR, keep in mind how RTT compares to latency. Latency is the speed going one way, and RTT is round trip time - how long it takes the data to go there and back again.