March 2025 Note: Screens 4 is no longer available and has been replaced by Screens 5. Check it out!
Original Post:
It is with great pleasure that we’re announcing that Screens 4 for iOS is now available. With the release of Swift, we seized the opportunity to rethink the app and improve the overall design, core features and ensure that we’re taking advantage of everything iOS 9 has to offer. Several portions of the app were rewritten with Apple’s new language in order to create a solid platform that will help us improve the app in the future.
We also took the time to take a look at our users’ bucket list. Many cool features were picked from that it so we believe this new version will make them and everyone very happy!
So without further ado, here’s what’s new:
Curtain Mode
One of the most brought up feature request was about privacy. In a nutshell, this new feature blocks the remote Mac (not available on Windows or Linux) display when you connect to it so that nobody can see what you’re doing.
One Tap User Password
This feature will save humanity thousands of hours. OS X introduced many security measures in the past few years and one of them is the login window being displayed when you connect through a screen sharing session. You then have to type in your user password, which is pretty annoying and gets in the way of what you were actually going to do. With Screens 4, simply hold the Actions button and Screens will type in your password and even hit Enter for you!
You can One Tap User Password everywhere you need to type in your user password.
Groups
Another popular request was the ability to create groups for saved screens. This one took a while to get right but was well worth it and works amazingly well. You can add a group via the button or by simply dragging a saved screen over an existing one. Of course, you can also add saved screens to an existing group.
3D Touch Support
“Peek and Pop” lets you perform special actions on a saved screen, without having to actually open it.
Use Quick Actions to launch a recent connection or create a new one.
Spotlight Search
Perform a search right from Springboard and find a recent connection within Screens.
Multitasking Support
Screens 4 takes advantage of many iOS 9 features, including full multitasking support on iPad.
New App Actions Toolbar
The new Actions toolbar makes it easy to perform actions and see which options are enabled.
New Display Selection
Display selection is even more visual on iPad.
Better 1Password Integration
Send back to your computer any of your passwords stored in 1Password.
Improved External Keyboard Support
Screens 4 fully supports iPad Pro’s Smart Keyboard and any external keyboard for that matter.
But wait, there’s more!
- OpenGL rendering, which improves speed drastically.
- Now fully supports RFC 2396 specifications for URL schemes.
- Momentum scrolling (Mac only).
- Adaptive Toolbar that adapts to the iOS device size.
- Refined SSH keys management.
- Full Retina support for multiple remote displays.
- More international keyboard layouts support.
- Improved clipboard support.
And so many small details that will make Screens even nicer to use!
Availability
Screens 4 for iOS is available NOW as a free, yes FREE update! For new users, Screens is available on the App Store for $19.99 USD.
March 2025 Note: Screens 4 is no longer available and has been replaced by Screens 5. Check it out!
What’s Next?
For the next few months, we’ll be working on a major Screens for Mac update and bring these new version 4 features on the Mac side. We also have a couple of ideas that we’re not quite yet ready to share. 😉
Of course, we cannot wait to see what Apple will introduce during WWDC this June. Exciting times!
Thank You!
We would also like to show you our appreciation. We have been working on Screens for the past 6 years now and the response has been amazing since Screens 1.0 was released in December 2010. We will continue to work hard to bring you the best apps out there.