VNC and other remote computing apps for iOS devices are extremely handy tools to have; you never know when you might need to access your computer to do something while you're not at it, or mail a file to yourself, or any of a million scenarios. Plenty of apps to let you do this are out there, but Screens tries to stand out by featuring a clean, iOS-friendly interface. You fire up the app, create a new "screen", put in your connection info, connect to your VNC server, and you're off and going.
Screens does a great job with its interface, which takes a bit to get used to, but once you learn how it all works, you'll quickly find out how intuitive it can be. All your mouse commands are done through one or two finger taps and gestures on the touch screen, so there's no on-screen buttons to mess around with to get special mouse commands, they're all available to you by actually using them. You can easily scroll and highlight items using this control scheme. As well, you have quick access to Escape, Enter, Shift, Ctrl, Alt, and Windows/Option keys from anywhere thanks to the toolbar. Also, you can copy and paste text to or from your device to your remote computer, a killer feature to be sure. The app also supports iOS 4 multitasking, so you can switch out of it and go back in with your connection still intact.
Here's the thing about Screens, though - it's a VNC app. It's not the first of its kind, and there are plenty of other apps that let you do what it does, and all Screens really has over those other apps is some different interfacing mechanics. If you have an app for VNC that you use already, then you don't have much of a reason to shell out for this one as well. As well, can someone please explain why apps like these have to be so highly-priced? Given that VNC is a protocol that has been in existence for a very long time, and given how many options there are for VNC clients on the App Store, it doesn't seem like it's an impossible app to make, at least to the point where you regularly see apps like this at costs that are well outside of normal App Store price ranges. Game publishers wish they could get away with the prices that remote computing apps are priced at.
Screens is very useful and is a high-quality VNC app for iOS. If you're willing to shell out the money, you won't regret it. If you have a VNC app you're satisfied with already, there's not much of a need to switch to Screens. If spending $14.99 or more on a VNC app gives you pause, then there's not a lot here to realistically justify spending more than on some of the cheaper options that exist on the App Store as well.
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