Chrome Remote Desktop is a
remote desktop software
In computing, the term remote desktop refers to a software- or operating system feature that allows a personal computer's desktop environment to be run remotely off of one system (usually a PC, but the concept applies equally to a server or a ...
tool, developed by
Google
Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...
, that allows a user to remotely control another computer's desktop through a
proprietary protocol
In telecommunications, a proprietary protocol is a communications protocol owned by a single organization or individual.
Intellectual property rights and enforcement
Ownership by a single organization gives the owner the ability to place restricti ...
also developed by Google, internally called ''Chromoting''. The protocol transmits the keyboard and mouse events from the client to the server, relaying the graphical screen updates back in the other direction over a
computer network
A computer network is a set of computers sharing resources located on or provided by network nodes. The computers use common communication protocols over digital interconnections to communicate with each other. These interconnections ar ...
. This feature therefore consists of a
server
Server may refer to:
Computing
*Server (computing), a computer program or a device that provides functionality for other programs or devices, called clients
Role
* Waiting staff, those who work at a restaurant or a bar attending customers and su ...
component for the host computer, and a
client
Client(s) or The Client may refer to:
* Client (business)
* Client (computing), hardware or software that accesses a remote service on another computer
* Customer or client, a recipient of goods or services in return for monetary or other valuabl ...
component on the computer accessing the remote server. Note that Chrome Remote Desktop uses a unique protocol, as opposed to using the common
Remote Desktop Protocol
Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is a proprietary protocol developed by Microsoft which provides a user with a graphical interface to connect to another computer over a network connection. The user employs RDP client software for this purpose, while ...
(developed by
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation, multinational technology company, technology corporation producing Software, computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at th ...
).
Software
The Chrome Remote Desktop client was originally a
Chrome extension from the
Chrome Web Store
Chrome Web Store is Google's online store for its Chrome web browser. As of 2019, Chrome Web Store hosts about 190,000 extensions and web apps.
History
Chrome Web Store was publicly unveiled in December 2010, and was opened on February 11, 20 ...
requiring
Google Chrome
Google Chrome is a cross-platform web browser developed by Google. It was first released in 2008 for Microsoft Windows, built with free software components from Apple WebKit and Mozilla Firefox. Versions were later released for Linux, macO ...
; the extension is
deprecated
In several fields, especially computing, deprecation is the discouragement of use of some terminology, feature, design, or practice, typically because it has been superseded or is no longer considered efficient or safe, without completely removing ...
, and a
web portal
A web portal is a specially designed website that brings information from diverse sources, like emails, online forums and search engines, together in a uniform way. Usually, each information source gets its dedicated area on the page for displa ...
is available a
remotedesktop.google.com The browser must support
WebRTC
WebRTC (Web Real-Time Communication) is a free and open-source project providing web browsers and mobile applications with real-time communication (RTC) via application programming interfaces (APIs). It allows audio and video communication to ...
and other unspecified "modern web platform features". The client software is also available on
Android and
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...
.
If the computer hosts remote access, such as for remote support and system administration, a server package is downloaded. A Chromium-based browser that supports
Chromium
Chromium is a chemical element with the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in group 6. It is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal.
Chromium metal is valued for its high corrosion resistance and h ...
extensions such as Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge must be used. This is available for
Microsoft Windows,
OS X
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and la ...
,
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which i ...
and
ChromeOS
ChromeOS, sometimes stylized as chromeOS and formerly styled as Chrome OS, is a Linux-based operating system designed by Google. It is derived from the open-source ChromiumOS and uses the Google Chrome web browser as its principal user interfac ...
.
The Chrome Remote Desktop allows a permanent, pre-authorized connection to a remote computer, designed to allow a user to connect to another one of their own machines remotely. In contrast, Remote Assistance is designed for short-lived remote connections, and requires an operator on the remote computer to participate in authentication, as remote assistance login is via
PIN passwords generated by the remote host's human operator. This method of connection will also periodically block out the control from the connecting user, requiring the person on the host machine to click a button to "Continue sharing" with the connected client.
The protocol uses
VP8
VP8 is an open and royalty-free video compression format released by On2 Technologies in 2008.
Initially released as a proprietary successor to On2's previous VP7 format, VP8 was released as an open and royalty-free format in May 2010 after G ...
video encoding to display the remote computer's desktop to the user with high performance over low bandwidth connections.
[
] Under Windows, it supports copying and pasting across the two devices and real-time audio
feed as well, but lacks an option to disable sharing and transmission of the audio stream. The software is limited to 100 clients. Attempting to add further PCs after reaching 100 will result in a "failed to register computer" error.
[
]
See also
*
Comparison of remote desktop software
This page is a comparison of notable remote desktop software available for various platforms.
Remote desktop software
Operating system support
Features
Terminology
In the table above, the following terminology is intended to be u ...
*
Remote Desktop Protocol
Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) is a proprietary protocol developed by Microsoft which provides a user with a graphical interface to connect to another computer over a network connection. The user employs RDP client software for this purpose, while ...
*
Chromebook
A Chromebook (sometimes stylized in lowercase as chromebook) is a laptop or tablet running the Linux-based ChromeOS as its operating system. Initially designed to heavily rely on web applications for tasks using the Google Chrome browser, Chromeb ...
(ChromeOS)
References
External links
*
Remote desktop
Remote desktop software for Linux
Google Chrome extensions
Google software
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