Few gadgets have captured the imagination of both geeks and ordinary folk alike as Apple's iPhone
has. Despite the significant segments of both populations who greeted the iPhone with a resounding "meh", millions have shelled out for the handheld super-smartphone. And if you're an IT pro, you may be staring at your shiny black plastic-and-metal $200 up-front expenditure and thinking, "Now what?"
Fortunately, the answer to this question is not the shoulder-shrugging and closet-consigning that might have met previous fads like the Pet Rock. The reason -- well, one of the reasons, anyway -- that IT pros would be partial to the iPhone in the first place is that it's a real Unix-based computer under the hood. The long history of iPhone jailbreaking goes to show how eager people are to get at that functionality, even risking warranty voiding and phone-bricking. But the advent of the iPhone App Store has now given geeks a more licit means to turn their phone into not just a geeky toy but an IT tool -- and one that your IT managers might not ban from the premises (and might even pay for!)
So, while the masses enjoy finding restaurants and playing off-brand versions of classic board games, IT geeks will want a something a little meatier, and a little more job-related, to fill their iPhone-ing time. This article will cover some of the apps that can improve your professional and hobbyist IT life. They're all available from the App Store -- no tales of jailbreaking woe or triumph here!
Going old school with the command line
If there is one traditional first reaction of a geek to a new computing device of some sort, it's "Can I get a command line on it?" True command-line hacking on the iPhone itself might not be available, but there are a number of terminal emulators out there that bring the experience of clicking keys on a black-and-green-screened VT100 to the palm of your hand.
But a terminal emulator does more than just offer nostalgia; it also provides a handy way to control remote machines from afar -- in this case, anywhere you have cell phone connectivity. Admittedly, for the IT pro a tool that makes it possible for you to be Mr. or Ms. Fix-It while watching TV or relaxing on the beach could be a mixed bag -- but perhaps five minutes of interrupted vacation time is a good use of time if it can avert a larger disaster down the road?
Better still is the chance to subtly monitor or update your servers under the conference table while the sales VP is droning on about something or other in the weekly staff meeting, yet again.
There are actually three capable and well-regarded terminal emulators available for the iPhone: TouchTerm, pTerm, and iSSH, all for less than $5. All have roughly equal feature sets and various pros and cons, summed up nicely here.
I want my VNC!
Of course, a lot of the computers you'll want to monitor have needs beyond the command-line. A common tool in the help-desk's arsenal is VNC, which allows remote control of a variety of Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X desktops. With a VNC server on your computer and a client on your iPhone, you can use your phone as a remote control or remote trouble-shooting tool.
There are two VNC apps out there: Jaadu and Mocha VNC. Jaadu is from the same developers that brought out the beloved Touchpad Pro (a jailbreak-only app). Both are unfortunately lacking SSH encryption, so you can use them at your own risk; but for everything from mailing a document you accidentally left on your home computer to yourself to using your iPhone as a remote control for PowerPoint, these apps can help you out.
Targeted tools
If you're a sysadmin, you might need some specific information from your servers in an easy-to-digest form, or simple commands that don't require the overhead of a full-on terminal connection. Network Utility provides a great way to ping a server, scan its ports, get IP address and WhoIs information, and even see its physical location on Google Maps. Web Tools offers similar functionality, but doesn't have its own Web site -- search in the iTunes Store to find it.
How about one very specific -- but very useful -- bit of functionality, waking up a sleeping computer? There are a couple of iPhone apps that implement wake-over-LAN, Sleepover and iWOL. Both are an excellent complement to VNC, as you can now gain access to even computers that are dozing fitfully.
Yes, you can even edit text
You're probably never really going to use your iPhone to, say, tap out a 1,200-world article about iPhone apps for IT professionals. (I'd like to claim that I did just that while riding the bus or something, but truth be told my budget won't allow for my very own iPhone just yet.) Still, there may well be times when you want to make a tweak or two to anything from a memo to an HTML document -- and why should you have to pry your hands off your phone to do it?
One of the very few apps I've seen on the App Store with reviews almost all four stars or better is TextGuru. TextGuru is a fairly versatile text editor with a host of features that you would hope to see in a full-featured desktop editor, including (sakes alive!) the cut and paste functionality missing from the iPhone OS itself. There's also FTP On The Go, which, as the name suggest, primarily presents itself as an FTP client, but also has a built-in editor for those documents you access over FTP. (Unfortunately, SFTP isn't supported at the moment.) One of the problems with document editing on the iPhone is that the gadget takes an odd approach to file saving -- rather than a single filesystem, each app has its own little sandbox to save things in. These editors both work around this limitation in kind of kludgey ways, but that's necessary, given the limitations.
Most techies probably aren't as worked up as most about the lack of Microsoft Office support -- right now, you can look but not touch -- but surely the ability to edit a PowerPoint presentation will come in handy, when it gets here. A couple of different companies are working on Office-compatible editors, including DataViz, whose DocumentsToGo provides the same functionality a number of other platforms. (If you're interested, sign up on their slightly ominous notification page.
Just tell me what to do
Finally, with all the apps listed here, you might actually be getting too much information about your systems, which can really overwhelm a poor techie's decision-making processes. What if you just need a simple answer, and you need it now? Well, you can always consult the Magic 8 Ball, now in convenient iPhone form. Is it more convenient than lugging a physical plastic 8-ball around with you everywhere? All signs point to yes!
More apps a comin'!
The iPhone App Store is still in its infancy, more or less. There will be more apps, and improvements on the ones listed in this article, in days to come. And there might be some that I missed here! If you're in love with your iPhone as an IT tool -- or are miffed at what it can't do -- feel free to chime in in the comments.
Of course, a lot of the computers you'll want to monitor have needs beyond the command-line. A common tool in the help-desk's arsenal is VNC, which allows remote control of a variety of Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X desktops. With a VNC server on your computer and a client on your iPhone, you can use your phone as a remote control or remote trouble-shooting tool.
There are two VNC apps out there: Jaadu and Mocha VNC. Jaadu is from the same developers that brought out the beloved Touchpad Pro (a jailbreak-only app). Both are unfortunately lacking SSH encryption, so you can use them at your own risk; but for everything from mailing a document you accidentally left on your home computer to yourself to using your iPhone as a remote control for PowerPoint, these apps can help you out.
Targeted tools
If you're a sysadmin, you might need some specific information from your servers in an easy-to-digest form, or simple commands that don't require the overhead of a full-on terminal connection. Network Utility provides a great way to ping a server, scan its ports, get IP address and WhoIs information, and even see its physical location on Google Maps. Web Tools offers similar functionality, but doesn't have its own Web site -- search in the iTunes Store to find it.
How about one very specific -- but very useful -- bit of functionality, waking up a sleeping computer? There are a couple of iPhone apps that implement wake-over-LAN, Sleepover and iWOL. Both are an excellent complement to VNC, as you can now gain access to even computers that are dozing fitfully.
Yes, you can even edit text
You're probably never really going to use your iPhone to, say, tap out a 1,200-world article about iPhone apps for IT professionals. (I'd like to claim that I did just that while riding the bus or something, but truth be told my budget won't allow for my very own iPhone just yet.) Still, there may well be times when you want to make a tweak or two to anything from a memo to an HTML document -- and why should you have to pry your hands off your phone to do it?
One of the very few apps I've seen on the App Store with reviews almost all four stars or better is TextGuru. TextGuru is a fairly versatile text editor with a host of features that you would hope to see in a full-featured desktop editor, including (sakes alive!) the cut and paste functionality missing from the iPhone OS itself. There's also FTP On The Go, which, as the name suggest, primarily presents itself as an FTP client, but also has a built-in editor for those documents you access over FTP. (Unfortunately, SFTP isn't supported at the moment.) One of the problems with document editing on the iPhone is that the gadget takes an odd approach to file saving -- rather than a single filesystem, each app has its own little sandbox to save things in. These editors both work around this limitation in kind of kludgey ways, but that's necessary, given the limitations.
Most techies probably aren't as worked up as most about the lack of Microsoft Office support -- right now, you can look but not touch -- but surely the ability to edit a PowerPoint presentation will come in handy, when it gets here. A couple of different companies are working on Office-compatible editors, including DataViz, whose DocumentsToGo provides the same functionality a number of other platforms. (If you're interested, sign up on their slightly ominous notification page.
Just tell me what to do
Finally, with all the apps listed here, you might actually be getting too much information about your systems, which can really overwhelm a poor techie's decision-making processes. What if you just need a simple answer, and you need it now? Well, you can always consult the Magic 8 Ball, now in convenient iPhone form. Is it more convenient than lugging a physical plastic 8-ball around with you everywhere? All signs point to yes!
More apps a comin'!
The iPhone App Store is still in its infancy, more or less. There will be more apps, and improvements on the ones listed in this article, in days to come. And there might be some that I missed here! If you're in love with your iPhone as an IT tool -- or are miffed at what it can't do -- feel free to chime in in the comments.
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