Citrix Receiver On Android: Your Desktop Anywhere

Citrix's Receiver for Android is available as a Tech Preview (beta, don't use in production, etc) and runs on Android 2.0. Receiver, which Citrix expects to be out of Tech Preview and generally available by Q2 2010. Receiver is the company's universal client for desktop and mobile devices, providing a seamless remote application experience to end users regardless of where they are and what device they are using. Receiver on Android is surprisingly usable, given the Droid's relatively small screen compared to a netbook or small laptop. Receiver is also available for the iPhone and Windows Mobile devices. Blackberry support is planned.

The Android Receiver Tech Preview is impressive. While I wouldn't want to replace my laptop with a mobile device like a Droid--the screen is too small and the keyboard is hard for me to use for extended periods--I can live on it for quite a while if needed. I only had to buy a few applications for Exchange email and Microsoft Office editing to provide enough functionality for me to be productive on the road.

Of course, other enterprise apps such as CAD programs aren't going to be directly available on the Droid or any mobile device, but remote application software like Receiver makes access possible. A nice benefit is that you don't need to purchase those mobile productivity apps for Android users, and you can control the caching of data on the device so in case one is lost, your secrets aren't exposed.

To get the Tech Preview, go to the Android Market on your Android phone and search for Citrix. Install the application and once it is launched, you can register for an account on their demo server. Once you get logged in, you can access the sample desktop applications. I first checked out the Design applications. Citrix has a copy of Autodesk Design Preview and Solidworks eDrawings available. The screens on both updated quickly and by zooming in and scrolling around, I could easily review the drawing and interact with the application. Other sample applications include Microsoft PowerPoint slide decks and Excel spreadsheets. Using Verizon's 3G connection, Receiver was snappy, taking perhaps three to five seconds to load the application. The Powerpoint presentations took a bit longer to load, perhaps 10-15 seconds, but I don't find that unacceptable for a mobile device. I've seen Powerpoint take that long to render on my laptop. I suspect the delay is a combination of 3G and the Droid hardware/software.

Input, however, is more difficult to get right with mobile devices. Small soft keyboards, the lack of readily accessible function keys and tiny physical keyboards can make text input difficult. Most desktop applications require more screen space to be legible than a mobile device can present. Citrix is working to raise the usability of desktop applications on mobile devices.Whether you are using a mobile phone with a hard or soft keyboard, in some cases both, you typically have a limited sized QWERTY keypad and you have to switch to access numerals, symbols and keyboard keys like Control and Escape. Citrix designed Receiver to be somewhat intelligent in how the keyboard is presented, based on the type of input field such as automatically selecting letters or numbers. Citrix extended the Droid's soft keyboard to include keys normally found on a full computer keyboard like function keys. For example, the extended keys run along the top of the soft keyboard and you can swipe side to side like a ribbon to access more keys than are displayed. The soft keyboard will display the full QWERTY keyboard plus the extended keys when the hard keyboard is closed or just the extended keys when open. During text input, I did notice a bit of lag, enough to be noticeable but not a real problem.

Viewing desktop applications on a small device is a bit more difficult to do well. In most cases, to move across a window, you scroll by swiping your finger across the screen. You can often zoom out scroll to where you want to be and zoom back in. But that brings up a thorny usability issue. In Android 2.0, actions that require moving your finger across a static screen, such as highlighting text in preparation for copy and paste or moving an object, means the screen has to remain still. But, Android helpfully likes to scroll the screen when you drag your finger across it. That makes something as basic as copy and paste an exercise in frustration and largely impossible, because when you drag your finger to select text, the screen scrolls. With Receiver, the screen still scrolls.

Marcus Taylor, senior director of product management with XenApp and Receiver said they are looking into the scrolling issue and will most likely introduce a toggle lock so the screen can be locked and objects moved. Receiver currently doesn't support multi-touch, a feature iPhone users love to manipulate the screen, but Taylor said they have a working prototype in the lab and plan to roll it out by 2Q, 2010 or sooner.

There are only two requirements for Receiver. First, you have to be a Xenapp customer, naturally. Second, you have a solid network connection to use it. My ad-hoc testing was on Verizon 3G network which is pretty fast for wireless. I was getting about 1 Mbps download and 512 Kbps upload measured by Speedtest.net. Not too shabby. But down rating to 1G or 1xRTT would push performance into the dirt. Citrix protocol is pretty efficient, but can't overcome high loss, highly latent traffic. The other issue that is beyond Citrix's reach is that with Verizon Wireless' current network, you can't use both voice and data at the same time. Remember that Autodesk program? It would be nice to call up the drawing while talking to someone else about it, but if you are tied to your Droid, you can't. However, with other Android 2.0 devices rumored to be coming out in 2010 from HTC and Google, you will likely find something that will run on a network that supports both.