A native iPadOS app - not a browser tab. Magic Keyboard and trackpad drive a real Windows pointer, Apple Pencil gives you pixel-precise clicks, and the bigger canvas makes a full work session comfortable, not just possible. No RDP, no Microsoft account, no VPN.
Remio is 100% native on iPadOS - no WebView, no JavaScript bridge, no Electron anywhere in the rendering path. The Windows host hardware-encodes with your GPU's media engine, and the iPad decodes on VideoToolbox onto a Metal-backed layer, so a 4K desktop costs only a few percent of CPU. A separate, prioritized input channel means your keystrokes and clicks land before the next video frame, even over a saturated hotel Wi-Fi.
Hardware-decoded up to 6K at 120 FPS - cursor motion feels like local glass, not a stream.
The Magic Keyboard's trackpad forwards as a real Windows pointer - pointer movement, inertial scroll, pinch-to-zoom the canvas, and a two-finger tap for secondary click, the same trackpad behavior you already know. The keyboard sends every key as a real Windows scancode, and familiar combinations remap automatically - Cmd+Tab becomes Alt+Tab, Cmd+Q closes the app - so muscle memory carries over instead of fighting a second layout. Apple Pencil turns into a fine-tip pointer - precise enough to hit a small close button or place a text cursor exactly in dense Windows UI.
It's the difference between poking at a screen and actually driving a desktop.
Two installs, one PIN, no account. No VPN, no firewall rules, no port forwarding - the Windows host never opens an inbound port.
On the PC you want to reach, download the Remio host from remio.net/download and run it. One installer sets up everything: the host, a background service that keeps it reachable, and a virtual display driver - nothing else to set up. Works on Windows 10 and 11, Home editions included.
Search "Remio" in the App Store, or open remio.net/download on the iPad. It's a universal binary - the same app that runs on iPhone. Launch it - no signup, no email confirmation. It opens straight to a pairing screen with a number pad and a QR scanner.
The Connect page of Remio Host shows a QR code, a Device ID and a PIN. Scan or type them in Remio on the iPad. Remio picks the best route automatically - a direct peer-to-peer path on the same network, or an encrypted relay if a direct path isn't available. The PC is one tap away from then on, nothing to retype.
Already have a Magic Keyboard or Apple Pencil? They pair to the iPad itself in Settings → Bluetooth - no Remio-specific setup. Once paired, they work the moment you connect.
An iPad is often the device you grab away from your desk - on cellular, on hotel Wi-Fi, on a train. Remio is built for exactly that.
On cellular the stream keeps measuring your connection and adjusts the picture to fit. When the network tightens, Remio lowers sharpness before it lowers the frame rate, so motion stays smooth.
Every iPad since 2017 decodes HEVC in hardware, with no software fallback, so the CPU stays free. On an iPad with a ProMotion (120 Hz) display, such as iPad Pro, the stream runs at up to 120 fps; other iPads follow their display. True 4:4:4 color from a Windows PC with NVIDIA or recent Intel graphics to an iPad. HDR from a Windows PC - on an iPad with an HDR screen, your desktop shows the brightness and color it really has.
Remio connects directly and finds a way through your router without port forwarding or a VPN profile, and the host never opens an inbound port so your PC is never exposed to the internet. A relay fallback carries the session when a direct path is impossible.
Every session is end-to-end encrypted with no setting to disable it. The keys live only on your two paired devices and never reach a server - even Remio cannot decrypt your stream. Lock Remio - Remio asks for Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode when it opens, so someone who borrows your iPad can't reach your computers. A session that's running keeps running.
Some software will never ship for iPadOS. Reaching the Windows PC that runs it is the whole point.
VBA macros, pivot tables built for the desktop app, an Access database a whole team depends on - none of it has an iPadOS equivalent. On the iPad's larger canvas with a real keyboard, editing a workbook or fixing a query is a task you finish, not a task you postpone.
Accounting suites, inventory systems, manufacturing floor software, an EMR built two decades ago - a large share of business software is Windows-only and always will be. Remio doesn't need it ported; it reaches the PC that already runs it.
Step through a debugger in Visual Studio, run SQL Server Management Studio, or spin a model in a Windows-only CAD viewer - all of it wants a full keyboard and a screen bigger than a phone. See how the same idea plays out for dedicated 3D & CAD workflows.
Both reach the same Windows PC over the same free app. The difference is the session you're walking into.
Restart a stuck service, approve an install, check on the render - it's already in your pocket. See the iPhone guide.
A Magic Keyboard, a trackpad, a Pencil, and a canvas big enough to work on for an hour, not a minute. That's what this page is about. Still choosing an app? See the best remote desktop apps for iPad.
Five questions the iPad-to-Windows direction tends to raise - honest answers below.
Install the Remio host on the PC, install Remio on your iPad, pair once with a QR code or a Device ID and PIN - free, no Microsoft account, no card.