Has anyone used GL.iNet KVM to control an iPhone?

KVM
1

Dear Comet KVM community

I am looking at using the Comet KVM to provide remote support to my aging father using his iPhone.

I would use a media adapter to plug into the iPhone that provides HDMI and USB outputs to the KVM.

I hope to control his iPhone remotely from my computer.

Please reply if you have any experience with this kind of setup.

Thanks in advance!

2 Likes
2

Hi, You can just use a docking station to get it working, which we have tried.

4

Thank you @Kyrie!

Are you able to provide some further details please?

I’m interested in purchasing one for testing, but wanting to check feasibility first.

eg.:

  1. What was the role of the docking station in the setup? e.g. Was it connected to the iPhone as the host, with outbound HDMI (for video output) and USB (for keyboard and mouse inputs) to the Comet KVM?
  2. What model iPhone and docking station did you try?
  3. Was there any particular configuration or troubleshooting required on the Comet KVM to get it working?
  4. Were there any limitations when controlling the iPhone? Such as operations relying on iPhone buttons / gestures, eg. getting back to the iPhone home screen.

Many thanks!

1 Like
5
  1. The docking station is what hooks up to the iPhone you want to control.
    Which is the media adapter you said. Below is what I use.
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  1. Theorically, any docking station (with an HDMI port and usb port) and iPhone can work.
  2. Please note that, the assistivetouch in iPhone should be enabled for effective mouse control and the mouse mode in KVM should be set to relative mode.
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  3. All on-screen actions, like swiping and tapping, are replicated through mouse clicks and movements, mirroring the experience of directly using a physical phone.
    The password page will not show on the remote screen which is a security mesure comes from iPhone.

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3 Likes
6

@David999

FaceTime supports screen sharing and remote control. No additional hardware required and probably easier for enable for the person receiving support.

7

Dear Kyrie,

Thank you for the details, photos and screenshots! Extremely helpful.

2 Likes
8

Thank you Elvis. Facetime remote control could work, except it requires:

  • The elderly person to remember and have dexterity for the steps required each time on their side.
  • At least iOS 18 on both sides.
  • An iPhone on the controlling side.
  • Prior setup of matching contacts on both sides. Usually fine, except if you want to support another person’s device with the same setup.

It appears the Comet KVM may address all these. Once setup, all the supported person has to do is plug in.

A shortcut to turn on Assistive Touch may be needed, but could be helpful as a permanent setting in this case.

2 Likes
9

I am not sure about all the steps above, but I was able to achieve similar results using the older HDMI and USB adapter for lightning cable.

I was on iOS 15 and it worked relatively out of the box. Though the control is a bit wonky since you are selecting with Arrow keys and the enter button. Note it expects a MacOS style keyboard input, so your start (windows) key is Option* and alt key is Command*; *Note on newer keyboards for some ungodly reason this is flipped.

Other than that, getting to the accessibility settings was easy enough by just using the arrow keys, where you can enable more functionality.

I would take some photos, but I can't remember where I put my adapter.