Citrix XenApp 6.5 Mobility Pack reformats apps for Android devices

Citrix released the XenApp 6.5 Mobility Pack as part of its Receiver for Android 3.0 update in December, improving the way Windows applications are delivered and used on mobile devices.

Most mobile clients work the same way as their PC or Mac counterparts. That is, simply showing the desktop on the device. Mobile clients were enhanced with pinch and zoom functionality so that relatively normal screen resolutions can still be used, as well as various mouse/keyboard features, but that is about as far as usability enhancements go.

With the XenApp 6.5 Mobility Pack, Citrix offers a solution that reformats a XenApp-provided desktop so that it's easier to launch apps and navigate on mobile devices (no XenDesktop support yet). It does this by identifying the mobile device's specific characteristics and giving icons and menus a native look and feel.

With published applications, the functionality goes one step further. The Citrix Receiver on the device, paired with the Mobility Pack installed on the server, is aware of the different areas of the screen being remoted. Because of this, it can deliver apps that look and behave in a native way. For instance, it brings up the local touch keyboard when selecting a text field in Outlook.

There's even a software development kit (SDK) available that lets IT create mobile versions of applications (presumably just a front end to certain functions) that makes the apps appear even more native on mobile devices. This functionality was previously called Project Golden Gate and was created by Citrix Labs.

The SDK also provides access to the mobile device's local hardware, so it's seemingly possible for developers to deliver, via XenApp, applications that can be location-aware using the device's GPS, for instance. The devices buttons, camera and phone/SMS interfaces can also be exposed.

At this point, it only works with Android devices, and I've read about people having issues with the latest Android version (Ice Cream Sandwich).

Though it is limited to only XenApp at this point, I expect to see XenDesktop support in the future. If you have any experiences with it, leave a comment or shoot me an email. As more updates come out, especially support for Apple iOS, I'll get my hands on it, too. I'm sure this will be all over the place at Citrix Synergy 2012 in San Francisco in May.

In the meantime, if you'd like more information, you can check out a video from Citrix Synergy or the Mobile Email project created as a demonstration of Project Golden Gate.


Source: SearchVirtualDesktop by Gabe Knuth