Parallels Access 6 gains iPad mouse support for your remote Thanksgiving tech support needs

Parallels Access Macs and iPads
Parallels Access Macs and iPads (Image credit: Parallels)

What you need to know

  • Parallels Access 6 has a fancy new Remote Help feature.
  • Users can connect to a remote computer and control it using their iPad or web browser.
  • The iPad app also supports mouse and trackpad input, too.

Thanksgiving might be a little ways away yet but there's a good chance people won't be piling into a single house like normal. That might also put paid to the annual tech support fun that some of us fall for – but fear not, Parallels has you covered. Its Parallels Access 6 update adds a feature called Remote Help. And it just ruined your excuse not to help out with that virus-ridden Windows machine this time around.

Launched today, Parallels Access 6's big new feature makes it easier than ever for people to remotely administer computers. And they can do it from an iPhone and iPad, too.

Users simply send a link to the person that needs their help and then do the business from their own device. If they're running iPadOS 13.4 or late, they can even use a mouse and trackpad as well.

Bluetooth support for mice, trackpads, and gestures in iPadOS 13.4 or later: Now these gestures work with your remote computer connections! When a mouse or trackpad is detected, the cursor transforms into a native cursor depending on the content available on the screen—such as a pointer, I-beam or arrows—for an improved user experience.

There's a free trial available to anyone who wants to give Remote Help a try, while a suscription costs either $19.99 for a year's access or $34.99 for two.

This isn't the only update coming out of Parallels today, either. Parallels Toolbox for Windows and Mac has also been updated to version 4.

Parallels Toolbox—an all-in-one suite of time-saving utilities for Windows and Mac users—is filled with helpful one-click tools that simplify managing the health of your computer, your productivity and your own wellbeing. New Parallels Toolbox 4 features added to the collection of more than 30 tools.The most popular Parallels Toolbox one-click tools include: Download Video, Energy Saver, Clipboard History, Clean Drive, Free Memory, Presentation Mode, Capture Area, Hide Desktop, Unarchive, Hidden Files, Uninstall Apps and more. Details of the full suite of one-click tools and demo videos are available at parallels.com/toolbox.

Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.