Remote desktop without an account

TideDesk has no accounts. There is nothing to sign up for and no password to reuse: you install the same app on both computers and connect with the host’s device ID and access code.

Device ID and access code

The This computer page on the computer you want to reach shows two things. The device ID is the start of that computer’s own certificate fingerprint. The access code proves you are allowed in.

The access code is never sent over the network. The viewer proves it knows the code with a value tied to that one session (an HMAC), and repeated wrong guesses lock further attempts out. Codes you choose to remember are stored encrypted for your Windows account.

Connecting by device ID needs no fingerprint question: TideDesk refuses a host whose certificate does not match the ID. When you connect by address instead, the viewer shows the host’s fingerprint the first time, remembers it, and refuses to connect if it ever changes.

What the connection service does

To find each other across the internet, computers that use device IDs go through TideDesk’s connection service at rendezvous.tidedesk.app. It only introduces the two computers: it learns the host’s device ID, public certificate and public address, and the address of a viewer that asks for that ID. It keeps this in memory only, logs counts rather than IDs or addresses, and never carries your screen, sound, input, clipboard or access code. The session itself always runs directly between your computers.

You can turn registration off under Settings, Network. On a local network you can always connect by the host’s address instead, and since v0.1.0-alpha.8 a device ID also works on the same local network without internet access.

Good to know

• Windows Firewall asks to allow tidedesk the first time; allow it on private networks.
• Save computers you use often under My computers for one-click connections.
• Give the access code only to someone you know and trust. See remote access scams.