Welcome to Splashtop SOS. Let's get you set up.
With Splashtop SOS, you can use your computer or mobile device to remote access and control remote computers and Android devices.
Here’s what we’ll cover in this article to get you started
Install and set up the Splashtop app(s) that you will use to do the remote access
Use your mobile device to navigate and control a remote computer
Manage your SOS account online (manage users on your team and account settings)
Install and set up the app(s) that you will use to do the remote access
With SOS, you can run remote access sessions from your computer (Windows or Mac) or from a mobile device or tablet (iOS or Android).
Start by downloading and installing the Splashtop Business app
Access all of the downloads in the left column of https://www.splashtop.com/sos/downloads
When you start the Splashtop Business app, be sure to log in with the email address and password that you used when setting up your SOS account.
Start a Remote Access Session with Splashtop SOS
Get your Splashtop Business App ready to start a session
Run the Splashtop Business app that you installed above (on your Windows, Mac computer or iOS or Android device).
Navigate to the SOS area of the app
Click the "+" SOS icon or select “SOS | Connect to User’s Computer” from the menu
You will see a “Connect to User’s Computer” dialog where you will enter the 9-digit code that the user gives you (in the steps below)
Ask your user to download and run the SOS access app
Have your end-user go to the SOS app download link displayed in your Splashtop app (sos.splashtop.com or sos.splashtop.eu, depending on where your account is located) to download and run a small program or app and give you the 9 digit code.
Note that the page will automatically detect their operating system and offer them the Windows or Mac download if they are on a computer or a mobile app download if they are on a mobile device or tablet.
User runs the app (on Windows and Mac)
The user goes to the web page and downloads and runs the app.
The user only has to run the app, there is no install process.
A 9 digit code is displayed.
They give you the code and you enter it in your Splashtop App (after clicking the SOS + icon) and that starts the session.
There are some additional options under the Settings menu.
Sound – Choice to output sound over the remote connection only, on this computer only or both
Security – Choice of whether to request permission from the user when someone tries to connect. Options are to Reject after the request expires, Allow after the request expires, or Off.
Advance – Has proxy settings options (No proxy, Auto, Manual) and to set Server, Username and Password
User runs the Android app
If the user visits the SOS app download page from an Android device, they are prompted to download the SOS Android app from the Google Play store. They may also be prompted to download an add-on based on their phone manufacturer to add remote control of that type of phone or tablet.
After they install and run the app, the experience is the same. They give you the code displayed in the app and you use that code in your Splashtop app to remotely access and control their Android device.
Connect as Admin option
When you start a session to access a Windows computer, there is a checkbox where you have the option to “Connect as Admin”. You will be prompted to log in with an administrator account on the Windows machine and you will then be able to perform activities that require administrator privileges.
After entering the 9 digit code into the SOS screen of your Splashtop app, click the arrow to connect and the remote access session will begin.
Below is the remote user’s computer screen shown in an SOS window on the technician’s computer screen.
When you begin the session, the remote computer screen will open in a window on your computer. Within that window, you can control their computer with your mouse and keyboard just like you were sitting in front of it.
A drop-down menu (the blue down arrow V at the top of the screen) gives you access to additional control options.
When you are done, you can close the window to end the session or the remote user can click the Disconnect button on the access app to end the session.
How to access & control a remote computer screen from a mobile device using Splashtop SOS
Starting the session from a mobile device is very similar to starting from a computer. Tap to run the Splashtop Business app on your device (in this case an iPad).
Look for the "+" SOS icon when you start the app and tap it. You will see a screen that looks like this where you enter the user’s 9-digit code.
On mobile devices, the experience of controlling the remote computer is a little different than when working on a computer because you won’t have a mouse.
On the initial screen (note the remote PC screen in the background), you will see an overlay that explains some of the finger gestures you can use to navigate the computer screen in place of using a mouse.
Click Continue to hide the hints and view the remote computer screen.
In the lower right corner of your screen are controls to open the toolbar and access the on-screen keyboard.
If you click to open the toolbar, there will be a number of options available to you.
End session
Show reminder of finger gestures
Lock/unlock screen rotation
Virtual trackpad and mouse settings
Switch monitors
FPS quality settings
On-screen controls
And the down arrow button on the right hides the toolbar.
When you’re done with the session, just click the End session button at the left of the footer toolbar.
And that’s it. Your remote access session is complete!
How to access & control an Android device from your computer
Click here for a blog post on remote accessing and controlling Android devices with SOS
Manage your SOS account online
Go to your Splashtop web console to manage your account.
In the upper right you can access your account information and subscriptions.
Use the “Invite Technicians” button to invite additional technicians to your account. Remember that each SOS license allows 1 technician at a time to use SOS. If you have five licenses then any five people from your list of technicians can use SOS concurrently.
The “Current Sessions” list shows you currently running sessions under your account.
The “Session Code” field and Connect button allow you to enter the 9 digit code from the user’s computer or device that you want to access. Clicking the Connect button will open the native Splashtop app on your computer or mobile device with the session code loaded and you can start the session from the app. Running remote support sessions from a web browser isn’t supported.
In this article, we've seen how to get set up with Splashtop SOS.
You installed the Splashtop Business app that the technician uses and clicked the +SOS icon to start an SOS session
We gave the remote user instructions to download and run the SOS app and give the technician the 9 digit number
Next, we saw how the technician enters that number in their app and can remote access and control the user's device
And finally, we saw how to manage your SOS account online, including managing multiple technicians under one account
