We’ve been cooking

And this time we did not just rearrange the kitchen.

Today we want to talk about something big: the new Royal Connect product line.

This is not a small update. It is not a facelift. It is not “same thing, different icon”. We took a step back, looked at years of features, fixes, workarounds, and technical debt, and decided to hit reset in a lot of areas. Then we started rebuilding with everything we learned along the way.

The result is Royal Connect.

Royal Connect Desktop

Royal Connect Desktop is our new IME: Integrated Management Environment.

Developers have IDEs. We think IT professionals deserve their own equivalent. A place where connections, management tasks, automation, scripting, organization, and customization all come together in one flexible environment.

That idea shaped everything.

Royal Connect Desktop is a complete rewrite. It is built on the Avalonia UI framework and designed from the ground up to be truly cross-platform on Windows, macOS, and Linux (Ubuntu, Fedora, and Debian).

Performance was one of the main goals from day one. Especially when working with thousands of objects. Big documents and large data sets should feel fast. Not “fast enough”. Actually fast.

We also gave the app a completely new look and feel. More modern. Cleaner. Less cluttered. Easier to understand. In many places, we simplified the UI and UX on purpose. That was not us doing less. That was us trying to do the right things better.

Under the hood, a lot changed too. We introduced a new SQLite-based file format for more flexibility, better performance, and stronger security. Customization has been improved across the board. Replacement tokens have been reworked. And for the first time, Royal Connect Desktop adds runtime customization through scripts, giving you new ways to adapt objects as they are used. Scripting overall also got a major upgrade, especially when it comes to creating and updating documents.

And because Royal Connect Desktop is meant to be open and flexible, the architecture is built to support custom and third-party plugins in the future.

That said, let’s be honest: early versions will not include every feature from Royal TS/X on day one. That is a conscious tradeoff. In many areas, we chose to reimplement features based on what we learned over the years, instead of dragging old solutions forward forever. Some things will come back in a much better form. Some things may change. We will be listening closely to feedback.

There will also be breaking changes. Simple Royal TS/X documents can be imported. More complex scenarios, especially ones using replacement tokens or dynamic folder scripts, will likely need some manual tweaking. Not always fun, but worth it.

Royal Connect Mobile

Royal Connect Mobile is also a complete rewrite.

This time we are going fully native on iOS, iPadOS, and Android. The goal is a faster, smoother, more natural mobile experience.

It will include RDP, VNC, Web, and Terminal connections out of the box. It will also support ad-hoc connections, so you can connect right away without needing a document first.

And yes, Royal Connect Mobile will be completely free of charge.

Royal Connect Server

Royal Connect Server is getting the same treatment: complete rewrite.

It will run on Windows, macOS, and Linux. On macOS and Linux, it will also be able to run as a Docker container. The architecture is being designed to be more extensible as well, including support for different authentication providers.

In short, we want it to be easier to deploy, easier to integrate, and easier to adapt to different environments.

Licensing

We are also simplifying licensing.

In the near future, we plan to offer two main license types: Desktop and Server.

The Desktop license will cover all desktop products, old and new: Royal TS, Royal TSX, and Royal Connect Desktop, across all supported desktop platforms.

The Server license will cover both Royal Server and Royal Connect Server, again across all supported platforms.

What comes next

We are building on years of experience. We are just doing it with a cleaner foundation and a clearer idea of where we want to go.

There is still work ahead. There will be rough edges. There will be missing pieces (features) in the beginning. But we think this is the right direction, and we are excited to finally talk about it. We also want to be clear that we remain committed to maintaining and improving Royal TS/X and Royal Server. Over time, more of our focus will naturally shift toward Royal Connect, but our existing products are not becoming obsolete anytime soon. We still do not have a release date for the first public beta yet, but we are working hard to get it into your hands as soon as possible.

More soon. Stay tuned...