The desktop app
VNCchat also ships as a desktop app (native) for macOS, Windows and Linux, with the same account and rooms as the web client.
Install
Section titled “Install”-
Open your organization’s downloads page (your administrator can give you the address).
-
Download the installer for your platform:
Platform Installer macOS .dmg(Apple silicon or Intel)Windows .exe(installer)Linux .AppImageor.deb -
Install and open it.
Sign in
Section titled “Sign in”The desktop app signs you in with the same single sign-on as the VNClagoon
portal. It opens your organization’s identity provider in your system default
browser and receives the sign-in back through the vncchatplus:// link, so a
browser where you are already signed in to the portal logs you in with no second
prompt. The app also silently refreshes your session in the background while you
are using it, so you stay signed in without being asked again. Your session is
remembered on this device, so the next time you open the app you land straight in
your rooms.
On first launch — or when you want to point the app at another organization — a sign-in screen shows your server; use Change to enter a different server address, then Sign in. A per-organization installer already has the right server baked in, so you normally do not need to touch it. The sign-in screen is always shown while you are signed out, so you can always change your server.
On first launch — or when you want to point the app at another organization — a sign-in screen shows your server; use Change to enter a different server address, then Sign in. A per-organization installer already has the right server baked in, so you normally do not need to touch it.
What the app adds
Section titled “What the app adds”- Native notifications — messages and calls use the operating system’s notifications, not just the in-app ones.
- A menu-bar / system-tray icon with your unread badge, and Pause notifications (do not disturb) in its menu.
- Visible updates: the app checks the download server for a newer build when it starts, every hour, and again when you return to the window or wake the computer. When one is available it asks you what to do (see Updates below); it never downloads a build quietly in the background.
- Deep links —
vncchatplus://open?…opens a room or message directly (from a link in another app), andvncchatplus://callback?…finishes sign-in. Use?server=…to open the app pointing at a specific server.
Updates
Section titled “Updates”The app checks for a new release shortly after it starts, every hour while it runs, and again when you bring the window to the front or wake the computer (limited to once every ten minutes). When one is available it shows New release available with the version you are on and two actions:
- Download and install: download it now. When the download finishes the app offers Restart now, or it installs the next time you quit.
- Later: download it in the background now and install it when you quit. You are not asked again for the same version, and you are never left on an old build.
There is no manual download or file replacement: the app updates itself. The tray / menu-bar icon has Check for updates… (ask the store now) and Download latest version… (open the download page, for example to install on a machine that cannot reach the store) at any time.
The application menu has the same two items: on macOS they sit in the VNCchat
menu, right after About VNCchat (Check for Updates… Cmd+U, Download
Latest Version… Cmd+Shift+U); on Windows and Linux they are in the Help
menu (Ctrl+U / Ctrl+Shift+U). Check for Updates… always tells you the
result: the version you are on when you are up to date, the download prompt when
a release exists, or an error with the download page when the store cannot be
reached.
If the window is not in the foreground you also get a system notification. If a download fails, the app tells you so and leaves the download page as the way forward.
Everything else — rooms, direct messages, threads, files, meetings, the assistant — is the same as the web client.
→ Get notifications on your desktop for the tray, the badge, do-not-disturb and the sound.