The latest release of Raspberry Pi OS includes an all-new, native panel plugin for Raspberry Pi Connect, our secure remote access solution that allows you to connect to your Raspberry Pi desktop and command line directly from your web browser.

Since the launch of our public beta with screen sharing back in May, and the addition of remote shell access and support for older Raspberry Pi devices in June, we’ve been working on improving support and performance on as many Raspberry Pi devices as possible — from Raspberry Pi Zero to Raspberry Pi 5 — both when using Raspberry Pi OS with desktop and our Lite version.

By default, Raspberry Pi Connect will be installed but disabled, only becoming active for your current user if you choose ‘Turn On Raspberry Pi Connect’ from the menu bar, or by running rpi-connect on from the terminal.

If this is your first time trying the service, using the menu bar will open your browser to sign up for a free Raspberry Pi Connect account; alternatively, you can run rpi-connect signin from the terminal to print a unique URL that you can open on any device you like. Once signed up and signed in, you can then connect to your device either via screen sharing (if you’re using Raspberry Pi desktop) or via remote shell from your web browser on any computer.

You can now stop and disable the service for your current user by choosing ‘Turn Off Raspberry Pi Connect’ or running rpi-connect off from the terminal.

With the latest release of 2.1.0 (available via software update), we now include a new rpi-connect doctor command that runs a series of connectivity tests to check the service can establish connections properly. We make every effort to ensure you can connect to your device without having to make any networking changes or open ports in your firewall — but if you’re having issues, run the command like so:

$ rpi-connect doctor
✓ Communication with Raspberry Pi Connect API
✓ Authentication with Raspberry Pi Connect API
✓ Peer-to-peer connection candidate via STUN
✓ Peer-to-peer connection candidate via TURN

Full documentation for Raspberry Pi Connect can be found on our website, or via man rpi-connect in the terminal when installed on your device.

Updates on updates

We’ve heard from lots of users about the features they’d most like to see next, and we’ve tried to prioritise the things that will bring the largest improvements in functionality to the largest number of users. Keep an eye on this blog to see our next updates.

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