Remote Access is now Ascendara Companion, and Retro just got 14 more presets
The mobile webview formerly known as Remote Access has been renamed and redesigned as Ascendara Companion, and Ascend users on Retro now have 14 additional console presets to choose from.
Today's update brings two changes for Ascend users: the webview that used to be called Remote Access is now Ascendara Companion, rebuilt with a new design to match the name, and Retro's console preset library has grown by 14 entries.
From Access to Companion
The name Remote Access described what the feature let you do, but it never quite described what it felt like to use: checking a download queue from your phone, glancing at your library between other things, seeing what friends were up to without sitting back down at your desk. Companion is a better fit for that, and it comes with a complete redesign of the webview itself rather than a name change on top of the old interface.
Functionally, nothing about what Companion is connected to has changed. It still handles download monitoring, library browsing and friend activity, and it is still limited to that scope. It does not provide remote desktop access or let you browse files or run programs on your PC. The redesign is about making that experience feel intentional on a phone screen instead of like a smaller version of the desktop app.
14 more presets for Retro
Retro launched a week ago as a dedicated library for emulation, and today's update adds 14 additional console presets for Ascend users. More presets means less manual configuration to get a given console working the way it should, and it is the kind of expansion that only makes sense once the underlying system has proven itself.
It also says something about the direction Ascend has been moving in. What started as cloud backups and remote access has grown into community hubs, encrypted friend activity, remote download management, and now emulation presets, each one landing as its own small addition rather than a single overhauled release. Ascend keeps picking up features because the community keeps finding places for it to grow into.
- Access renamed to Ascendara Companion
- Companion webview completely redesigned
- 14 new Retro console presets for Ascend users
- No change to Companion's scope or permissions