The Citrix Workspace app is designed to provide users with a secure, easy-to-install client that delivers instant access to business-critical applications, desktops, and data from any device. As the first touchpoint it’s a key component to ensure secure access to your users and also essential for employee productivity. Ensuring that this app offers a seamless user experience while maintaining secure access is critical for Citrix. Our team has been working diligently to innovate and ensure that both users and administrators benefit from a robust, flexible, and secure solution that meets the evolving needs of modern enterprises.

In this blog, we’ll explore the latest updates to Citrix Workspace app, designed to enhance user experience, security, and administrative controls across all endpoints. And this is just the beginning—there’s much more to come. 

New Customizable Toolbar

The toolbar is a critical part of the desktop experience, and we’re thrilled to introduce a new, enhanced, and customizable toolbar across all our clients. The look and feel of the toolbar has been updated, with end-user experience in mind.

The new modern toolbar is movable across the desktop screen. With its sleek interface and expanded user controls, end users can easily navigate and perform quick actions like pinning the toolbar, transferring files, and logging out. Administrators can customize which toolbar controls are visible to end users through the Global App Configuration service.

We have added a new capability for admins to create custom messages when users disconnect or close a desktop, and encourage users to ‘sign out’ if their work is done for the day. This is a great capability for administrators to drive sustainability messaging or cost efficiency. Many of our customers have sustainability initiatives or are required to implement them by regulatory bodies. By adding sustainability reminders to end users, companies can reduce their compute resources and minimize energy usage. 

Image shows a pop up with the title ‘Sign out to save energy’. The body says ‘Signing out can help save energy. Remember to save your work. Disconnect will close the window but will keep the virtual desktop running. You can easily resume your work later.’ The popup has two buttons, one that says ‘Sign out’ and one that says ‘Disconnect
Sustainability sign out reminder

This is currently supported on Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android. Support is upcoming on ChromeOS and HTML5 clients.

Improved Launch Experience

Desktop or app launches are essential for getting to work, but depending on the user’s location or network conditions, these launches can be slow. A lack of visibility into the process often leads to help desk tickets. A smoother and more informative launch process keeps users engaged and reduces frustration – and can help reduce help desk tickets. Quick and reliable access to apps ensures that users can start their tasks without unnecessary delays.

End users have high demands, and need a launch experience that feels as seamless to them as a local laptop. We are happy to introduce our improved launch experience and resizing experience that is seamless and optimized to the resolution of your screen.

This experience improvement can be seen in the Citrix Workspace app for Windows and macOS. The rest of the OS will follow in upcoming releases.

Connection Strength Indicator 

Introducing the latest feature in your toolset – the Connection Strength Indicator.  It empowers users to self-troubleshoot connection issues – helping to reduce helpdesk tickets. It’s integrated into the familiar Citrix Workspace app toolbar, providing real-time insights into users’ end-to-end connection—from the end user device to the Virtual Delivery Agent (VDA), including any networking services in between. You won’t need to worry about installing extra agents on the VDA—our new features work seamlessly within the Citrix Workspace app, reducing setup time and hassle. This feature is in technical preview for Windows and Mac, with support for other operating systems planned for future releases.

Image shows a menu with connection data. The connection is ranked as ‘Excellent’. Other session information like the Transaction ID, Session Duration, Round Trip Time, and client version are included in the menu for troubleshooting capabilities.
The new Connection Strength Indicator

For a deeper dive into how the Connection Strength Indicator can enhance your experience, check out our latest blog post and video on the new feature—and say goodbye to connectivity frustrations!

Passwordless Authentication (FIDO 2.0)

Many customers are making the transition to passwordless authentication, which provides better protection against phishing attacks, password thefts, and other cyberattacks. Additionally, password-related issues often lead to high IT support volumes and hinder employee productivity. 

With support for FIDO2 for Citrix Workspace app, you can benefit from enhanced security and an improvement in the end user experience. End users can authenticate to the client  with passwordless FIDO2 based security inputs such as security pins, security keys and biometric scans. No more forgetting passwords and end users locking themselves out – just seamless, biometric based authentication that keeps your data secure. 

This is currently supported across all client OS.

Other Client Specific Updates

We have also been working on updates for our individual client OS, in response to customer needs. Read further to see our client specific updates 

Desktop Clients

To start, let’s dive into some of the most adopted clients—the desktop clients that users can use on their laptops and workstations

Mobile Clients

At Citrix, we want to empower end users to access from any device – and that includes mobile devices. Let’s dive into some of the latest mobile updates.

Learn More

We’ve been hard at work developing new features for all our Citrix Workspace app clients. To stay updated on what’s new and what’s coming soon, be sure to check out our product documentation!

Disclaimer: This publication may include references to the planned testing, release and/or availability of Cloud Software Group, Inc. products and services. The information provided in this publication is for informational purposes only, its contents are subject to change without notice, and it should not be relied on in making a purchasing decision. The information is not a commitment, promise or legal obligation to deliver any material, code, or functionality. The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for products remains at the sole discretion of Cloud Software Group, Inc.