Yes, the backend is essential right now. This is the same for LogMeIn and others.
However, our connection process is able to bypass our servers in certain situations, and we are gradually adding the ability to operate 'naked,' without our assistance.
Consider:
* When you run the phone app, it contacts our servers and gets a list of PCs
* When you select a PC, the phone first tries to connect directly to the PC
* Failing that direct-connect, the phone uses our servers as a middle-man for assisted communication
In PhoneMyPC 2.0, some PCs show up in the list immediately, before they have been found on our servers--in this case, their icons are temporarily gray. These are PCs that you have successfully direct-connected to in the past, and you can click them and connect immediately without waiting to find them on our servers. The gray icon essentially means "I haven't found this PCs info on the servers yet, but guessing from last time, you can probably connect to it right now."
The next logical step is the ability to add a PC name and IP manually.
So, the backend provides the "firewall friendly, zero configuration" route--which works for everybody--but we are also slowly adding the slightly more complicated "I'm a geek and want to have complete control" route.
