Systems and methods for providing continuing access to a remote computer program

1. A system comprising:

a first device configured to:

transmit a list of local applications that are candidates for remote execution;

a second device configured to:

receive the list of candidate applications;

associate at least one file-type identifier with at least one of the candidate applications in the received list;

store at least one device identifier associated with the first device;

store at least one application identifier associated with each one of the candidate applications;

provide a list of files to be accessed remotely;

a third device configured to:

receive a list of files from the second device or from a file-sharing service;

transmit a selection identifying at least one file from the received list;

wherein the second device is further configured to:

receive the selection identifying the at least one file;

determine a target file-type identifier associated with the identified at least one file based on the received selection;

select at least one of the stored device identifiers and at least one of the stored application identifiers based on the target file-type identifier;

transmit the identified at least one file or transmit the selected application identifier based on the selected device identifier; and

a fourth device, different from the third device, configured to:

receive the transmitted application identifier or the identified at least one file;

execute an application locally based on the received application identifier or the received identified at least one file; and

cause the executed application to access a copy of the identified at least one file, wherein the copy of the identified at least one file is synchronized with a file-sharing service.

2. An apparatus comprising a processor configured to:

receive a list of applications local to a first device that are candidates for remote execution;

associate at least one file-type identifier with at least one of the candidate applications in the received list;

store at least one device identifier associated with the first device;

store at least one application identifier associated with each one of the candidate applications;

provide to a second device a list of files to be accessed remotely;

receive a selection from a user at the second device identifying at least one file from the provided list;

determine a target file-type identifier associated with the identified at least one file based on the received user selection;

select at least one of the stored device identifiers and at least one of the stored application identifiers based on the target file-type identifier; and

cause at least one of the candidate applications that is associated with the at least one selected application identifier to:

execute locally on a selected device that is associated with the at least one selected device identifier and that is different from the second device, and

access a copy of the identified at least one file, wherein the copy of the identified at least one file is synchronized with a file-sharing service.

3. A method for executing a remote application, the method comprising:

receiving a list of applications local to a first device that are candidates for remote execution;

associating at least one file-type identifier with at least one of the candidate applications in the received list;

storing at least one device identifier associated with the first device;

storing at least one application identifier associated with each one of the candidate applications;

providing, to a second device, a list of files to be accessed remotely;

receiving a selection from a user at the second device identifying at least one file from the provided list;

determining a target file-type identifier associated with the identified at least one file based on the received user selection;

selecting at least one of the stored device identifiers and at least one of the stored application identifiers based on the target file-type identifier; and

causing at least one of the candidate applications that is associated with the at least one selected application identifier to:

execute locally on a selected device that is associated with the at least one selected device identifier and that is different from the second device, and

access a copy of the identified at least one file, wherein the copy of the identified at least one file is synchronized with a file-sharing service.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

detecting a failure of the selected device; and

in response to the detected failure, causing at least one of the candidate applications to:

execute locally on an alternative device that is different from both the second device and the selected device, and

access a copy of the identified at least one file that is synchronized with the file-sharing service.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

receiving performance information pertaining to the first device; and

wherein the at least one stored device identifier is selected based on the received performance information.

6. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

periodically receiving performance information pertaining to the first device or an alternative device;

selecting an alternative stored device identifier based on the received performance information;

selecting an alternative stored application identifier based on the received performance information or the alternative stored device identifier; and

causing at least one of the candidate applications that is associated with the alternative application identifier to:

execute locally on an alternative device that is associated with the alternative device identifier and that is different from both the second device and the selected device, and

access a copy of the identified at least one file that is synchronized with the file-sharing service.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising terminating the application executing remotely on the selected device.

8. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

receiving a selection from the user identifying a target device or a target application; and

wherein the at least one stored device identifiers and the at least one stored application identifiers are further selected based on the received user selection identifying a target device or target application.

9. The method of claim 3 , further comprising determining whether a file-sharing service client is installed on the selected device.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

in response to determining that the file-sharing service client is installed, determining whether the file-sharing service client is stopped; and

in response to determining that the file-sharing service client is stopped, starting the file-sharing service client.

11. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

in response to determining that the file-sharing service client is installed, determining whether the file-sharing service client is stopped;

in response to determining that the file-sharing service client is stopped, copying the identified at least one file to the selected device; and

periodically synchronizing the copy of the identified at least one file using the file-sharing service or another file-sharing service.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:

in response to determining that the file-sharing service client is not installed, copying the identified at least one file to the selected device; and

periodically synchronizing the copy of the identified at least one file using the file-sharing service or another file-sharing service.

13. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

receiving, from the first device, an icon associated with one of the candidate applications;

storing the icon; and

providing the icon to the second device for display to the user in connection with the provided list of files to be accessed remotely.