Apple Remote Desktop Opinions....

[gpspad]

I have someone I have been trying to help use their iMac. The person is a senior and they have trouble clicking the right buttons to allow me to share the screen when I try to do screen sharing with them. The click Option then click allow is slow, and disappears before he has time to click it. There is a slight delay and it takes me sending requests for 10 minutes before the allow screen sharing button comes up and he clicks it.

At first I couldn't understand what was happening, but after trying it with my own parents, I realized my Mom had the same problem clicking the button in time. I was thinking that getting Apple's Remote desktop might solve the problem.

I would be trying to login using my apple id, to an iMac with his apple id, over the internet. Alot of the reviews for remote desktop are kind of bad, is it worth getting?

Would we each have to buy our own copy of it?

Could I use it to remote log into his computer from the internet w/o him having to click a button like I can with an iMac over my own LAN?

Just looking for a solution to be able to help someone from my house easily, I can't get over there enough, and the "allow" screen sharing process is kind of quirky over internet.

 

[hobowankenobi]

I don't think ARD is the right tool for support over the internet. It has no features that I am aware of to help make connections easy, nor is it optimized for WAN performance.

Somebody will correct me if I am wrong...if either/both features have been added. I really doubt it...as it really has not changed much in over a decade.

Back in the day, the best tool I ever used for remote connections was LogMeIn. But they killed the free version...and I see nothing low cost aimed at home/occasional users.

The second most popular has been TeamViewer...which still has a free version for personal use. A bit to get it set up and the users informed but it was worth the effort, plus they have good documentation. I have not used it in years, but I understand there are more limits now for the free (personal, non-commercial) use, so watch out for limitations. I should add that while the performance was good, making a connection was always too complicated with user approvals and codes.

I have heard the free-for-personal use AnyDesk is good (easier, less limited compared to TeamViewer), but I have not used it...so can't vouch for it.

I see NoMachine is open source, but looks good and has good reviews...might be worth a look.

There are surely others, but none that I have bumped into recently that were both good and inexpensive.

 

[gpspad]

Thanks for the reply, the default screen sharing works perfect over the home network where the person doesn't have to approve the screen sharing. I run twi mac mini servers and have never had screen or keyboard plugged into them.

The only problem is how hard apple made it to click on accept. The dialog box takes a while to come up or times out to quick, either way its not intuitive enough to just work.

Im always on the other end of it, maybe if I have someone request screen sharing from me, I can see whats going on and try to explain what has to be done.

Im glad I didnt spend the money for something that wouldn't have made things easier anyway.

 

[satcomer]

How to use Messages to share your screen inMacOS

 

[chrfr]

Thanks for the reply, the default screen sharing works perfect over the home network where the person doesn't have to approve the screen sharing. I run twi mac mini servers and have never had screen or keyboard plugged into them.

The only problem is how hard apple made it to click on accept. The dialog box takes a while to come up or times out to quick, either way its not intuitive enough to just work.

Im always on the other end of it, maybe if I have someone request screen sharing from me, I can see whats going on and try to explain what has to be done.

Im glad I didnt spend the money for something that wouldn't have made things easier anyway.

@hobowankenobi is correct. Apple Remote Desktop is the wrong tool for this job. You'd need to manually open and forward ports on the remote network to make it usable. I use either Screens with its Screens Connect agent or Jump Desktop and Jump Desktop Connect for this sort of thing, if screen sharing via Messages isn't suitable.

 

[gpspad]

I had a better screen sharing session today, I told him to click on the dialogs as soon as they came up. I find when people hunt for them and read them, the dialing closes up too fast for them to click allow. Maybe with some practice the normal screen sharing will work out.

I have been using screen sharing directly to request the screen sharing. Maybe if I use it via messages an easier dialog will come up. I’ll have to try it.

 

[hobowankenobi]

The best, most important part of the commercial tools is that there no IP info or security/network configuration needed. Most folks value this enough to pay for it. The other feature wanted is to connect to an unattended machine, no user input needed at all. If you don't need/want any of that, then any free VNC tool will do the job...or Messages as you are using now.