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Apple Alerting Customers to Upcoming Discontinuation of Back to My Mac in macOS Mojave

I am constantly accessing my iMac from school. All my large files are stored on that, and I access them from my MacBook. This completely sucks.
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lyngo said:
Pardon my naivety, but I’m really confused. Does this mean that we can’t share files on a local network or that we can’t screen share on a local network?

My parents always have computer issues. They’re an hour away. Will I be able to screen share with them on a FaceTime audio call on a Mac? This is very confusing.
Click to expand...
This is primarily for those that want to access their computer while away from the computer. Screensharing isn't going anywhere.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208922
 
lyngo said:
Pardon my naivety, but I’m really confused. Does this mean that we can’t share files on a local network or that we can’t screen share on a local network?

My parents always have computer issues. They’re an hour away. Will I be able to screen share with them on a FaceTime audio call on a Mac? This is very confusing.
Click to expand...

Local network sharing will not be affected.

Screen Sharing in conjunction with iMessage/FaceTime/etc. will not be affected.

Accessing a computer remotely - where the remote computer is unattended - WILL be affected. Apple wants you to go and have to screw with your router now.
 
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Mlrollin91 said:
I am constantly accessing my iMac from school. All my large files are stored on that, and I access them from my MacBook. This completely sucks.
[doublepost=1534879762][/doublepost]
This is primarily for those that want to access their computer while away from the computer. Screensharing isn't going anywhere.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208922
Click to expand...

So I can still screen share with my folks when there’s an issue? Good to know. Thank you.
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Mike Richardson said:
Local network sharing will not be affected.

Screen Sharing in conjunction with iMessage/FaceTime/etc. will not be affected.

Accessing a computer remotely - where the remote computer is unattended - WILL be affected. Apple wants you to go and have to screw with your router now.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the clarification.
 
adamjackson said:
Just received the notification from Apple about Back to My Mac going away. The only way I use this feature today is opening finder and in the sidebar is my home iMac and I click that and click "share screen" to take care of remote tasks like exporting FCP videos or uploading videos to YouTube via screen sharing.

I see "screen sharing" will be an option but I won't be able to access my iMac via Screen sharing remotely without setting some sort of NAT pass through on my router, right? Back to my mac was so easy to use because it required no tech-ery to get it working.

ALcclfC.png
Click to expand...
Exactly my sentiment right here.
 
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i use this constantly for screen sharing and file transfer because it seems simplest to me

i always seem to have trouble with accounts and permissions setting up screen and file sharing access otherwise.

this just works

i guess i’ll have to learn a new way
 
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Boo, it was so convenient! It was really slow, but it was sufficient for just getting a few things done, or fetching some much needed files wherever you were. The beauty was really, that for me it just worked. Its been years since I had that feeling from Apple, so I am so sad to see it go. :(

iCloud Drive can absolutely not be a replacement, and since i only used it once in a while, I am not paying for a software replacement.
 
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Aw, what the hell, Apple? Not that there's no replacement for screen sharing and file sharing, but there's no other good way to punch through a firewall without manual intervention. I use this all the time.
 
I'm surprised this feature survived the MobileMe to iCloud transition, frankly. I used it a bit back in the MobileMe era but I rarely need to access my home Mac anymore, everything I need is either on my iPad, iPhone, or cloud storage.
 
So the alternative is to use iCloud to put all your stuff in the cloud for $X per month
Or purchase an app rated 1.7 stars that has been updated once since January 2015 for $80.

Thanks Apple!
 
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I didn't even know that existed... I could imagine Apple kills it as it might not pass a security review without a major overhaul...
I went straight ahead and enabled the L2TP VPN Server on OSX to remotely access my entire LAN -and bypass firewall-restrictions when abroad. As soon as I connect to the VPN magically every app/game/website works even on airport WiFis and other highly crippled networks. Was worth the efforts...
 
konqerror said:
RDP on Windows requires the Pro edition or above, so it is not "free". On top of that, for enterprise features you need to run Windows Server and then buy a RDS CAL license for every user or connecting device, which is ~$100/seat, plus annual maintenance (Software Assurance).
Click to expand...

You only need “Pro” to have your machine accept incoming remote requests. The ts client is still in non pro editions. Mentioning RDS and user CALs is 100% unrelated to anything on what Back to Mac offered. You’re mentioning Microsoft tech to share out a server and provide multiple concurrent Remote Desktop services to multiple users. Like you’re not even comparing Apples to Apples (pun not intended). MacOS and Windows both provide free inbuilt Remote Desktop clients. It’s clear that majority of people here don’t understand these technologies at even the basic levels.
 
GeeYouEye said:
Aw, what the hell, Apple? Not that there's no replacement for screen sharing and file sharing, but there's no other good way to punch through a firewall without manual intervention. I use this all the time.
Click to expand...

All any other software solution needs to automatically configure things is UPnP which has been around for years and supported by nearly every router out there.
 
perhaps people could suggest some good alternatives for my use case

i have:

1) an imac that is my “main” computer

2) a mac mini in the living room that is an htpc but also serves media to the rest of the home

3) a macbook pro that is mostly used for live music (mainstage) but as such i’m constantly moving files back and forth between it and the imac

4) an old time capsule that i actually found in a closet that i put a 2tb drive in that serves as a secondary backup for all the macs, as well as nas

with back to my mac on, no matter which machine i’m on i just go in to finder and it feels like they are all just volumes on that machine

and i can easily pull up the screen on any of them
 
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insomniac86 said:
You only need “Pro” to have your machine accept incoming remote requests. The ts client is still in non pro editions. Mentioning RDS and user CALs is 100% unrelated to anything on what Back to Mac offered. You’re mentioning Microsoft tech to share out a server and provide multiple concurrent Remote Desktop services to multiple users. Like you’re not even comparing Apples to Apples (pun not intended). MacOS and Windows both provide free inbuilt Remote Desktop clients. It’s clear that majority of people here don’t understand these technologies at even the basic levels.
Click to expand...

The discussion wasn't about BTMM, it was about RDP/ARD. Specifically the cost of ARD. And the clients are totally useless without a server, and no the client isn't even "free" under RDS, because the clients are associated with a CAL, if you do per-device.

Mike Richardson said:
Who the hell worded this message? It makes it seem as if Back to My Mac is actually going to be *shut down* and no longer work even in the older versions of Mac OS X.
Click to expand...

Because that's what's probably going to happen. BTMM works by setting up a IPv6 IPsec VPN/tunnel through Apple's infrastructure. It was always slow, and they probably got tired of paying for the bandwidth.
 
brucewayne said:
So the alternative is to use iCloud to put all your stuff in the cloud for $X per month
Or purchase an app rated 1.7 stars that has been updated once since January 2015 for $80.

Thanks Apple!
Click to expand...

No, those are far from the only options. Read the rest of this thread. Numerous free remote desktop apps are mentioned, including Screen Sharing app which is built-in to macOS.
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nathansz said:
perhaps people could suggest some good alternatives for my use case

i have:

1) an imac that is my “main” computer

2) a mac mini in the living room that is an htpc but also serves media to the rest of the home

3) a macbook pro that is mostly used for live music (mainstage) but as such i’m constantly moving files back and forth between it and the imac

4) an old time capsule that i actually found in a closet that i put a 2tb drive in that serves as a secondary backup for all the mac aas well as nas

with back to my mac on, no matter which machine i’m on i just go in to finder and it feels like they are all just volumes on that machine

and i can easily pull up the screen on any of them
Click to expand...

Screen Sharing app. It's built in to macOS.
 
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lyngo said:
Pardon my naivety, but I’m really confused. Does this mean that we can’t share files on a local network or that we can’t screen share on a local network?

My parents always have computer issues. They’re an hour away. Will I be able to screen share with them on a FaceTime audio call on a Mac? This is very confusing.
Click to expand...

LAN access is not affected in anyway for either SMB (files shares) or VNC (screen sharing). Back to Mac created a VPN linking all your macs so they appeared as if on the same LAN over WAN.

You will still be able to create a screen share via iMessage with your parents.
This won’t require you to be on the same LAN.

You won’t be able to access their computers remotely for file shares anymore (natively). Of course there are plenty of free solutions for VPN’s and Remote Desktop/screen sharing.
 
Just another (of many) swings of the axe, to the tree that Jobs grew. I'm still irritated by the loss of screensharing over ichat. Being able to troubleshoot any other mac users machine for them without requiring them to be competent (patient) enough to install extra software was really handy. Back2MyMac's ability to locate your laptop by accessing it remotely, & even snap pics of the thief with the camera for law enforcement was nice, but only provides value to customers, which honestly, Apple's big enough they probably no longer have to worry about. Now it's a game of how many costly features can you remove while still charging a premium before you see sales take a quantifiable hit.

Being a phone company today, maintaining all those mac hardware and software features that made them valuable in the first place really isn't worth the expense. No need to make the effort, when you think you're too big to fail.
 
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dabrain13 said:
The fact they think ARD is a viable alternative at $80 is absurd.
Click to expand...

I've been hoping/assuming that they drop the price (to $20 or even free) once they say this is the solution. But who knows.

As long as I can use it to remotely support my parents, I don't mind paying a bit for it. But $80 is steep regardless.
 
konqerror said:
The discussion wasn't about BTMM, it was about RDP/ARD. Specifically the cost of ARD. And the clients are totally useless without a server, and no the client isn't even "free" under RDS, because the clients are associated with a CAL, if you do per-device.
Click to expand...

You don’t need additional CAL’s of device or user when a Win 10 Pro machine RDP’s to another Win 10 Pro machine. Only when using RDS on a Windows Server will you need CALs. People RDP from desktop to desktop all the time. Server has nothing to do with it.
 
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Maybe I'm the only one bothered by this, but wouldn't it be much better to have the top button in that notification say "Dismiss" or "Close" instead of the relatively ambiguous "OK"? I seem to remember a guideline in the HIG about that awhile back...
 
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