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

[Avenged110]

Back to My Mac was never "hard" to set up or use. It just, at least in my experience, never performed well enough to bother with. I ended up buying OS X server and setting up a VPN for remote access. Works far better than BtMM ever did and was way cheaper than ARD, though I imagine the feature set is a little different.

 

[RogerWilco]

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.

$20? Sure says Eddie Cue, $20 a month. Sign up now and get three months of Apple Music free!

 

[luvbug]

I've used it a fair amount over the years. Though, truthfully, the free version of TeamViewer is better thanks to its iOS support. So, no real impact on my daily world.

Feels like Apple is pushing users to spend money on iCloud Drive space.

I don't see how Apple manages to equate a LAN connection for data sharing to iCloud. Forget about the amount of storage or the cost; most people don't have Internet data rates that even come close to a local LAN connection. I have a 50 Mbit/s symmetric fiber Internet connection, but that's still 20 times slower than my gigabit LAN, not to mention latency or the variable load on the iCloud server.

 

[trigf]

It just never seemed to work well for me....

Same! I could never get Back to My Mac to work outside of my house, even with all the necessary ports open. Completely useless to me.

 

[hack1nt0sh]

Is the "share screen" feature to connect to other Macs on my network going away as well?

 

[GoodWheaties]

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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Screen Sharing app. It's built in to macOS.

Doesn’t Screen Sharing require someone to accept the request at the other end? It always has when I’ve used it.
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I use screen sharing daily and it’s never asked me to accept an incoming request.

I agree that Apple’s BTMM solution was the simplest in terms of configuration, but it’s also not very hard to expose the screen sharing ports and set up a dynamic dns service. If one really needs BTMM, that person is probably skilled enough to manage it.

Are you using screen sharing between Macs that are logged in to the same iCloud account? Because when I screen share with someone from my contacts the options are (1) Invite to share my screen or (2) Ask to share screen. Then they have to accept. Anything else would surely be a privacy concern.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

I'm going to send some apple.com/feedback

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

I'm going to send some apple.com/feedback

Great way to approach it. They need to hear from people directly if you want any chance of changing things.

Having said that, these decisions are almost always driven by data. They've got piles of data around usage of these features by users. If only a very very small percentage of people use them, it may not be worth the investment to continue to keep them available.

 

[oneMadRssn]

I don't know all TeamViewer can do but there is TeamViewer Quicksupport which is free.
You can view (which is what your post mentions) but not control an iOS device from another iOS device or a Mac or PC.
This is what I use.
Instructions here:
From Teamviewer: How can I share the screen on my iPad/iPhone with TeamViewer?
From Apple
From iMore: With TeamViewer 13, sharing your iPhone screen is easier than ever!

Have you verified that this works with the free account? Their site says:

"Install TeamViewer QuickSupport on your mobile device to enable licensed TeamViewer users to connect to your Android, iOS, or Windows 10 Mobile device to provide you with assistance. ... To connect to Android, iOS, or Windows 10 Mobile devices, a user must have the support for mobile devices license AddOn."​

So it seems to use TeamViewer QuickSupport you have to be a "licensed" user with the "mobile devices license AddOn."

I could be misinterpreting that of course. Have you tried it?

 

[robbyx]

Doesn’t Screen Sharing require someone to accept the request at the other end? It always has when I’ve used it.
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Are you using screen sharing between Macs that are logged in to the same iCloud account? Because when I screen share with someone from my contacts the options are (1) Invite to share my screen or (2) Ask to share screen. Then they have to accept. Anything else would surely be a privacy concern.

I have three headless Mini servers in a closet. I connect to each with screen sharing. I don’t use iCloud. I’m using my username and password for my account on the headless machine. I either use the list of devices in the Finder (when I’m in the office and on the same network) or the local IP address when I’m connecting to my office network via VPN. There’s a setting in the Sharing system preference to allow specific users to connect. I haven’t attempted to share my screen in the way you describe (with contacts). That said, Back to My Mac wasn’t really designed for that kind of sharing either.

 

[Tech198]

"integration" ...

Back to my Mac was good, but i always wondered it was unneccessary today, when you can access files anyway with iCloud...

Plus Apple can't really compete with all the other remote access out there eg TeamViewer, Remote Desktop on Windows, or the paid version on Mac.

I guess since Back to the Mac was made for their wireless products (Apple also discontinued), it makes sense to cut the string.

Also Back to my Mac was a nightmare to get going on 3rd party routers.. That's why i never used it. Mostly under to most manufactures lack of Bonjour support other than Apple's own products.

I'm glad Apple saw the light.

I have three headless Mini servers in a closet. I connect to each with screen sharing. I don’t use iCloud. I’m using my username and password for my account on the headless machine. I either use the list of devices in the Finder (when I’m in the office and on the same network) or the local IP address when I’m connecting to my office network via VPN. There’s a setting in the Sharing system preference to allow specific users to connect. I haven’t attempted to share my screen in the way you describe (with contacts). That said, Back to My Mac wasn’t really designed for that kind of sharing either.

I always thought screen sharing was LAN only. Unless you had BTTM, how could screen sharing work on the WAN side?

(ie. Screen sharing is also the only way I access my headless Mac mini on my home network)

 

[sinsin07]

Have you verified that this works with the free account? Their site says:

"Install TeamViewer QuickSupport on your mobile device to enable licensed TeamViewer users to connect to your Android, iOS, or Windows 10 Mobile device to provide you with assistance. ... To connect to Android, iOS, or Windows 10 Mobile devices, a user must have the support for mobile devices license AddOn."​

So it seems to use TeamViewer QuickSupport you have to be a "licensed" user with the "mobile devices license AddOn."

I could be misinterpreting that of course. Have you tried it?

Yes, otherwise I would not have suggested it.
I have paid Teamviewer nothing, everything I use was free.

 

[TheFluffyDuck]

I never got it to work. So unreliable. But in true Apple fashion why fix something when you can just kill it.

 

[nathansz]

Also Back to my Mac was a nightmare to get going on 3rd party routers.. That's why i never used it.

I've only used it with third party routers and it has always worked flawlessly

 

[BaccaBossMC]

Teamviewer is great. It does the same stuff, is multi-platform, and is free for personal use.

 

[autrefois]

Thanks for accepting the challenge!

Challenge accepted. Zero need to buy $80 ARD app. Screen Sharing app is still built into MacOS. ARD is $80 because it’s got a ton of features designed to manage multiple Mac systems in an enterprise or school for example.

So not really for the home user or for a pro who just needs to connect between 2-3 machines on occasion, for example.

For simple Remote Desktop, the screen sharing app works fine, it’s just less convenient than back to my Mac was.

Which is exactly my point. Why is a company as rich as Apple stopping supporting things, thus making things less convenient for the user?

And by less convenient, I mean that you have to properly setup your router to accept the proper incoming ports and forward them to your home system etc. This is something you have to do with both $80 ARD and built screen sharing app.... and any Windows situation as well for that matter.

This should be easier to do than it is. Why doesn’t Apple (who used to be about “it just works”) not invest money into making it less of a pain to do. Maybe it’s not possible, and maybe they’ve looked into it, but to me this just seems like they’re abandoning features just because they can’t be bothered to maintain them. With all the resources Apple has, I don’t think they should be removing functionality. But your points are well taken; it’s not the end of the world and people will find a way to still accomplish the same things if they look into it.

 

[GoodWheaties]

I have three headless Mini servers in a closet. I connect to each with screen sharing. I don’t use iCloud. I’m using my username and password for my account on the headless machine. I either use the list of devices in the Finder (when I’m in the office and on the same network) or the local IP address when I’m connecting to my office network via VPN. There’s a setting in the Sharing system preference to allow specific users to connect. I haven’t attempted to share my screen in the way you describe (with contacts). That said, Back to My Mac wasn’t really designed for that kind of sharing either.

Oh yeah I about forgot about that option in Sharing. I’ve had to use it a couple times but usually I need to connect from outside of my local network which made Back to my Mac a better choice. The screen sharing through messages is a really good option too if you are helping someone.

 

[anthony7785]

Okay! I literally signed up to get some clarification. Is Apple saying they are ridding themselves of remote support that was simplistic and ease of use to support my family? I have always been able to remote connect thru iMessage and correct many of their concerns. If this is the case, I will sell off Apple products and change Eco Systems.

I have been a long time fan but ever since Tim Cook took over, Apple has gone always from the foundation Steve Job built.

 

[swingerofbirch]

Even with an all Apple-ecosystem (using Airport router), this worked only once for me in many years of trying to get it to work.

 

[Slix]

Okay! I literally signed up to get some clarification. Is Apple saying they are ridding themselves of remote support that was simplistic and ease of use to support my family? I have always been able to remote connect thru iMessage and correct many of their concerns. If this is the case, I will sell off Apple products and change Eco Systems.

I have been a long time fan but ever since Tim Cook took over, Apple has gone always from the foundation Steve Job built.

Apple is not changing anything with the Messages application that allows you to ask to share screens with friends and family in your contacts list. You will still be able to use that functionality.

 

[fairuz]

This service would've been cool except that it was either unreliable or just really hard to make it work right.
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TeamViewer = Also free, works on iOS, Mac, Linux, Windows, and has two factor authentication. Problem solved.

Not really cause you need wake-on-LAN support unless you plan on leaving your PC running 24/7. You could use a separate computer for that, but now that's a lot more effort.

 

[thirdeyeopen666]

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.

Screens is 20% off in “celebration” of the death of BTMM today apparently. It comes pretty close in ease of setup to BTMM. Not quite as easy as checking a box, but close.

 

[nathansz]

I haven't gotten the notification yet for whatever reason

trying out teamviewer
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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.

this is exactly how I use it.
screen sharing and file system access right in the finder sidebar

 

[DeepIn2U]

What about accessing Time Capsule and Airport Extreme remotely?

That’s a new service of iCloud Drive soon enough. My post 2-4 earlier in another thread surmised about this. It’s actually long overdue.

Would be nice to Time Machine backup and access files completely remotely and securely away from home or anywhere else.
Service revenue spike!!

 

[foliovision]

Why are people not using free Teamviewer? I have all my computers and even some of my family computers connected to my account and love it!

Teamviewer specifically prohibits any commercial use of its service without paying about €1000/seat. Updates are at similar pricing. Your use of Teamviewer across all your computers, if you use those computers to make any money at all, is completely illegal.

Teamviewer hasn't enforced its licensing yet in any draconian way as far as I know but its like a sword hanging over your head. Plus you are liable for all the possible DMCA penalties.

Are those good enough reasons not to be using Teamviewer?