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Apple Eliminating Back to My Mac Service in All Versions of macOS in July
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No. The Messages screen sharing functionality, while potentially useful, provides only a subset of the functionality provided by Back to My Mac. But, unlike with BTMM, the Messages screen sharing functionality isn't going away.
Are you serious? Seriously this forum... Are you all really thinking that Apple doesn't track you? Or that they don't use your data for their business needs? It's in all of their terms and conditions, for God's sake.
What kind of mentality do they have to develop in people to make them want to pay 80 bucks for something that's available, for free, since 2004?! Did you ever hear about TeamViewer? It's basically the original software that Apple tried to buy, then copied, and now abandoned, asking you to pay 80 dollars for. Remote desktop is another. VNC is another. There are a ton of them, some open-source, some proprietary, some in-between.
Instead of trying to argue with logic, and instead of being unnecessarily defensive over it, and most importantly instead of trying to justify throwing lots of your money at Apple -- make sure you really think about this.
Does it really make sense to say "I don't trust XY" when actually Apple has been the disappointment for the past 20 years? Or saying "yeah it sucks but I'll still pay 80 dollars for a bad product because it's Apple"? No. Think with your head, don't mindlessly follow.
And yes, in the end, I'm still a fan of Apple. I actually work on some of their software, for that matter. But I read and check other options before deciding to throw money at Apple for no reason.
Always challenge the status quo, wasn't that Apple's saying?
I've been using Google's Chrome Remote Desktop. It has it's limitations but seems to work just fine. I don't see why Apple Remote Desktop isn't free and included in MacOS?
This. I’ve been elected the sysadmin for my mom's Mac and never considered b2mm. To be fair, I didn’t know about it when I set up my solution. I have a script that sets up an ssh tunnel and then starts a vnc desktop so I can add or fix whatever she needs.
Apple's Remote Desktop isn't the same thing. It does offer the ability to share screens, but it also includes a lot of features only people who support Macs might use. It also does not automate the process of connecting to a computer remotely, so it'd be of very limited use to most people. (It's also not even particularly reliable nor extremely useful for administrators of groups of Macs anymore.)
I loved back to my mac. My case use was when I had to work from home, I would just do a share screen from home and click full screen. It was like working on my work computer, everything was in its place! And the beauty was you didn't have to bother with all the VPN stuff. It just worked! Shame on Tim Cook.
I have only used back to my Mac maybe once or twice when I used to have a desktop (iMac). One downside on back to my Mac as a consumer is the need for the target PC to be on all the time.
But I can see some users relying on this feature, especially those with home office setup. Taking out a feature is always annoying.
But I can see some users relying on this feature, especially those with home office setup. Taking out a feature is always annoying.
Nope that is MDNS/Bonjour/etc... it works for SMB, HTTP, SSH. I have it running on my local linux server
Good riddance to bad rubbish. ..
Only time i used Back to My Mac was to try and access remotely but didn't work because i used third party router which doesn't support Bonjour to well.
Screen share, and a web browser to iCloud.com is all you really need anyway..
Back to my Mac shouldn't have been complicated if users left UpnP enabled.
Only time i used Back to My Mac was to try and access remotely but didn't work because i used third party router which doesn't support Bonjour to well.
Screen share, and a web browser to iCloud.com is all you really need anyway..
Back to my Mac shouldn't have been complicated if users left UpnP enabled.
[doublepost=1559457865][/doublepost]For a more robust screen sharing option Logmein Pro from logmein.com will help you remotely mange a mac in your adjoining room or from a continent away. I used this service to manage my fathers computer while in Costa Rica and he was in Hartford, CT. You can also do screen sharing by using the ask to screen feature in Messages on the MacOS desktop software for free. This second option is very much like Apple Remote Desktop without the purchase being required for $80.00 along with a myriad of configuration that must be done on a services providers gateway modem to enable screen sharing services needing to enabled on ports 3800 and 5900 with the use of Network Address Translation between the inside home network resolving to a public network address outside of the home network. I hope that gives you some guidance of where to go.
Team viewer too. Any other third party that has a server/client model should be NAT friendly..
The amount of port Apple needs you to open just to use sharing feature is the simple task of bundling all services together.. and calling it 'convenience'
(...Not really....)
It hasn't work properly for ages, so I'm not surprised it's being discontinued now.
That said it's pretty lousy the way Apple has been doing things as of late.
They just go radio silent then one day a couple years later they just turn it off.
Even hardware, they only recently "updated" the iPod and there hasn't been any news on the Mac Pro front.
That said it's pretty lousy the way Apple has been doing things as of late.
They just go radio silent then one day a couple years later they just turn it off.
Even hardware, they only recently "updated" the iPod and there hasn't been any news on the Mac Pro front.
I'm really disappointed. Back to my Mac works really well for me, and I often rely upon it while traveling.
It seems everyday I read Apple is discounting something else, then adding new hardware, then selling you more subscription services. Gone are the days of high quality, streamlined services and brilliant hardware. I remember the first iPod nano. Your choices were black or white and that was it.
I used the screen sharing app for the first time yesterday - wasn't the worst thing in the world. But I was on the same network, so I can't imagine doing it remotely.
It’s Apples way of saying every computer needs to be an iPad with all the missing features you have come to love.
[doublepost=1559567720][/doublepost]
Do you have any tips for VNC to 5k iMac I’ve tried everything is crappy slow.
Like the crappy TV app on iOS for Home Sharing. Broken since day one in one way or another.
I have used Jump Desktop for years and found it far better than Back to my Mac. The only issue is if you are playing a video in 1080P on the target Mac and try and share the screen, you can get a message that the target Mac has inadequate resources (it is only a 2011 Mac Mini). It is connected with HDMI 2.1 cable to my 4K Philips TV and USB to the Benchmark DAC3L on my audio system.
I use Screens on macOS and iOS for remote viewing and remote control. I discovered recently that on macOS I can drag and drop files.
https://edovia.com/en/screens-mac/
There's an optional Screens Connect utility that can be installed on macOS or Windows to make the host available from anywhere. However, I personally use a Linksys router with OpenVPN capability to operate my own VPNs at various locations (also very handy when traveling). I use DYN dynamic DNS to give host names to my routers so I can always find them when my ISPs change my IP addresses.
All things considered there are free and convenient options to replace Back to My Mac, although I am disappointed in Apple for yet another clumsy move.
Your mileage may vary. I have no relationship with Edovia other than being a satisfied user.
https://edovia.com/en/screens-mac/
There's an optional Screens Connect utility that can be installed on macOS or Windows to make the host available from anywhere. However, I personally use a Linksys router with OpenVPN capability to operate my own VPNs at various locations (also very handy when traveling). I use DYN dynamic DNS to give host names to my routers so I can always find them when my ISPs change my IP addresses.
All things considered there are free and convenient options to replace Back to My Mac, although I am disappointed in Apple for yet another clumsy move.
Your mileage may vary. I have no relationship with Edovia other than being a satisfied user.
I just booted a Mac Mini with the HDMI monitor, keyboard, and mouse disconnected. The screen area is a smaller default size but I was able to use Screens on my iOS device to control it as I usually do.
Note that there is no audio, and some video content is blocked from working remotely (eg Netflix).
Your mileage may vary, so test your setup before relying on it for anything mission critical of course. In particular, if you have any firewall or security software (eg Little Snitch) make sure you allow the necessary connections.