Screen Sharing on Mountain Lion

[kmpoboy2]

In previous version of OS X you can screen share with another Mac using iChat.

Now that iChat has been replace with Messages, how can I screen share with another Mac?

 

[wmmf]

I'm glad you brought this up, because just this weekend I've been trying to help my mother-in-law, who's in another state, with a few problems on her system. We're both running ML, and I realized with a shock that there was no option to screen share for me to take control of her computer. In one menu in Messages the words "screen share with XXX" appear, but they're grayed out and not a clickable option.

Google searches only bring up "screen sharing" between two computers on the same network (business, home wi-fi, etc.), but what's missing is sharing between two computers that aren't on the same network.

There are third-party options like Logmein, but surely there is still a native OSX solution for this, right? Let's see who can get us the answer...

 

[Caromsoft]

I can't help you with the native Mac part but I would recommend JoinMe for screen sharing.

 

[cmChimera]

In previous version of OS X you can screen share with another Mac using iChat.

Now that iChat has been replace with Messages, how can I screen share with another Mac?

Same way. You can still share screens with people from the 'Buddies' menu option.

 

[wmmf]

Same way. You can still share screens with people from the 'Buddies' menu option.

Thanks for the answer, but when I click on "Buddies" dropdown, the option for "Share my screen with XXX" is grayed out. Then if I click on "Show Profile" for the person, there's a list of different capabilities (like Chat, Send files, etc.), but none for Screen Sharing. Should there be?

So is there something that needs to be changed or enabled on either end to make screen sharing possible through Messages?

 

[cmChimera]

Thanks for the answer, but when I click on "Buddies" dropdown, the option for "Share my screen with XXX" is grayed out. Then if I click on "Show Profile" for the person, there's a list of different capabilities (like Chat, Send files, etc.), but none for Screen Sharing. Should there be?

So is there something that needs to be changed or enabled on either end to make screen sharing possible through Messages?

It depends on what service they're using. I know AIM can do it, but I'm not really sure about the other services

 

[wmmf]

It depends on what service they're using. I know AIM can do it, but I'm not really sure about the other services

The problem is, I can't recall either of us every signing up with AIM. When I last use screen-sharing to fix a problem on her computer, we were both on SL, and I don't remember the details for signing up with iChat. Wouldn't we have both just used our email addresses only?

Apart from that, it seems odd that ML doesn't seem to have an easy way to do this. Or is there a way apart from using Messages?

And just to confirm, cmChimera, if you yourself are chatting with someone in Messages, you're saying that you can just click on "Buddies" and the Share Screen option is there and clickable?

Thanks for the help...

 

[cmChimera]

The problem is, I can't recall either of us every signing up with AIM. When I last use screen-sharing to fix a problem on her computer, we were both on SL, and I don't remember the details for signing up with iChat. Wouldn't we have both just used our email addresses only?

Apart from that, it seems odd that ML doesn't seem to have an easy way to do this. Or is there a way apart from using Messages?

And just to confirm, cmChimera, if you yourself are chatting with someone in Messages, you're saying that you can just click on "Buddies" and the Share Screen option is there and clickable?

Thanks for the help...

When I signed in to iChat for the first time I had to use an existing service, mine being AIM. I later added Google Talk and Facebook.

There's a screen sharing option in system preferences but off the top of my head I only know how it works locally.
Ignore the fact that it's a dummies link, just easier than trying to explain it.



Yes, I was able to share screens with my sister over AIM on messages.


Edit: Ok You can get the IP adress of the computer for remote access.
Link to Apple Support Instructions