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teamviewer alternative, mac to mac only

fisherking

fisherking

macrumors G4
Original poster
Jul 16, 2010
11,261
5,573
ny somewhere
i work remotely with 2 different people, both on macs. we use teamviewer, but am looking for a less-costly alternative (and not apple remote desktop). prefer silicon-ready apps...

any recommendations?
 
Why not ARD? It’s definitely the best solution you can get.

Alternatively, take a look at VNC Viewer, Ultra VNC, Tight VNC or any other VNC client.
 
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Apple Remote Desktop is definitely not the best solution here, unless you're accessing a computer on your local network, in which case you can just use Apple's built-in screen sharing. For accessing a computer that isn't on the local network, apps like Jump Desktop or Screens are very good. Of the 2, I prefer Jump Desktop.
 
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I must admit that I was presuming the use of a VPN to connect to the other Macs without explicitly mentioning it in my answer. Sorry for that.
 
fisherking said:
i work remotely with 2 different people, both on macs. we use teamviewer, but am looking for a less-costly alternative (and not apple remote desktop). prefer silicon-ready apps...

any recommendations?
Click to expand...

Why do you need to remotely control their machines? Just curious.
 
kitKAC said:
Why do you need to remotely control their machines? Just curious.
Click to expand...
i work with 2 different people on creative projects, where we work together (but over a significant distance). i need to see their screens, and do a lot of the actual work myself (organizing and structuring projects).

teamviewer has been great, but it's so expensive....
 
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fisherking said:
i work with 2 different people on creative projects, where we work together (but over a significant distance). i need to see their screens, and do a lot of the actual work myself (organizing and structuring projects).

teamviewer has been great, but it's so expensive....
Click to expand...
At the gallery where I work, we've switched to RealVNC. It's proven very reliable, supports several OSs (Win, macOS, LInus, PiOS servers & clients plus iPadOS, iOS, & Android clients), is secure, and reasonably priced. I've been using it for the last 4 years, after dropping TeamViewer, primarily to access a macOS server (my dual monitor daily-use macOS Studio M-1 Ultra workstation in the gallery) from Win 11 (my personal quad monitor work-at-home rig).
 
fisherking said:
i work with 2 different people on creative projects, where we work together (but over a significant distance). i need to see their screens, and do a lot of the actual work myself (organizing and structuring projects).

teamviewer has been great, but it's so expensive....
Click to expand...
If they’re at the computer you’re connecting to, you could just do screen sharing through the Messages app. This requires the other user to accept the connection request: https://support.apple.com/guide/messages/screen-sharing-icht11883/mac
 
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fisherking said:
i work with 2 different people on creative projects, where we work together (but over a significant distance). i need to see their screens, and do a lot of the actual work myself (organizing and structuring projects).

teamviewer has been great, but it's so expensive....
Click to expand...

Have you considered putting the files into an online space (like Box, OneDrive, Gdrive etc) and working from there instead? You can work on other people's files locally on your machine and the changes sync via the cloud back to their machines. You can use FaceTime to speak to them while working and share your screen if you need to show them what you're doing. Their files would also be available to you if they (and their machines) aren't.
 
kitKAC said:
Have you considered putting the files into an online space (like Box, OneDrive, Gdrive etc) and working from there instead? You can work on other people's files locally on your machine and the changes sync via the cloud back to their machines. You can use FaceTime to speak to them while working and share your screen if you need to show them what you're doing. Their files would also be available to you if they (and their machines) aren't.
Click to expand...
we work together, so that would not be useful (but thanks). i do a lot of 'hands-on' with my collabs.
 
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TriciaMacMillan said:
Sounds like Slack could be useful for that. Did you have a look at it yet?
Click to expand...
i'm going to sit down this week and check out a few apps (slack has been mentioned to me before). leaning towards jump desktop... i need to keep it simple, my main collab is terrified of her mac, and teamviewer has served us well for 2 years (she has not needed to buy it).

anyway thanks all for recommendations 👍
 
Why not use Apple's built-in Screen Sharing app? You can control their computer, and they can control yours, with the click of a button.
 
There are many people who do not know that the Apple Screen Sharing App is not limited to a local network.
Open the screen sharing app, choose "new connection" from the menu and then enter the AppleID of the person you want to connect to. (The other person needs to have "Screen Sharing" enabled and they will receive a prompt to accept or deny the connection.)
It took me 10 years to figure that out... :)
 
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tonmischa said:
There are many people who do not know that the Apple Screen Sharing App is not limited to a local network.
Open the screen sharing app, choose "new connection" from the menu and then enter the AppleID of the person you want to connect to. (The other person needs to have "Screen Sharing" enabled and they will receive a prompt to accept or deny the connection.)
It took me 10 years to figure that out... :)
Click to expand...
Hello, just created an account to thank you for this. I had no idea 😂
 
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