What's the best remote screen sharing software for Mac?

[howie_isaacks]

My company currently uses software called Screen Connect from ConnectWise. To put it mildly, I hate this software. It has never really been very Mac friendly, but starting with macOS Mojave, it has bee a real pain to install and maintain due to the security policy in macOS. We manage IT for several all Mac or mostly Mac using companies. If I have VPN access to a customer's network, I can use Apple Remote Desktop. The problems start when the users are not in their office. Also, most of my coworkers are not Mac users, so they won't have Apple Remote Desktop available to them. I would like to know what everyone else is using for always on remote screen sharing. Every time I whitelist ConnectWise Screen Connect with a configuration profile, the whitelisting breaks when Screen Connect updates. macOS Catalina has presented more difficulties with whitelisting. I would like to totally abandon Screen Connect in favor of something better. What is everyone else using that can be white listed easily?

[rsteffens]

I would also find it helpful to hear what others are using.

[JG3741]

I recommend looking into Splashtop. We moved away from LogMeIn and LogMeIn Rescue about a year ago.

For internal devices (workstations, classrooms, E-Boards) we use the Splashtop agent which you need to install and then access through a remote control panel.

For external devices (laptops, off-site devices) we use the SOS feature to assist our employees which generates a code for them and grants us access to their devices.

The cool thing about this is that you also get device compatibility (Android, iOS!) which we rarely use but has also been nice to navigate.

[Jason33]

I've always liked TeamViewer, and my company is currently testing it out. They wanted a cross platform product, so that the Service Desk/Help Desk folks could remote in to both Windows and macOS devices.

[CorkCityShuffle]

I use the native one, as you can share screens in Messages for quick troubleshooting. The fact it uses the vnc-Protocol it is even cross platform, all you need is the address / name of the Mac (vnc://IP_or_Name).

[robertojok]

I am currently testing Splashtop business. I must admit that it is doing quite well ticking all the boxes so far. As mentioned by @JonathanG the SOS is great for supporting clients since they do not have to install anything but provide a code. We currently use Bomgar (BeyondTrust) but we have not updated it for quite a while and as such our current version only distributes 32Bit installer to the clients which means we cannot support Catalina users. Due to the Corvid lock down we intend to use Splashtop to grant students access to high end computers with software we cannot provide to students on their personal computers. We have been testing video editing from remote devices and I am impressed by Splashtop's ability to offer high end video play back remotely with great Audio playback from the remote device. You can get in touch with them and request a trial.

[PaulHazelden]

Google do a remote control setup, which we have used.
https://remotedesktop.google.com/support
Works really well and is cross platform. the end user gives you the code, and you then get access to their computer.
I cant remember if you have to have a google account or not, all of ours are google accounts already.

[beano]

For any of the guys that are using Splashtop business, did you end up packaging and deploying this? We had a nightmare trying to get this deployed correctly to workstations via JAMF, several months of Splashtop engineers trying to make it work and not able to, we gave up on them. Great product, terrible support and deployability at scale from our experience. Keen to know if anyone managed it and the steps if so.

[HCSTech]

Did you try this article? https://support-splashtopbusiness.splashtop.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042998132-Deployment-with-Jamf-Pro

[rsteffens]

Yes - we're using it. Successfully done several dozen remote installations with no problems. Installation is fully automated and requires no end user interaction - except that one box in System Preferences > Security & Privacy > Screen Recording has to be manually checked on each enrolled computer.

There was originally a bug in the bash script they provided, causing installation to fail. But that's fixed now and everything works well.

[patgmac]

We use BeyondTrust Remote Support (formerly Bomgar). I used it for several years at a previous job and just purchased for current job. It's been really good.

[kgam]

We have used Teamviewer for several years now and been quite pleased with it. Although with the latest security restrictions in macOS the end user experience has become worse with users having to allow Accessibility, Screen Recording and Full Disk Access (although the last is not needed for us to gain control). I can use Jamf to approve Accessibility and Full Disk access but not Screen Recording as the only option is to deny it.

[NOLA2ATX78]

Could someone post the correct bash script for Splashtop deployment? We are in a trial phase with them and i am trying to deploy it to some test Macs and would love to be able to deploy in correctly through Jamf.