Screen sharing via appleid without accept dialog

[bwbecker]

I have been supporting an elderly relative using Screen Sharing. As cognitive abilities decline, even the "Byron wants to share your screen" dialog is flummoxing them. The goal is to be able to call them on the phone, and say "there's a video of your grandkids I'd like to show you. Can you open the lid on your computer please?" Then screen share without any intervention from them and fire up the web browser to the appropriate Facebook page or whatever.

I have a server at work that I can do this with (Screen Sharing asks me to log in), but I have not been able to get it to work with the relative's computer. I think the difference is that with the work computer I'm connecting to an IP address but with the relative's I'm connecting with an AppleID. I don't think a static IP address is possible with the relative's computer and if they can't handle the "Byron wants to share your screen" dialog they for sure can't lookup the current IP address.

Can anyone confirm that this is the issue and whether there is a work-around?

Thanks!

Settings:
In Screen Sharing preferences: Sharing is ON with "only these users", where my account on the relative's computer is listed.
In Remote Login preferences: Sharing is ON with "only these users", where my account on the relative's computer is listed.

 

[hobowankenobi]

You may need a third-party tool, to make it easy to connect over the internet.

Logmein was one of the best...once you had it installed and configured on their machine, you could get in without any issue, and without any firewall or IP tweaks. Sadly, the old free-for-personal use is long gone years ago. There are other options from fairly cheap one-time costs, to monthly subscriptions that are very expensive.

Generally speaking, the easiest have agents that install and talk to a central server, which establishes an outbound connection, and that means usually no network or firewall info is needed, no changes to make. But...those services cost something, so not free.

Apple has ARD, but that only works easily on the LAN where machines are easily discoverable, so not useful for connecting over the internet. A quick search at MacUpdate shows tons of VNC (and other remote connection tools), but most likely will require connection info, and/or firewall configuration to make a remote connection.

I have heard good things about Jump Desktop...but have not used that one.

I think a one-time purchase for hassle-free, secure desktop control is worth something like $40. Anything less than that...I would consider it a good value, as long as it is easy and reliable.

 

[bwbecker]

Thanks, @hobowankenobi. I took a quick look at the machow article you linked. I see a number of possibilities there that I'll be checking out.

 

[DJLC]

Jump Desktop works great! No accept dialog if you know the password for the logged in user account. Highly recommend. And it's cross-platform.

Jump Desktop | Remote Desktop | iPad iPhone Android Mac Windows | Collaborative Screen Sharing

jumpdesktop.com