I’ve been using Screens on my iPad for a few years to connect to my Mac Mini when I’m too lazy to walk upstairs.
Now I’m transitioning off the iPad to a MacBook and went to download Screen, only to find that it costs £34 a year.
Having established that, I went to download from RealVNC to find that this previously free product for personal use is now subscription only.
I don’t mind paying a small amount for a client, even if after 12 months I wouldn’t get any further updates, but I’m not going to pay tens of pounds a year for it. I don’t use it enough to justify this.
The “world” has belately discovered Jump Desktop. I have been singing its praise since all the podcasters and tuber thought Screens is the only tool that exist(ed).
The one-time cost is reasonable, but the feature-set is why I choose to use a commercial app instead of futzing around with opensource or free stuff.
JumpDesktop has a “meet-me proxy” built-in. That’s techbable to say it solves the problem of access across the internet without needing your own servers or VPN services to allow secure access from unsecure networks and endpoints.
I’ve mentioned before the audio support which works amazing well even from outside the local network.
I have also found the iPad app, and its support of trackpad and Apple pencil, makes brief usage of a remote Mac doable and even tolerable for some tasks.
I’ve had to move across the country part (most of the) time for work this year but my Mini remains “back home”. It’s my continuously-backup-everything-that’s-important machine so I like to be able to check in on it every now and again.
I’ve been using Tailscale for connectivity along with the Mac’s built in screen sharing and that’s worked pretty much flawlessly for months. Your machines are on the same network so you don’t need the Tailscale part, of course
That’s a business or school product. Scuttlebutt last time I checked is that it hasn’t been updated in a long time and is long on cost, short on features.
