Sonoma: There is Some Good Around

– Image generated by the Microsoft Designer AI.

Sonoma is still raw and comes with a fair number of bugs, but fortunately, there is something good here too.

As far as I’m concerned, I like that Screen Sharing has finally gained its rightful place on the Mac, taking its spot in the Utilities folder within Applications, instead of being relegated to /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications, as it had been until now.

I could be wrong, but I remember a similar application, Apple Remote Desktop, was present in Utilities several years ago (around the time of Tiger or Leopard, maybe among the optional tools you could choose during installation). However, Apple quickly reversed course, hiding the remote access application within macOS system services and accessing it through the Finder menu Go > Connect to Server or via the Locations section of the sidebar.¹

But back to today and Sonoma: the most interesting thing about the new Screen Sharing is that the application now shows a history of all past connections, making it easy to reconnect to frequently used computers and to create consistent groups of connections for the various machines we use.

Having a dedicated application also means being able to configure it according to personal preferences. This was technically possible even with the pre-Sonoma application, but I only realized it while writing these lines.

Why am I so enthusiastic about Screen Sharing? Because I often work over the network, and I find it very interesting to have a native tool that offers more advanced functions than those previously available. It’s just a pity that Apple uses the vnc protocol to connect to remote Macs—a protocol with numerous security issues, often blocked by firewalls, which effectively limits the use of Screen Sharing to local networks only.

A real shame, because after years of partial remote work, I can say that Screen Sharing is much more efficient than Teamviewer (which I stopped using a long time ago) or Chrome Remote Desktop, which I currently use even though it doesn’t completely satisfy me.

These last four years have taught us that remote work is possible, but it requires the right tools. So, after many criticisms, Apple deserves a well-done here.

1. An advanced version of Apple Remote Desktop is also available on the App Store for €89.99. A price not exactly popular for those who only need it occasionally, but absolutely fair for professionals who rely on it. ↩