macOS Screen Sharing
Hacker ApprovedRemote desktop app in Computers
Built into macOS and free, it offers high-quality, low-latency remote control, especially between Macs. Critics report bugs in full-screen mode and file transfer.
Built into macOS and free, it offers high-quality, low-latency remote control, especially between Macs. Critics report bugs in full-screen mode and file transfer.
17 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 12
- criticize it
- 5
- approval share
- 71%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 12 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
High image quality, low latency
“Host resolution automatically matches that of client, image quality is great, framerate is decent, latency is minimal.”
Comment from 10 Jul 2026 in “Apple Silicon Exec Explains Mac Mini AI Demand and On-Device Future” “screen sharing app is extremely high quality these days, I can barely notice a diff unless watching video”
Comment from 28 Mar 2026 in “Don't YOLO your file system” “it works great in its low-latency mode”
Comment from 5 Jun 2026 in “I tested every IP KVM in my Homelab” Built into macOS
“the build-in remote desktop on Macs makes it very easy to provide help”
Comment from 12 Mar 2026 in “MacBook Neo Review: No Other Budget Laptop Can Compete” “use macOS's built-in screen sharing app to use my home Mac mini”
Comment from 25 Aug 2026 in “New Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra” Works well between Macs
“probably the best when it's purely within Apple products”
Comment from 26 Aug 2026 in “New Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra” “Apple screen sharing works for me just fine”
Comment from 25 Aug 2026 in “New Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra” Seamless and reliable day to day
“Apple screen sharing works for me just fine”
Comment from 25 Aug 2026 in “New Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra” “Screen sharing is pretty seamless nowadays”
Comment from 25 Aug 2026 in “New Mac Studio with M5 Max and M5 Ultra”
What people said
16 of the 17 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“brings a popup that steals your focus when someone connects to the machine”
“running screen sharing in full screen mode has a big bug in that the screen sharing menus/controls aren't visible”
“probably the best when it's purely within Apple products”
“Screen sharing is pretty seamless nowadays”
“A noticeable step up from Screen Sharing (which can’t be used from mobile device anyway).”
“Apple screen sharing works for me just fine”
“use macOS's built-in screen sharing app to use my home Mac mini”
“Host resolution automatically matches that of client, image quality is great, framerate is decent, latency is minimal.”
“it works great in its low-latency mode”
“which I guess only works because they're both macs”
“apple vnc at work for servers and they are so slow”
“Copy/paste of even complicated stuff works fine between the apple desktop and the vm desktop”
“screen sharing app is extremely high quality these days, I can barely notice a diff unless watching video”
“the build-in remote desktop on Macs makes it very easy to provide help”
“a bug in Screen Sharing file transfer used up 20 GB of RAM”
“I used Screen Sharing with a Macbook that grants you a virtual ultrawide monitor.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.