You might have read my previous post on RAdmin and thought it looked handy but you have an iPad, a Macbook Pro, or a Chromebook. What can you use that has similar features?
The answer is TeamViewer. This application is a solid contender for remote access across ANY platform and is a tech favorite. It has very high encryption, and best of all it is FREE for students and home use. The drawback you will find with this product if (it can be called that) would be the potential distraction factor. It will always be apparent when the screen is being monitored with a big, thick pull out tab.
Side Note: I am not a huge fan of Mac devices. I like my Linux flavors, Windows and Chromebook platforms way better and haven't tested these steps out from A-Z on Mac OS or iOS, but I do work on this platform regularly enough and have a good grasp on what needs to be done to configure it properly and hopefully guide you in the right direction.
Configuring your Mac for Third Party Program Installation
To install this product, you will need to allow third party app installation. To accomplish that, you will need your administrator password. If you don't know what this is, you can follow the guide here to reset the password, but if you feel fairly confident you know what the password is, skip the password reset step.
Click the small apple icon in the top corner and go to System Preferences...
Go to Security & Privacy
Under the General tab click the lock
Type in your password and click Unlock
Under the "Allow apps downloaded from" select Anywhere
How To Install
The basic idea is to install the program on the computer you want monitored and the computer that is doing the monitoring.
So click this link and download team viewer. It should select the operating system automatically. If it doesn't, select the operating system that best fits the device you want to install it on.
The download should show up in the downloads folder and be a TeamViewer.dmg file that will need to be double-clicked to install.
Double click the icon on the splash screen to Install TeamViewer
Click Continue and agree to the licensing and click Install
Type in your administrator password and click Install Software
Click Skip on this step (more on this at the bottom of the article)
Click Close
After installation, you can hit Move to Trash
Team Viewer should display this prompt, click Configure permissions, click Request Access
Click Open System Preferences
Click the Privacy tab and then click the lock to unlock system preferences and type in your password.
On the Accessibility icon, scroll down the list of apps on the right pane until you find Team Viewer and click the checkbox next to it so the check box is checked.
Repeat the same step for Full Disk Access and Screen Recording on the left-hand pane.
Configuring Team Viewer
Sign up for a team viewer account through this link, it is free. When you initially sign up, it prompts you for two factor authentication. I would strongly recommend taking this option just follow the on-screen steps to set it up.
Go back to Team Viewer and select both options:
Start TeamViewer with System (start the program when the computer starts)
Grant easy access (connect without a password)
You will get prompted which account will be granted easy access. Put in your team viewer account email address and this will add the computer to a dashboard for quick access on any computer you log in to with Team Viewer software installed.
Connecting
Perform the same steps on any other machine by installing the TeamViewer program and signing in with your account.
From the Computers & Contacts menu double-click on the computer to connect to it, no password required.
Notes on Security
Team viewer has three options for you to remotely connect to the machine you'd like:
1-A random password (unsafe and generated on the front screen by default)
2-A personal password (more unsafe)
3-Easy access (best used with 2-factor authentication)
Most youtube videos will tell you how to connect using the random password option. The password is re-generated each time you open TeamViewer. While it may not be"easy" to crack, it can be done, don't risk your PC.
Disable this option by clicking on Extras --> Options --> Security --> Under Random Password (for spontaneous access) --> Password strength --> Disabled (No random password)
As a final step, consider scrolling back up to the top of this article and re-tracing the steps to make sure the Mac does not allow third party app installs by default by selecting Mac app store instead.
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