Yosemite screen sharing in Message not working

Greetings alby_williams,

From what I can gather from your post, Screen Sharing is failing while attempting to connect. I was able to locate an article that provides some basic troubleshooting steps which you may want to try:

OS X Yosemite: If you can’t share computer screens

Troubleshoot screen sharing

If you’re having problems sharing your screen with another Mac, or viewing a shared screen on your Mac, there are several things to check.

Make sure you turned on screen sharing and set up sharing permissions on the Mac whose screen you want to share. See Share your screen.

If you’re trying to share the screen of another Mac, open Sharing preferences on that Mac and make sure you’re in the list of users who have permission to share its screen.

Make sure neither Mac is in sleep mode. Adjust sleep settings using Energy Saver preferences.

If you’re using Back to My Mac to share screens, make sure it’s turned on on both computers. See Share your screen using Back to My Mac.

Make sure both computers are connected to the same network or, if you’re sharing screens using Back to My Mac, make sure they’re both connected to the Internet.

To check your connection, open the Network pane of System Preferences. The indicator next to your type of network connection should be green.

If there’s a problem with your network connection, use Network Diagnostics to troubleshoot.

Thank you for contributing to Apple Support Communities.

Be well,

BobbyD

Hi,

Any Jabber account (Google, Facebook or other Jabber server) or any AIM Valid Login can Screen Share within the Messages app itself.

However in Yosemite Screen Sharing has been added to the iMessages account.

This like the Video or Audio Chat invoking FaceTime (Another app) the Screen Sharing invoke the actual Screen Sharing App which is part of Apple Remote Desktop and hidden away in the System Side of things.

It need you to go to System Preferences > Sharing on your computer as well as his and Enable Screen Sharing.

You cannot have Remote Management enabled at the same time as that is also linked to Apple Remote Desktop.

10:10 pm Monday; December 15, 2014

Hi,

From your first post I thought that there was a lack of any info about the settings at your end.

I wrote in my last paragraph:-

It needs you to go to System Preferences > Sharing on your computer, as well as his and Enable Screen Sharing.

You cannot have Remote Management enabled at the same time as that is also linked to Apple Remote Desktop.

Whilst you imply that everything is alright at your end it remains a potential issue for this connection failing.

You are right that Apple Remote Desktop and connection made by the Engine are on port 5900.

It would be worth checking that this port is allowed or open in the routers involved.

8:15 pm Wednesday; December 17, 2014

Did you resolve this issue? I had the same issue connecting with a mac. I went through the settings above and it just wouldn't connect. I did it the previous day with another Mac and it worked fine so I would guess it's a setting their end that needs changing but their sharing is set to on. Are there any other settings/permissions that need looking at. Any ideas?

I resolved this issue by ditching Apple and using Microsoft (Skype screen sharing).

Microsoft works fine.

It's my brother-in-law's first Mac- I told him it would make things easier. Color me embarrassed. (by Apple)

Unfortunately, this cut-and-paste from Apple is not helping anyone.

The screen sharing being stripped away by Yosemite is a big problem,

When you are connecting to a computer using 10.9 or 10.8 and you are on 10.10, the screen sharing fails. Most often, people can HEAR you but the screen NEVER becomes visible for sharing and control.

I have had one failure with connecting a 10.10 machine to a 10.10 machine, but 10.10 machines connecting to 10.9 or 10.8 machines habitually fails. And it fails wether using Messages or Jabber or AIM accounts. Nearly every failure has the same effect: they can HEAR but never does the screen actually share.

This is all done via Messages. The screen sharing capabilities really have been damaged.

Hi,

The App is called Messages

It can Screen Share within the App in AIM and Jabber Accounts.

In the iMessages account it invokes an outside App (like the iMessages account does for Video by using FaceTime).

Whilst that at the behind the scenes level both methods make use of the Apple Remote Desktop engine the processes to get there are different.

It also makes a difference on how you start the Screen Sharing process as the iMessages method using the "details" option in the main window invokes the iMessages method.

I had a failure to a OS X 10.10.1 computer the other day before I realised that using the Details option invoked iMessages Screen Sharing trying to do it to an AIM name. (I am on OS X 10.10.2)

I changed the Text chat to iMessages and repeated and it worked.

I have since tested from OS X 10.2.2 to Snow Leopard (iChat 5.0.3) with different AIM accounts and a Jabber connection and it works.

I have Messages as an App Allowed in the Firewall.

I also have Screen Sharing as an App Allowed in the Firewall (it is in Hard Drive Name/System/Library/Core Services/Applications).

I know the way my router is set up allows for the random port the AIM/Jabber method uses and the port 5900 that the ARD/Screen Sharing App will use.

Basically as the iMessages method can only connect to other Macs (and not iOS devices) it did not need a completely different process to make this work.

Apple's long standing use of the word messages to mean emails in the Mail App and then changing the name of the iChat app to Messages with the iMessages accounts causes confusion for people trying to describe their problems.

Having two methods to do Video, Audio and now Screen Sharing in the app is also not helpful when trying to solve what is going on.

It is now easy to cause failure as the process used to invoke either method can be confused and lead to failure.

I hope this post might explain where the issue is in the process of starting the Screen Sharing or highlight where the issue might be.

8:42 pm Thursday; February 26, 2015

No, this doesn't help. The problem not that someone doesn't know how to use it, the problem is that the feature isn't working.

Hi,

I do feel that the Security Update that was included in OS X 10.10.2 does have some impact on this.

The AIM/Jabber connections are an Audio Chat using the standard Port 5678 for the invite then port 16402 for the SIP connection Process and the same port for the actual Chat with a VNC connection along side on a random port.

The Screen Sharing App method invoked by the iMessages chat Details Option seems to have the VNC connection only on port 5900 (the same as Apple Remote Desktop).

As of yet I have not had enough iMessages invoked Screen Shares to work out if Apple Remote Desktop is handling the Audio chat or if it is silently invoking FaceTime.

As a standalone test of the Screen Sharing App method you can invoke if in the Finder if you have another Mac on your LAN.

Open Finder window showing the Shares in the Side Bar.

Highlight one of those Shares.

Use the Screen Sharing Option. The Screen Sharing app should appear in the Dock and you will be asked to "Sign In" as a User on that computer (My MacBook Pro is only set to allow one User to be accessed in MacBook Pro's System Prefs > Sharing).

Alternatively you can use the Go Menu > Connect to Server and enter VNC:// and the IP address of the other computer.

Bonjour in Messages will do this the AIM/Jabber way.

It needs internet access as it treats is as if it were an AIM or Jabber attempt.

9:24 pm Thursday; February 26, 2015

I have this problem as well trying to do screen sharing with my parents' Macs in another state. They took their computers to the local Apple store to see if a Genius could resolve the problem. I continued trying to connect from my house to their computers at the store. He tried many sensible things, but we always got the same error message. No problem connecting when the computers are on the same LAN.

Conclusion is that this feature isn't ready for prime time.

Hi,

I have had no issue with this in AIM, Jabber or iMessages accounts over the Internet to other people.

I do have one Buddy that I can test all three on. I have Buddies I can test AIM and Jabber connections with and others just iMessages.

I will restate.

AIM (As in the Pic) and Jabber and Bonjour accounts use this Method.

I have Separate Buddy lists for each account I have logged in.

In the Video Menu the options to Enable Video, Audio and Screen Sharing for these accounts are Enabled.

iMessages start differently when you want to Screen Share.

You start from a text chat and the "Details" item top right.

If you use this method in an AIM or Jabber chat then it invokes the iMessages method.

Going on from this the AIM/Jabber method use the Apple Remote Desktop (ARD) Engine but on the Video Ports for In-App Video for AIM, Jabber or Bonjour in Messages.

This tends to mean that you do not have to enable any more ports in your router.

The Screen Sharing App is used by iMessages (it is still the ARD engine).

It does this on the VNC port that Apple Remote Desktop uses. Port 5900.

Bonjour is for LAN based chats.

Your post is unspecific as to the method you are using and the account type you wish to do it with.

8:03 pm Wednesday; March 11, 2015

Hello, I am having problem getting Screen Sharing via Messages app (using iMessage) to work too. I had actually gotten it to work with my Mom's computer (we're both running Yosemite) but all of the sudden it has stopped working. I see discussion here of Screen Sharing preferences, but in the Help for Messages it says "Screen sharing in Messages is independent of screen-sharing settings in System Preferences. You can share screens using Messages even when Screen Sharing is deselected in the Sharing pane of System Preferences." So at least according to Apple, you don't need to having Screen Sharing enabled in Preferences for this to work. I'm interested to see if anybody else has figured this out!

Hi,

The app can start Screen Sharing two different ways.

The iChat way, as it were as it has been present since early versions of iChat, works for the AIM, Jabber and Bonjour account you have.

Yahoo that was added in iChat 6 cannot Screen Share and until Yosemite this was true of the iMessages account.

This method is in App and does not require anything in System Preferences > Sharing)

iMessages on the other hand relies on the FaceTime method, as it were, in that it invokes an outside app to do the job for it.

Whilst it makes sense for FaceTime to be invoked for Video chat to iOS devices it makes no sense as you cannot Screen Share to an iOS device using this method.

Anyhow this does use the Screen Sharing App

This is actually located in /System/Library/CoreServices/Applications

If you have other Macs on your LAN and they show up in the Finder's Side Bar as Shares you can click on them

One choice the window gives you is to Screen Share.

The app is invoked when you do this and you have to Login to the other computer.

It is an VNC connection.

In th Finder > Go Menu > Connect to Server you can do the same by entering VNC:// in front of the computer's IP address and it will start up the app.

The Help is not as far along as it should be.

So for iMessages and it's invoking of the Screen Sharing App you need System Preferences > Sharing to be Enabled.

9:22 pm Sunday; March 22, 2015

I second LowellGear.