BoxView

Connect

What happens when you connect, logging in, sharing someone's screen, and what to do when it doesn't work.

Tap a Mac's picture on Home to connect.

While it connects

A card shows each step as it happens:

  1. Find the Mac, then Found the Mac with its address.
  2. Open a secure tunnel, with Secure Connection only.
  3. Log in to Screen Sharing, then Logged in.
  4. Waiting for the Mac's user to answer, with Ask to Share only: a request is showing on the Mac.
  5. Show the screen.

Tap Cancel to stop.

Logging in

If BoxView has no password for the Mac, it asks: enter the user name and password you use on the Mac, and tap Log In. For a VNC password, leave the user name empty. A login that works is saved for next time, in the iPhone's Keychain.

When someone else is using the Mac

If you log in as a Mac user and someone else is using the Mac, BoxView asks what to do:

  • Ask to Share their screen: they're asked on the Mac.
  • Share Screen Without Asking.
  • Log In to My Own Session: your own session opens, in the background, while they keep theirs.

Turn this question off with Prompt for Session Sharing in Settings › Connection.

Observe mode

Connect in Observe Mode (touch and hold a Mac) shows the screen without sending any clicks or keys. You can switch to control from the session controls. To always start this way, turn on Start in Observe Mode in the Mac's Controls settings.

If it doesn't connect

The card says what went wrong, with Try Again and Close:

MessageWhat to do
Couldn't find the MacA .local name only works on the Mac's own network. Check the address.
Couldn't reach the MacCheck Screen Sharing is on and the Mac is awake.
The Mac didn't answerA firewall, such as Little Snitch, may be blocking the connection.
Couldn't log inCheck the user name and password. For Ask to Share, the Mac needs Anyone may request permission to control screen, and someone must be logged in.
SSH login failedThe Mac's Remote Login didn't accept the password or key. Tap Edit SSH Login.
The secure tunnel didn't openCheck Remote Login is on, and that the SSH server allows forwarding.

More in Connection problems.

Reconnecting

If a session drops, BoxView reconnects by itself and says Reconnecting…. Turn this off with Reconnect Automatically in Settings › Connection.

When you open BoxView again, it reopens the session you had open.