BoxView

Secure Connection (SSH)

Send a session through SSH, with a password or a key kept in the Secure Enclave.

With Secure Connection, BoxView logs in to an SSH server and sends the whole session through it. Screen Sharing on its own encrypts the login but not the picture; inside SSH, everything between your phone and the SSH server is encrypted.

It also gives BoxView a way to list the Mac's windows without BoxView Helper. See Find a window.

On the Mac

Turn on Remote Login in System Settings › General › Sharing. That's the Mac's own SSH server.

In BoxView

  1. Edit the Mac and open Security.
  2. Turn on Use Secure Connections.
  3. Leave SSH Server empty to use the Mac itself (Same as Address). Port 22, and the Mac user name, are filled in for you.
  4. Choose Authentication: Password (the Mac user's, unless you enter another), or SSH Key.

The Mac's card shows Secure.

Trust the Mac's key

The first time, BoxView shows the SSH server's key fingerprint and asks Trust This Mac? Tap Trust. If the key changes later, BoxView says The Mac's SSH Key Changed and asks before going on. You can forget a trusted key in the Mac's Security settings.

SSH keys

In Settings › SSH Keys you can:

  • Generate Ed25519 Key, or Generate Secure Enclave Key: a key that never leaves the iPhone's Secure Enclave.
  • Paste Private Key or Import Key File.
  • Copy Public Key or Share Public Key, to add it to ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on the Mac.

Then pick the key in the Mac's Security settings, under Authentication.

Through another SSH server

To reach a Mac from outside its network, you can log in to a different SSH server, such as a gateway on the same network, and BoxView goes on from there to the Mac's Screen Sharing. Enter that server under SSH Server.