ScreenTime

Show your macOS desktop on FaceTime

4 followers

Show your macOS desktop on FaceTime

4 followers

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Video conferencing

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Screenshots and screen recording apps

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Video and Voice calling

ScreenTime is a screen sharing plugin for FaceTime (for macOS). It appears as a webcam on FaceTime and lets you show your desktop during a FaceTime video call.

Launch tags:Mac•Developer Tools

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Why would sharing your screen on Facetime be that important that will cost $10?))) how often would one need it??

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8yr ago

ScreenTime

Maker

@astghik_azaryan It depends what you use FaceTime for, to be honest. Pretty much my whole extended family buys Apple, so we use FaceTime pretty often. FaceTime plays a big part in our lives. So, when I'm talking to my granny and she complains about nobody having shown her my 2 yr old niece's latest photos on IG, I pull up ScreenTime and show them to her. Some other day, I might be checking in on my brother, and he might have a question or two for me about C++. So, ScreenTime really helps in situations like these where, mid conversation, you decide you want to show the other person a photo, or a webpage or a demo of some sort. Now whether it's worth $10, that's for you to decide. I must mention, I have a generous trial in place, so there's no risk in taking the app out for a spin. The trial is unlimited and lets you screen share for up to a minute per call.

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8yr ago

@astghik_azaryan I, for one, see lots of use cases for this - and to not have to rely on a separate service would be fantastic. As @bibhasbibhas pointed out, this is not something I realized I wanted until I saw this. E.g. My family all lives in other countries but asks me for assistance all the time. They're not very technically inclined, and solutions like Skype, etc just don't work well. We end up FaceTiming - and they point their phone at the screen. Minor things, but this changes everything. Admittedly, the pricing is odd in the use cases that I find valuable. You pay $10 so you can share your screen, but in reality - what do I do? Pay $10 for each of my family members that would need this with instructions on how to install?

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8yr ago

ScreenTime

Maker

@etc What kind of pricing would you be most comfortable with? I'm all ears :)

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8yr ago

@bibhasbibhas This may be very "use case specific," but given the fact that your stated use cases all seem to revolve around existing relationships / family, perhaps a family one makes sense. One time fee for x number of installations and make it easier to send someone a link to download and have it "pre-licensed" or they receive a link in the mail based on your invitation that gives them a unique license. Something like that.

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8yr ago

@bibhasbibhas thanks for very thorough answer))

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8yr ago

Product Hunt

I've never had the need to share my screen via FaceTime, but maybe there's a use case or audience of people that do? Curious to know more, @bibhasbibhas. 🤔

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8yr ago

ScreenTime

Maker

Hi @rrhoover :), Screen sharing on FaceTime is one of those features you didn't know you wanted, but once you use it, there's no going back. With ScreenTime, we're going after more casual use cases like shopping on amazon, viewing photos together, picking the right AirBnB, helping dad figure out technology etc, as opposed to heavy duty uses cases like long conference calls or tech support (after all, most people use FaceTime to chat with family and friends). In the last week alone, I've FaceTime-ed my brother with ScreenTime and helped him fix his linker errors on Xcode, helped him pick a pair of sunglasses for my mom on SunglassHut and decided on the hotel we're going to stay at during our Christmas vacation in Singapore this winter. (I must mention, we live half way around the world from each other.)

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8yr ago

@bibhasbibhas @rrhoover Yeah I surprisingly have an older client that would love this. They don't know how to dial into a screen share so we always facetime or call and then I "try to screen share" but it never works out. I can see this as being a good and easy solution to finally be able to share my screen.

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8yr ago

Ok, so I see the point here is the other one is using iPad, iPhone etc. You can using mac and ScreenTime your computer to them to show stuff. This is the main point difference to using iMessage Share right?

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8yr ago

ScreenTime

Maker

@o1xhack Yup, that is correct.

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8yr ago

@bibhasbibhas What's the "free unlimited trial" ?? Is that using free but you will collect usage data?

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8yr ago

ScreenTime

Maker

@o1xhack The trial never expires, but usage is capped at 1 min / call. So if you wanted to screen share for more than a minute, you'd have to hang up and start a new video call. ScreenTime doesn't collect any data whatsoever. It's just a virtual webcam.

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8yr ago

Why wouldn’t I just use Google Remote Desktop on the iOS device and on the macOS computer? Or use Apple Remote Desktop on my Mac and talk to the person on FaceTime? Or use any of the other apps that are available - many on a free or subscription basis that might be cheaper?

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8yr ago

ScreenTime

Maker

@airira ScreenTime is useful if the other person doesn't have any of those apps installed on their phone. With ScreenTime, you could be screen sharing with any iOS user.

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8yr ago

@bibhasbibhas iOS to iOS? If that’s right, it would be an incredible tool for businesses that need to troubleshoot iPhones long distance. If true, I’m very interested. Thanks.

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8yr ago

ScreenTime

Maker

@airira Sorry, the driver only works on macOS (iOS doesn't allow any thirdparty drivers). So, just macOS -> iOS (or macOS -> macOS). See the third product image on this page (https://ph-files.imgix.net/c8093...)

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8yr ago

@bibhasbibhas so if it’s macOS to iOS or macOS to macOS, then what I said before still holds.

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8yr ago

But, why wouldn't I use the build-in screen sharing in Messages.app on my Mac? https://support.apple.com/guide/...

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8yr ago

ScreenTime

Maker

@joid Messages.app screensharing only works across macs, so mac->mac. ScreenTime, on the other hand, can be used mac -> iOS device.

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8yr ago

This app is borderline malware with the inability to remove the giant banner from my menu bar and does not show a context menu when clicked. Obnoxiously visible all the time and restarts itself when the service is force quit. It's cool and works when I want to use it but why is it so prominent @bibhasbibhas?? This should be in the background and only when facetime is launched.

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8yr ago

ScreenTime

Maker

@ericduey The ScreenTime banner only appears if the webcam is being used. So, some background app on your mac is likely trying to snoop on you and is accidentally using ScreenTime as the preferred webcam (instead of your FaceTime HD webcam). That or this could be some pathetic bug on my part. Either ways, I'm sorry about the bad experience. And, I assure you this is not a malware. Something is causing the app to not work properly, because if it did, the contextual menu would show you an option to uninstall the app. Regardless, here’s a pkg file that will uninstall ScreenTime for you: https://www.dropbox.com/s/hvssvw...

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8yr ago

Installed, called, shared screen, and it froze for the other person. Application was stuck, so i killed it with Activity Monotor. It won't start, and it just shares a black screen.

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8yr ago

ScreenTime

Maker

@sneila Hi, I'm sorry you had a bad experience with ScreenTime. Were you able to get things running again? If the app isn't running and you'd like to uninstall it, please let me know and I'll send you an uninstaller. If you are able to run the app, there is an uninstall button in the menu bar app. Again, sorry about the bug. I'm trying to fix it as we speak.

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8yr ago

@bibhasbibhas did not manage to have it run, rebooted the system and everything, it just streams a static picture or a black screen. Yes, uninstalled it. Let me know once its fixed. The quality of the image was also very bad, streaming code, it was non-readable (the static picture)

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8yr ago

ScreenTime

Maker

@sneila The image quality unfortunately depends on your WiFi connection, and how good of a FaceTime reception you can get. Either way, will let you know. Sorry again.

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8yr ago

@bibhasbibhas We are on the same LAN/WIFI (but i guess the signal goes to Apple and back). Do not be sorry dude :))) It's normal in development to not figure all the bits and pieces. I thank you for the effort on this and responsiveness.

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8yr ago

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