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How to give someone temporary access to your Mac

In short: in the Remolo Helper menu click “+” → “Guest access”, pick how long — an hour, a day or a week — and what is allowed: trackpad and keyboard, slides, media or the Mac’s screen. The Mac gives you a one-time link that the guest opens in Remolo on their iPhone. Files, the clipboard, the terminal and button actions are never available to a guest, and you can take access back at any time. The owner gives guest access with Remolo Pro; the guest needs no subscription.

Updated

What you need

  • Your Mac with Remolo Helper and Remolo Pro.
  • The guest: an iPhone with the free Remolo app.

Step by step

  1. Make the link

    Remolo Helper menu → “+” → “Guest access” (or the Remolo window → Home → “Guest access”).

  2. Choose the time and permissions

    1 hour, 1 day or 7 days — counted from when the link is made. Trackpad and keyboard, slides and media are on; the Mac’s screen stays off until you turn it on.

  3. Send the link

    Copy it, share it or show the QR code. Send it only to someone you trust.

  4. Take access back when you want

    In the menu or the Remolo window, next to the guest — “Take access back”. An unused link can be cancelled.

When it comes in handy

A colleague advances your slides while you speak; an assistant at a conference runs the presentation from the floor; a friend helps with your Mac while you are away; someone in another city shows you something on your Mac for an hour.

What a guest never gets

Files, the clipboard, the terminal, button actions and scripts, putting the Mac to sleep or locking it, quitting apps and your button profiles. The Mac never sends a guest the text you type, the clipboard, the battery level or the address of your Mac’s own relay room.

How the link is protected

The link works once: its secret is 256 bits, and the first wrong attempt burns it. An unused link lasts a day at most (and never longer than the access). It carries your Mac’s public key, so the guest’s phone talks only to that Mac, and they meet in a separate temporary relay room. The secret sits after the “#”, so the server never receives it. The Mac enforces the rules itself: it drops a guest whose time is up within 15 seconds.

Honest limits

  • Guest access is given by an owner with Remolo Pro.
  • The guest needs an iPhone with Remolo; there is no control from a browser.
  • The time counts from when the link is made, not from the first connection.

Questions

Does the guest need a subscription or an account?

No — just the free Remolo app on an iPhone.

Can the guest see my screen?

Only if you turn on “Mac screen” for that link; it is off by default.

How do I know the guest is connected?

The guest shows up in the device list in the Remolo Helper menu and the Remolo window, with the time left.

More guides

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