Apple Dropping Back to My Mac Feature: What to Do Now

Apple's Back to My Mac feature is a handy way for you to access content remotely, share a screen, and share files. But it looks like Apple is moving away from it.

The tech giant has been sending alerts to those testing the macOS Mojave beta that say "Back to My Mac service ends soon." The notification informs them that they can "continue to use iCloud Drive to access your files across devices." There's also a Learn More link that provides additional information about Apple's decision on a support page.

According to Macrumors, which earlier reported on the feature and published a screen shot of the alert, Apple's support page provides instructions on how to move from Back to My Mac to iCloud Drive, screen sharing, and Apple Remote Desktop. The issue, however, is that Back to My Mac was a feature baked into the company's operating system. Apple Remote Desktop is paid software that costs $79 in the Mac App Store.

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It's unclear why Apple has discontinued use of Back to My Mac. The feature was a handy way to help friends or family with some common Mac problems. And if you wanted to quickly transfer files between Macs in your home, Back to My Mac was a great way to get it done.

That said, Back to My Mac was somewhat difficult for some folks to pick up and use. And for novices, especially, it was hard to configure.

If you want a different way to access files and screen-shares, you'll need to turn to new solutions when Mojave launches later this year.