By Dan Moren

May 23, 2017 10:26 AM PT

Screens 4 for macOS adds drag-and-drop file transfers, curtain mode, more

Note: This story has not been updated for several years.

Edovia’s Screens is one of my must-have utilities on both macOS and iOS. As someone whose household contains three Macs and two iOS devices, I invariably have times where I end up needing to get at something on one of the other devices. (My home server is a Mac mini that’s hooked up to my TV, so I rely on remote access to manage it.)

Screen 4.0 for Mac, which arrived today, brings a couple super handy features, chief among which is the ability to transfer files back and forth by drag-and-drop. That’s a feature that’s been in the mac OS’s own screen-sharing implementation for some time now, but it’s great to finally have it in Screens as well–it certainly makes it easier than having to fire up a separate SFTP session.

Other new additions include Curtain Mode, which allows you to lock out the display on remote Macs so people looking at those machines can’t see what you’re doing; useful if you’re managing a computer in a shared environment. There’s also support for the Touch Bar on the new MacBook Pros, one touch password entry for logins, the ability to create groups of screens, and better support for SSH keys. And Edovia has also added OpenGL support, which improves the speed of rendering those remote displays.

Screens 4 is $29 and available from Edovia’s website, the Mac App Store, and the Setapp subscription service.

[Dan Moren is the East Coast Bureau Chief of Six Colors. You can find him on Mastodon at @dmoren@zeppelin.flights or reach him by email at dan@sixcolors.com. His latest novel, the supernatural detective story All Souls Lost, is out now.]

If you appreciate articles like this one, support us by becoming a Six Colors subscriber. Subscribers get access to an exclusive podcast, members-only stories, and a special community.