If you’re reading this, chances are you’re a technology enthusiast — and with that comes great responsibility. Growing up, my like-minded friends and I naturally became the go-to tech support for our families and connections because of our expertise in keeping their gadgets’ gears turning. Once you move abroad, however, the task becomes significantly more challenging as you lose physical access to their devices, and over-the-phone instructions can get tiresome. My colleague Rita long praised Google Meet for helping her fix her parents’ Android phones from abroad — until she discovered a lesser-known FaceTime feature I’ve been using to control my friends’ iPhones remotely.
Remote device control is in no way a new invention, and apps like TeamViewer have been around for years. The main problem with these tools, though, is that they require you to set them up on both devices, and the process can confuse tech newbies. That’s not to mention that certain operating systems restrict the actions one could execute remotely, limiting these apps’ functionality. iOS 18 addresses this bundle of issues in the most Applesque way possible: baking the remote control feature right into FaceTime.