Big Sur Solutions: Can’t Share My Screen on Zoom?

Written by Scott Reed on December 5, 2020

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macOS® Big Sur introduces changes for Mac® administrators, and among them are new restrictions on granting screen sharing permissions. By default in Big Sur, only end users with administrative permissions are allowed to share their screens.

With remote work now a norm in 2020 and beyond, this macOS Big Sur limitation will pose a challenge for administrators who typically only grant standard user permissions to their end users. Today organizations of every size rely daily on Zoom video calls, Google Meets, Cisco WebEx, Microsoft Skype, and other frequently used applications to communicate at work. Without the default ability to share and record these meetings, employees are going to hit a major roadblock to their productivity — and IT admins are going to be hit with a deluge of help tickets when end users can’t properly use some of their most-used work tools.

The good news for admins: JumpCloud’s MDM solution has a first-of-its-kind configuration (policy) admins can use to make sure end users don’t miss a beat in sharing and recording their screens.

What Changed Exactly?

With macOS Big Sur, an Apple® MDM payload has been introduced to allow admins to grant permissions and approve specific applications to end users without administrative permissions. To take advantage of this payload, administrators must manage devices that have user-approved Apple MDM enrollment.

JumpCloud offers a unique approach to MDM enrollment that leverages a system agent and local application — the JumpCloud Mac App — to remotely enroll a device into JumpCloud MDM and help a user approve their MDM enrollment profile with easy-to-follow prompts.

JumpCloud’s proprietary agent, which offers robust device identity management functionality on managed devices, is what gives admins the ability to grant or remove administrator privileges for local accounts. 

Screen Sharing & Recording Policy Details

Powered by the JumpCloud agent on the backend, JumpCloud’s exclusive new policy was built to assist administrators managing user devices with standard account permissions on MDM-enrolled devices.

The Allow Standard Users To Approve Screen Sharing & Recording Policy allows admins to select the applications that end users with standard permissions may approve for screen recording, so they don’t encounter any issues during their next team meeting or presentation. 

This configuration makes it easy for administrators to adapt to Apple’s new requirements introduced for approving screen recording permissions, and will prevent end users from opening helpdesk tickets asking for assistance if their Zoom or Google meetings suddenly don’t work as expected. Learn more about the new policy here, which can be set up in clicks and applied to one or many Macs at once. 

Try JumpCloud MDM 

If you need an MDM solution that lets both you and end users work without disruption, try out JumpCloud MDM with this policy — plus get more configuration options for macOS, Windows, and Linux with JumpCloud’s device management suite. Set up a JumpCloud Free account in minutes, and try JumpCloud’s directory platform with up to 10 users and 10 devices, with free premium chat support for your first 10 days.

Scott Reed

Scott Reed is a Product Manager on the Devices team at JumpCloud. Prior to joining the Product team, he led the Solution Architecture team at JumpCloud. In fact, Scott is the original author of the JumpCloud PowerShell module. Scott’s background is in Corporate IT. Outside of work Scott loves to seek out fresh air and adventure with his wife, two young sons, and their black lab Lucy.

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