Why do I need to grant screen recording & accessibility permissions when setting up CoScreen?

If you are using macOS Catalina and above you'll be asked to enable macOS screen recording permissions when joining your first CoScreen so you can share your windows with your peers. Apple wants users to express their consent that an application can capture the content of their application windows. In the context of CoScreen, this is used for screen sharing. CoScreen does not actually records/stores any window content but simply shares the windows you have selected with your fellow team members who have access to the same CoScreen..

 

Just granting the permission does not mean that CoScreen actually captures your windows immediately. It will only do so once you actively choose so once you are in a CoScreen. 

 

CoScreen might also ask you to grant macOS accessibility permissions when joining your first CoScreen. It does so to enable you and your peers to move shared windows around, to resize them, and to type and click into them - everything you need to truly collaborate on code, design, or any other application and artifact in a seamless way.

 

In both cases you will see a popup that helps you configure the necessary settings and how to proceed.

 

Note: If you face issues where you believe you have configured the right settings but you still cannot join any room, just remove the permissions again in macOS settings, restart CoScreen and enable them again. This can happen occasionally after the CoScreen app was updated.

 

1. Go to the macOS System Preferences / System Settings
2. Open 'Security & Privacy' / 'Privacy & Security'
3. Tab 'Privacy' (skip for macOS 13 Ventura and above)
4. 'Accessibility'
5. Click on lock on the bottom left (skip for macOS 13 Ventura and above)
6. Remove/disable all CoScreen entries
7. Restart CoScreen and follow the prompts when joining a CoScreen