14 DAY TRIAL // ShareTool is a useful app developed by the people at Yazsoft. It allows users to access all of the Bonjour services on their home network (iTunes Music Sharing, Screen Sharing, File Sharing, printing, and more) from anywhere in the world. The new release adds Mac OS X 10.6.1 compatibility and other enhancements.
According to the release notes for ShareTool 1.3, also new is the addition of secure web browsing under Snow Leopard (previously reported as non-functional), the adjusted tab order when navigating using the keyboard, some low-level tweaks for an enhanced performance, and one bug fix – ShareTool no longer gets in a bad state with high CPU usage.
Developed for Bonjour users looking to access all of their services on their home network from anywhere in the world, ShareTool includes iTunes music sharing, screen sharing, file sharing, etc. The software automatically configures routers supporting NAT-PMP or UpnP; remote services automatically appear in Finder, iTunes, and other applications; the app enables remote access for any application or service that advertises itself using Bonjour and runs over TCP/IP; all network traffic is strongly encrypted, while access to your services requires your Mac OS X username and password, to name a few key features of this useful piece of software.
Although very similar to Apple’s Back To My Mac (BTMM) solution, ShareTool still poses some significant differences. BTMM only works with Screen Sharing and File Sharing, whereas ShareTool also works with iTunes, iPhoto, SFTP, and many third-party applications. ShareTool doesn’t require a yearly subscription either – you just buy the app once and you’re set for life. ShareTool also runs on Tiger (BTMM requires Leopard) and doesn’t require you to run a client on each computer you intend to access.
One ShareTool user license costs $20 to buy. The application is a Universal Binary, good for both Intel and PPC-based Macs. ShareTool requires Mac OS X no higher than 10.3.9 (Panther), but newer OS versions are supported too.