Sometimes, a family member or friend will contact me asking for technical support for their iPhone. Often, I can solve the problem or resolve the question by talking them through the necessary steps. However, other times, I have difficulty fixing the problem without actually seeing the phone or working with it.
The screen-sharing and remote-control capabilities available through FaceTime can overcome that challenge. You can draw pictures on the phone to show the other person where to go and what to do. If that doesn’t work, you’re able to assume full control of the second phone to navigate the screen, launch apps, and access settings as if it were your own.
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Here’s how it works between two iPhones.
How to take control of someone else’s iPhone
what you need: With both your iPhone and another iPhone running iOS 18 or higher, you can start a FaceTime call and then remotely access the other phone.
First, make sure that both your iPhone and the other person’s iPhone are running on iOS 18 or higher. Go to Settings, select General, and then tap Software Update. Allow downloading and installing the latest updates.
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Next, you will need to initiate a FaceTime call. You can call the other person, or they can call you. When a FaceTime call comes in, the recipient should answer it and then tap Join to join the call.
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Then the person receiving your help will have to share their screen. You can do this in one of two ways. The other person can tap the share icon at the top of the screen and then select Share my screen. Otherwise, you tap the share icon and then select Ask to share.
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In response, another thumbnail screen opens on your iPhone, displaying the other person’s phone screen. Tap that thumbnail to see their phone in a larger window. From there, you can instruct the person how and where to access the screen, app, feature, or setting they need help with.
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If you want to help the other person without taking control of their phone, you can tap the screen to point them in the right direction. Tap an icon, setting, or other item on the screen and a small circle appears for a second. You can do this to show the other person what they have to choose from.
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Additionally, you can even draw or write on the screen to show them more clearly what they need to do. When you stop drawing on the screen, the words or lines you drew disappear after a few seconds.
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By default, FaceTime displays the other phone’s screen in zoomed-out mode with a border around it. To zoom in on the screen, tap the magnifier icon at the bottom left. The only limitation here is that you can’t tap or draw while in zoom-in mode. Tap the magnifier icon again to zoom back out.
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If the person is having trouble taking the necessary actions to fix the problem, you may want to take control of the phone yourself. For this, tap on the finger icon selecting a point in the lower right corner. The other person receives a request for remote control, which they should select Allow. When you do this the first time, a notification appears on their screen asking if they know you. To allow remote control, they should tap Continue.
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You can now navigate and use the other person’s phone by tapping, swiping, and navigating. You are able to zoom in on a particular screen by tapping the magnifying icon, but then you lose control of the phone. To zoom out and regain controls, tap the magnifier icon again.
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Once you’ve resolved the issue, tap the remote control icon at the bottom to return control of the phone to the other person. To stop screen sharing, the other person should tap the share icon at the top of the screen.
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If you just want to end the FaceTime call, tap the thumbnail on your screen. Tap it again to see a set of controls at the top and then tap End to end the call.
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