Overview
When using Screens with Curtain Mode enabled, you may notice that Google Chrome does not respond to mouse clicks. Other applications, such as Safari, Finder, or Mail, continue to work normally.
This issue is not specific to Screens and can also be reproduced with other apps such as Apple Remote Desktop.
Cause
Curtain Mode creates a virtual display on the remote Mac, which is then streamed to the client app.
Google Chrome, unlike native macOS apps that rely on AppKit, is built on cross-platform frameworks (Chromium/Skia). These frameworks handle rendering and input differently, which can cause clicks and other interactions to fail when used in combination with Curtain Mode.
Affected Apps
- Google Chrome
- Potentially other apps that do not rely on native macOS frameworks
Native macOS applications (Safari, Finder, Mail, System Preferences, etc.) as well as the vast majority of third-party apps are unaffected.
Workaround
Unfortunately, there are no settings in Remote Management on macOS that can be changed to resolve this issue.
The only solution for now is to avoid using Curtain Mode when you need to control Chrome. If you disable Curtain Mode, Chrome will respond normally to mouse clicks.
Summary
- This is a known limitation of Chrome when used with Curtain Mode.
- It is not an issue with Screens itself.
- The only workaround is to avoid Curtain Mode when controlling Chrome.