AnchorGrid vs TeamViewer for iOS remote support

If you already run an RMM or an MDM and the one thing you cannot do is watch an iPhone or iPad screen while you help someone, this comparison is for you. It is written by the people who build AnchorGrid, and we will tell you plainly where TeamViewer is the better buy.

The short answer: TeamViewer is a full cross-platform remote-support suite. AnchorGrid is one narrow thing, which is view-only iOS and iPadOS screen viewing over a 9-digit code and a browser tab. So the real question is not “which is better.” It is: do you already own most of a support stack, and are you missing only iOS screen viewing? If yes, buying an entire suite to fill that one gap means paying a second time for features you already have.

The gap most teams actually hit

Plenty of shops already manage their fleet well. You might run Microsoft Intune for your Macs and iOS devices and something like Pulseway for RMM. That stack covers a lot. What it usually does not cover is letting a technician watch an iPhone or iPad screen live while talking a user through a problem. Many RMM and MDM platforms, Intune and Pulseway among them, do not include live iOS screen viewing short of adopting that vendor’s own MDM stack end to end.

So you hit the iOS screen-viewing gap, and you get two options: go without, or bolt on TeamViewer or Splashtop. The catch with the second option is that those are full suites. To get the single feature you are missing, you pay for remote control, file transfer, unattended access, cross-platform agents, an entire catalog that overlaps what your RMM and MDM already do. You are buying a second stack to use a sliver of it. That overlap is where the money leaks, and it is exactly why a suite can be the wrong tool for a gap this specific.

AnchorGrid is the unbundled slice. Just iOS and iPadOS screen viewing, priced per technician, sitting alongside the tools you already run instead of replacing them. If you are not the only environment that hit this wall, and you are almost certainly not, that is the case it is built for.

The one thing everyone gets wrong about “remote control” on iOS

The instinct is to ask “which one lets me remote-control the iPhone?” The honest answer is neither, and no third-party tool does. Apple does not allow third-party apps to remotely control a standard iPhone the way you can drive a Windows desktop. Every vendor here, TeamViewer included, is limited to attended screen viewing on a normal iPhone, plus some configuration on supervised, MDM-managed devices.

The same is true of unattended or background access. On iOS there is no consent-free, no-one-present remote session, supervised or not. iOS remote support is always attended: the user is there, and they are sharing their screen. That holds for every vendor, including us and TeamViewer.

So “remote control” and “unattended access” are not real differentiators on iOS, because nobody has them here. Do not pick an iOS tool based on features Apple does not permit on the platform.

Quick comparison

	AnchorGrid	TeamViewer
iOS / iPadOS screen viewing	Yes, purpose-built	Yes (QuickSupport)
Remote control of a standard iPhone	No (Apple restriction)	No (Apple restriction)
Scope	Just iOS screen viewing	Full cross-platform suite
Overlaps an RMM/MDM you already own	No, it fills one gap	Yes, it duplicates a lot
Fleet deployment	Standard App Store app; push via Apple Business Manager or MDM	MDM-deployable
Technician client	Any browser tab	Desktop/mobile app or browser
Pricing shape	Per-technician, unbundled	Broad suite, tiered

What AnchorGrid is (and is not)

AnchorGrid is view-only iOS remote support. A session works like this:

• Your end user opens the free AnchorGrid app on their iPhone or iPad. A 9-digit code appears.
• They read you the code. You type it into a browser tab in your workspace.
• You see their screen live. You cannot tap, type, or control their device. You watch, and you talk them through it.
• The session ends the moment either side disconnects. Nothing stays running on the device afterward.

Being straight about deployment: for a one-off support call, the user installs the free app and reads you a code. For a managed fleet, AnchorGrid is a standard public App Store app, so it shows up in Apple Business Manager natively and pushes through your MDM like any other app, hundreds of devices in minutes. Where a mature suite may go further is deep MDM-managed app configuration payloads, though there is little here to configure: the user opens the app and reads a code.

What it does not do, plainly: no remote control (which, as above, no tool has on iOS), and nothing outside iOS and iPadOS, so no Windows, Mac, or Android. It is iOS and iPadOS, view-only, right now.

Where TeamViewer wins

Be clear-eyed before you switch anything:

• You have no existing support stack. If you are starting from nothing and want one tool that does everything, a suite is a reasonable buy, and AnchorGrid is not that.
• Mixed fleets and desktop control. Windows, Mac, and Linux remote control, from one console. AnchorGrid covers none of that.
• Depth on desktop. File transfer, unattended access, session recording, and integrations on Windows and Mac, plus a decade of hardening. None of that unattended or control capability extends to iOS for anyone, but if you need it on your desktops, a suite delivers.

If those matter to you, use TeamViewer. We mean it.

Where AnchorGrid wins

• It fills exactly the gap, and nothing else. You add live iOS screen viewing without re-buying remote control, file transfer, and agents you already have elsewhere.
• Unbundled, per-technician pricing. You pay for the technicians doing support, not for a suite that overlaps your RMM and MDM. See pricing.
• Purpose-built for view-only. Because we do not pretend to remote-control iOS, the product is shaped around fast, clean screen viewing and an honest audit trail.
• A browser is the whole technician client. Nothing to install on your side.

Is it secure?

Screen contents are the sensitive part. AnchorGrid streams the screen over WebRTC, encrypted in transit with DTLS-SRTP. The connection is peer-to-peer where the network allows it, and falls back to an encrypted TURN relay when NAT or a firewall blocks a direct path. Every session is scoped to your workspace and written to a workspace audit log, and workspaces support Microsoft SSO and optional two-factor for technicians.

The security details are written up separately: see how AnchorGrid keeps a session secure. If you are in procurement and your job is to find the catch, that page is for you.

Which should you pick?

• Pick TeamViewer (or Splashtop) if you have no existing RMM or MDM and want one tool for everything, or you need remote control, file transfer, or unattended access on Windows and Mac.
• Pick AnchorGrid if you already run an RMM or MDM, Intune, Pulseway, or similar, that covers everything except live iOS screen viewing, and you would rather add that one capability than pay for a second overlapping suite.

If that second one is you, AnchorGrid is in private beta now.