Remote tech support gets bogged down by setup and lack of control
People helping relatives and other nontechnical users remotely can spend a long time getting screen sharing permissions working. Meeting tools may let someone view a screen but not control the device, so helpers resort to tedious verbal instructions or ask the recipient to install extra software. Windows users also seek alternatives to TeamViewer, though the evidence does not explain what they want to improve.
For people providing remote computer help to relatives and nontechnical users. Mentioned from May 2024 to Oct 2025 on Bluesky and Hacker News.
4 different people described this problem in 4 separate discussions.
- Indie fit
- 2.0/10
- Pain
- 5.2/10
- Frequency
- 5.8/10
- Willingness to pay
- 0.0/10
- Momentum
- 5.0/10
- Who pays
- Consumers
- Competition
- High
- Build difficulty
- High
What people said
Quoted word for word. Follow a link to read the whole discussion.
I'm across the country, so that zoom session was quite tedious (it took us an hour to get the permissions straightened out for zoom to be able to share his screen)
e40 on Hacker NewsMay 2024The reason I want to remote control someone's computer is because talking them through the actions is too tedious. The last thing I want to do is talk them through downloading and installing some browser plugin first
IshKebab on Hacker NewsNov 2024
Build brief
See what to build and who will buy it
- 1 product idea with the smallest useful version and pricing
- 4 places to find your first customers
- 3 more quotes from people who have this problem
- Current workarounds, existing solutions and risks