HELP CENTER · SETUP GUIDE

Your Mac, on your iPad.

Control a Mac from an iPad with the same desktop you sit at every day. Tap, pinch, draw with Apple Pencil, or pair a Magic Keyboard for a full desktop workflow. Sub-8ms LAN latency, hardware HEVC decode on the iPad, and the iPad's native Retina resolution end to end.

Last updated 2026-05-27 5 steps · ~5 min Free on the App Store

The iPad is the most natural client Remio has. Multi-touch translates cleanly to trackpad gestures, Apple Pencil becomes a drawing tablet for whatever Mac app has focus, and a paired Magic Keyboard delivers macOS shortcuts byte-for-byte. The five steps below get a Mac talking to an iPad in under five minutes.

Overview

You will install Remio Host on the Mac, install Remio Client on the iPad from the App Store, and pair the two with a one-time 6-digit PIN. After that, the iPad remembers the Mac forever — opening the app and tapping the device name reconnects instantly. Optional: attach a hardware keyboard or Apple Pencil for a desktop-class workflow on the iPad screen.

Prerequisites

  • Mac (host): macOS 15 Sequoia or later. Any Apple Silicon Mac (M1 or newer) for hardware HEVC at 4K; Intel Macs with T2 work at 1080p.
  • iPad (client): iPadOS 18 or later. Any iPad with an A12 Bionic or newer — iPad Pro M-series, iPad Air, iPad mini, and the standard iPad all qualify.
  • Network: shared 5 GHz Wi-Fi for sub-8ms latency. 2.4 GHz works but adds 20-40 ms.
  • Permissions on Mac: Screen Recording and Accessibility — both prompts appear on first Remio Host launch.
  • Optional accessories: Apple Pencil (any generation), Magic Keyboard, Smart Keyboard Folio, or any Bluetooth keyboard/trackpad.
  1. 01

    Install Remio Host on the Mac

    Download Remio-Host.pkg from remio.net/download on the Mac you want to reach from the iPad. Double-click the PKG, follow the installer, and launch Remio Host once from Launchpad. It parks in the menu bar with a small ember dot.

    macOS will prompt for two permissions on first launch:

    • Screen Recording — System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording → toggle Remio Host on. Required to capture pixels.
    • Accessibility — System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility → toggle Remio Host on. Required so the iPad's taps and Pencil strokes actually land on the Mac.

    After enabling each toggle, quit and relaunch the host. macOS picks up permissions only on app restart.

  2. 02

    Install Remio Client on the iPad

    On the iPad, open the App Store, search Remio, and tap Get. The download is small (~80 MB) and ready in seconds. Open Remio when install finishes.

    On first launch the iPad shows a one-time Local Network permission prompt — tap Allow. This is what lets the iPad discover the Mac's host announcement on the Wi-Fi network. Without it, you can still pair manually by typing the PIN.

    The iPad client is a universal binary — same app on iPhone, iPad, and Apple Vision Pro. iPadOS 18 or later is required.

    SCREENSHOT Remio Client on the App Store · iPad
  3. 03

    Pair the iPad and Mac

    On the Mac, click the Remio Host menu bar icon and select Show pairing PIN. A panel slides down with a one-time 6-digit code and a QR variant of the same value.

    On the iPad, tap Add device in the top right. You have two paths:

    • Scan QR — tap the QR icon, point the iPad camera at the Mac's pairing panel, done in under a second.
    • Enter PIN — type the six digits manually. Useful if the iPad is in a stand or the camera angle is awkward.

    Pairing is instant. The iPad and Mac establish a peer-to-peer encrypted channel directly — no Apple ID, no account, no cloud middleman. The PIN expires after 90 seconds and cannot be reused.

  4. 04

    Connect and start a session

    Tap the Mac's name in the iPad device list. The Mac desktop appears at the iPad's native Retina resolution. Touch interactions translate naturally:

    • Single tap — left click.
    • Two-finger tap — right click.
    • Two-finger drag — scroll.
    • Pinch — zoom into a region of the Mac desktop without affecting the Mac itself.
    • Three-finger swipe — drag (press, move, release).

    To switch between portrait and landscape, just rotate the iPad. The client adapts the streaming canvas to fill the screen at the new orientation. To go full-screen, tap the toolbar's expand icon — the iPad chrome disappears and the Mac desktop fills every pixel.

    TIP

    Hover the iPad cursor near the top right of the streaming canvas to reveal the session HUD: latency, resolution, codec, connection type (P2P direct vs TURN relay).

  5. 05

    Hardware keyboard, trackpad, or Apple Pencil

    For sustained desktop work, attach a Magic Keyboard, Smart Keyboard Folio, or any Bluetooth keyboard. Remio forwards every keystroke including macOS modifiers (Cmd, Option, Control) and shortcuts. Cmd-Space opens Spotlight on the Mac; Cmd-Tab switches Mac apps. The Globe key and iPadOS-specific shortcuts stay on the iPad.

    If your iPad keyboard has a trackpad (Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro), the trackpad cursor passes through to the Mac as a precise pointer. macOS sees it as a real mouse.

    Apple Pencil works as a high-precision pointer and as a pressure-sensitive drawing tool. Pressure, tilt, and azimuth are forwarded to the Mac and delivered to whichever app has focus — Procreate, Photoshop, Affinity Designer, ZBrush. The iPad becomes a Wacom-class drawing tablet for the Mac.

    # Forwarded to the Mac
keyboard  → every key, every modifier, every shortcut
trackpad  → cursor + macOS gestures (3-finger swipe, etc.)
pencil    → pressure + tilt + azimuth, per-stroke
touch     → tap, scroll, pinch, drag

Troubleshooting Mac-to-iPad sessions

  • iPad cannot find Mac — confirm Local Network permission is granted on iPad (Settings → Privacy & Security → Local Network → Remio on). Also confirm both devices are on the same Wi-Fi SSID, not a guest network.
  • Mac desktop appears black — Screen Recording missing on the Mac. Re-toggle Screen Recording for Remio Host, then relaunch the host.
  • Taps register but Pencil does not — Apple Pencil is connected to the iPad but not paired. Pair via Settings → Apple Pencil, then reopen the session.
  • Keyboard shortcuts go to iPad instead of Mac — toggle Forward all shortcuts to Mac in the iPad client Settings. Default behavior leaves iPadOS-specific shortcuts on the iPad.
  • Session laggy in portrait — portrait orientation lowers the stream resolution slightly to match the iPad's narrower canvas. Rotate to landscape for full Retina sharpness.
FREQUENTLY ASKED

Mac-to-iPad questions

Does Mac-to-iPad streaming carry audio over Wi-Fi?

Yes. Remio Host captures system audio on the Mac and streams it to the iPad alongside video. The iPad plays through built-in speakers, paired AirPods, or any connected audio device. Audio rides the same AES-256-GCM channel as video — no separate setup.

Does Remio work in portrait or only landscape orientation?

Both. The iPad client rotates with the device. In portrait the Mac desktop displays at the iPad's portrait width with a small letterbox; rotate to landscape and the desktop fills the screen at the iPad's native resolution. Full-screen mode is one tap from the toolbar.

Does Apple Pencil pressure data reach the Mac?

Yes. Apple Pencil pressure, tilt, and azimuth are streamed to the Mac and delivered to whatever app has focus — Procreate, Photoshop, Affinity Designer. The iPad acts as a high-resolution drawing tablet for the Mac.

Can I use a hardware keyboard attached to the iPad?

Yes. Magic Keyboard, Smart Keyboard Folio, and any Bluetooth keyboard pair normally with the iPad. Remio forwards every keystroke including macOS modifiers and shortcuts. Cmd-Tab switches Mac apps; Cmd-Space opens Mac Spotlight.

Does the Mac sleeping break the iPad session?

Remio prevents display sleep on the Mac during an active session. If the Mac enters system sleep (lid closed, no power, etc.) the session ends gracefully; reopening the Mac and tapping the iPad client reconnects in under a second. For unattended Macs, enable Wake for network access in System Settings → Energy.

Does the iPad need to be on the same Wi-Fi network as the Mac?

For lowest latency yes — same 5 GHz Wi-Fi gives sub-8ms RTT. Off-network sessions work too: Remio falls back to a Cloudflare TURN relay that is still end-to-end encrypted, with typical RTT 40-80 ms depending on geography.