How to control your Mac from your iPhone or iPad

By Frank Gasparovic · November 8, 2026

Your Mac already has a remote desktop server built in. It's called Screen Sharing, it ships with every copy of macOS, and it's off by default. Turn it on and you can see and drive your Mac from an iPhone or iPad, from the couch or from the other side of the country, without installing anything extra on the Mac.

Apple doesn't make a Screen Sharing app for iPhone or iPad, so the phone side needs a client app. I built one, Deskbeam, and I'll use it in the steps below, but the Mac setup is the same whichever client you pick.

1. Turn on Screen Sharing on the Mac

Open System Settings › General › Sharing.
Turn on Screen Sharing.
Click the ⓘ next to it and make sure your user is allowed (or pick "All users").

If Screen Sharing is greyed out, Remote Management is probably on in the same list. That's Apple Remote Desktop's server, and it includes screen sharing, so you can leave it as is.

2. Connect on the same Wi-Fi

With the iPhone or iPad on the same network, a Screen Sharing client finds the Mac on its own through Bonjour. In Deskbeam the Mac shows up in the list with its name. Tap it and sign in with the same name and password you use to log in to the Mac. There's no separate VNC password to set.

If the Mac doesn't appear, add it by hand with its IP address (System Settings › Wi-Fi › Details on the Mac), and check that the app is allowed on the local network on your iPhone (Settings › Privacy & Security › Local Network).

3. Find your way around

Trackpad mode works like a MacBook trackpad: drag to move the pointer, tap to click, two fingers to scroll, two-finger tap to right-click.
Touch mode clicks wherever you tap, which is handy on an iPad.
Pinch to zoom on a big Mac screen. On a phone you'll live in zoom a lot.
Keyboard shortcuts: you need Command, Option and Control, which the iPhone keyboard doesn't have. Deskbeam puts them in a row above the keyboard, and the keyboard comes up by itself when you click into a text field.

4. Reach your Mac away from home

Screen Sharing listens on your home network only, and you shouldn't open it to the internet. Two safe ways in:

Tailscale puts your Mac and your iPhone on a private network. Install it on both, sign in to the same account, and connect to the Mac's Tailscale name or address. Deskbeam can also list the Macs in your tailnet for you.
An SSH tunnel works if you can already reach the Mac over SSH (turn on Remote Login in the same Sharing settings). In Deskbeam, edit the Mac and turn on Connect Through SSH.

5. A locked or sleeping Mac

If the Mac is asleep, it has to wake up to answer. "Wake for network access" in System Settings › Energy (or Battery › Options on a laptop) helps on the same network. If the screen is locked you'll see the lock screen; type your password to get in. Deskbeam can do that part for you from the Keychain, behind Face ID if you like.

Deskbeam is free to download with a 7-day free trial, then $1.99 a month in the US. Nothing to install on the Mac.