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Help with Duotop

Setting up, pairing, and what to check when something is not working.

Getting started

  1. Install and open Duotop for Mac. Allow Screen Recording and Accessibility when it asks.
  2. Open Duotop on your iPhone or iPad and allow Local Network.
  3. With both on the same Wi-Fi, your Mac appears in the app. Choose Pair a Device on the Mac and type the six digits into your device.

My Mac does not appear

  • Check that Duotop is open on the Mac (look for its icon in the menu bar).
  • Check that both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network. Guest networks and some office networks stop devices from seeing each other.
  • On your iPhone or iPad, open Settings › Privacy & Security › Local Network and turn it on for Duotop.
  • A VPN on either device can hide them from each other. Turn it off, or add the Mac by address (Pro).

Pairing

The six digits are shown by Duotop on your Mac when you choose Pair a Device. A wrong guess replaces the code with a new one, so read the code again and retype it. After five wrong guesses in a row, pairing closes for a minute.

You pair each device once. To stop a device from connecting, choose Forget next to it in Duotop's menu on the Mac.

No picture, or clicks do nothing

  • No picture: on the Mac, open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Screen Recording and allow Duotop, then try again.
  • Clicks and keys do nothing: open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility and allow Duotop.
  • The top edge of the screen: iOS keeps taps in the very top strip of the screen for itself, so Duotop places the Mac's menu bar just below that strip and shows the Mac's name there.

Picture quality and speed

In Settings, Sharp keeps Retina text for reading and code, Smooth favours motion, and Fast uses the least data. The free version runs at up to 60 frames per second; Pro goes up to 120 on devices and networks that can carry it. A strong Wi-Fi signal or a cable makes the biggest difference.

Keyboard, trackpad and app keys

Half open on an iPhone Duo, the keyboard, app keys and trackpad sit below the fold. In the other layouts, bring the keyboard up from the control bar; it follows the text field you are typing in on the Mac. The app keys change with the app in front, and Paste from iPhone pastes the text or picture you copied on your phone.

On a half-open Duo, the strip above the keyboard works like a Touch Bar: slide it sideways for more keys, touch the sun or the speaker for a slider, and touch the arrow for the Mac's media keys. Change which keys appear, or add your own shortcuts, in Settings › Keys.

Gestures. Pinch to enlarge the picture, then slide it with three fingers or rest a finger at an edge. With the picture whole, sweep three fingers left or right to change desktop, up for Mission Control and down for the app's windows.

Windows, files and privacy

  • Windows (Settings, or the menu during a session): One at a Time makes the window you are using fill the screen; Two Side by Side gives the two windows you used last a half each. Every window returns to its place when you leave.
  • Files: in the session menu, Files › Send a File to the Mac puts it in the Mac's Downloads. Copy a file on the Mac and a Save Here button appears on your device. Save Screenshot to Photos takes a picture of the Mac's display.
  • Curtain on Mac blacks out your Mac's own screen and stops its keyboard, mouse and trackpad from clicking or typing while you are connected. The pointer on the Mac can still be moved by hand.
  • Lock Mac on Disconnect locks it when you disconnect, or a minute after the connection is lost.
  • Face ID to Open a Mac asks before any Mac opens.
  • Hide Desktop Icons leaves the files on your desktop out of the picture and ignores taps on them. Nothing changes on the Mac.

These need Duotop 1.2 on both your Mac and your device.

Whole Mac Here and Second Display

Whole Mac Here mirrors your Mac's own screens onto the display made for your device, so every window is in front of you. Second Display leaves your Mac's screen as it is and adds your device as another display beside it. Choose between them under Mac Display in the app's Settings.

Open your Mac away from home

This needs Pro. There is nothing to configure: open Duotop on your iPhone or iPad on any connection and choose your Mac.

Your Mac has to be:

  • on and awake (see Sleep and waking),
  • running Duotop,
  • with Reach from anywhere switched on in Duotop's menu. It is on by default.

Away from your own network, the connection goes through Duotop's relay. It stays encrypted end to end, so the relay cannot see your screen, sound, typing or clipboard. What the relay does see.

Once connected, Duotop tries to move to a link straight between your device and your Mac. The two ask the relay what address their own router shows to the outside, exchange those, and reach for each other at the same moment. When it works, the top line says Direct and the relay drops out. Some mobile and office networks do not allow it; the relay then simply carries on.

If you use Tailscale, or add a Mac by typing its address, Duotop connects to it directly from the start.

Sleep and waking

  • Stay awake when plugged in, in Duotop's menu on the Mac, keeps the Mac from sleeping by itself while it has power. It is on by default. The screen may still sleep, and a MacBook with its lid closed still sleeps.
  • On your own network, opening a Mac that is asleep wakes it first; you will see "Waking your Mac". This needs Wake for network access switched on in System Settings on the Mac (Battery › Options on a MacBook, Energy on a desktop). Duotop's menu tells you when it is off.
  • From another network a sleeping Mac cannot be woken. Leave it plugged in with Stay awake on.

If it does not connect

  • "Not reachable": your Mac is off, asleep, or Duotop is not running on it.
  • "Relay is full": the relay is busy. Try again shortly.

Agents

Agent tools are off by default. Turn them on from Duotop's menu on the Mac, then connect an agent on that Mac to the local endpoint. With Claude Code:

claude mcp add --transport http duotop http://127.0.0.1:47911/mcp

  • The tools are screenshot, click, move, drag, scroll, type and key.
  • While an agent is in control, your device shows a banner and a glowing rim.
  • Touch the picture or press a key to pause the agent. It stays paused until you tap Resume.
  • Duotop asks on the Mac before an agent uses a terminal or a password field.
  • Calls are logged on the Mac in ~/Library/Application Support/Duotop/agent-log.txt. Typed text is never logged.

Pro and purchases

Pro is bought in the iPhone and iPad app through Apple: $3.99 a month, $24.99 a year with 7 days free, or $49.99 once. To move a purchase to a new device, use Restore Purchases in the app. Manage or cancel a subscription in Settings › your name › Subscriptions. Refunds are handled by Apple.

What Duotop does not do yet

  • It does not use your phone as the Mac's microphone.
  • It does not offer dictation into the Mac.

Contact

Email [email protected]. Say which Mac and which iPhone or iPad you use; a screenshot helps.