Mirror iPhone screen on the Mac

Screen Mirror – Support

Let me know about problems you face, and features you would like to see tools@toolbunch.com, help me make Screen Mirror better. I cannot know/fix problems that I do not know about. I reply to all email and support requests.

Why did you come here?

IMPORTANT: If the app only shows you a plug in message on first launch, you may need to reboot your iPhone. Especially if you haven’t in a long time. Do check out the FAQ’s below.

Check out the video that demonstrates the features. More videos and better documentation is coming. Screen Mirror over USB

Features

The Main features of Screen mirror are:

  1. I get to interact with my small phone with my big display, my good speakers and my good keyboard.
  2. I can see my phone and see still pay attention to my Zoom, Teams, Video call.
  3. No more squinting or struggling when typing any more than a few words.
  4. Can play spotify, audio from my phone instead of logging into personal accounts on my work PC.
  5. Share or record multiple phone screens at the same time
  6. More features are coming…

Please let me know about features that you would like to see. Send me email at tools@toolbunch.com.

Troubleshooting

I launch the app and only see an About Screen; now what do I do

Plug in the iPhone or iPad to the Mac over USB. There are two additional steps required to be able to use the Screen Mirror app.

  1. Trust the Mac from the iPhone/iPad. The first time you connect to the Mac you will get a popup asking you to trust it. After you have trusted the Mac, you may need to unplug and replug the iPhone/iPad
  2. The first time that you plug in an iPhone or iPad, you will get a prompt asking you to give Camera permission on the Mac. Please give the permission and the device screen will show on the Mac.

If you do not give the camera permission the first time you will need to go to:

System Preferences | Security and Privacy | Camera

And ensure that Screen Mirror has a Check next to its Icon.

How do I use the keyboard feature?

Go to System Preferences | Bluetooth and connect to the iPhone/iPad.

The first time that you make the connection, it will immediately disconnect. There is no problem there. Now unplug the iPhone/iPad from the Mac, and plug it in again.

This time it will see the name of your iPhone/iPad, and look through Bluetooth for an existing connection. It will connect to the iPhone over bluetooth as a bluetooth keyboard.

For best control with the keyboard turn on:

Settings | Accessibility | Keyboards | Full Keyboard Control

Not able to use the mouse on the iPhone

The iPhone does not have the Mouse feature available by default. To use the mouse you need to go to:

Settings | Accessibility | Touch | Assistive Touch

And turn on Assistive Touch.

Control Control + Option with the Screen Mirror window open and the mouse cursor will disappera from the Mac. You will now be able to use the mouse to Control the iPhone.

I plug in the iPhone/iPad into USB, and only see a blank screen

There are some users who have reported this. I have seen it occur more often when the phone is an iPhone 11 or higher. There are two solutions.

  • Unplug and Plug in the iPhone/iPad over USB. Sometimes this will resolve the problem.
  • Reboot the iPhone, this usually solves the issue

It is not often that this happens, This is a solution if you run into the issue. This is not an issue with the Screen Mirror app but with the iPhone software. Other applications report this issue too.

I plug in the device and see a message “iPhone/iPad screen is off”

It is possible that at some time before you have plugged in the iPhone/iPad to the Mac and have not “trusted” the Mac. Plug it in again and trust the Mac.

Keyboard or Mouse does not work on MacOS Ventura

This one pains me greatly…help me push Apple for a solution.

Read my blog post on the issue: Keyboard not working with Ventura

Frequently Asked Questions

What does “Hide/Show app Icon in Dock” mean?

By default Screen Mirror will show the App Icon in Dock. This means when you use the keystroke Command + Tab you will see the screen mirror icon as an Application in the Dock.

If you hide the App Icon in the Dock, it will not show there, and you will need to click on the Screen Mirror Icon in the Top Toolbar to select the device you want to control.

How many iPhones or iPads can I connect?

In theory, there is no limit to the number of devices you can connect. I typically connect both my iPad and iPhone to the Mac and can comfortably use both.

If you do try it out, let me know how many did you get connected before the performance began to degrade.

Can I use the Mouse/Trackpad or Keyboard to type on the iPhone/iPad?

Yes. Just connect to your phone over bluetooth, then unplug and re-plug the iPhone/iPad. It recognizes the bluetooth connection and emulates a Keyboard/Mouse.

Unfortunately, this does not work with MacOS Ventura.

Why does Keyboard and Mouse use bluetooth instead of USB?

I have not figured out how to implement Keyboard and Mouse control over USB. I have another app KeyPad that already did this over bluetooth, I just reused the code.

Why does the time on my iPhone/iPad become 9:41 when I plug it in over USB?

Unfortunately that is iOS and not my app. Anytime you use a screen recording over a cable iPhone and iPad show time as 9:41 and a full battery and full carrier signal. Nothing that I can do to remove that.

History of 9:41: https://www.engadget.com/2014-04-14-why-9-41-am-is-the-always-the-time-displayed-on-iphones-and-ipad.html

What new feature do I get with the paid version?

Screen Mirror is free for 7 days. You can connect as many devices as you like. After 7 days you will get a popup asking you to purchase. The app still works without purchase. From version 1.00 this feature will change and after 7 days you will not be able to use Screen Mirror. We will be raising the price for Screen Mirror after 1.00 launch. Please purchase (and ask your friends to purchase) at this low price.