Window view and layouts
Show individual Mac windows instead of a whole desktop, in splits or grids of up to nine panes on iPhone and iPad. Fewer, larger panes read best on a phone.
Press & creators
MeowDisplay Press Kit
MeowDisplay turns an iPhone or iPad into a display for your Mac: the whole desktop, an extended desktop, or individual Mac windows you can control by touch.
Download complete press kitZIP · 33.1 MB · 44 assets plus README (45 files) · hosted on GitHub
SHA-256 107e4672e06c6a6c78bbb3a50d2fbc08827ff498f7b8cf0005274764f6b41221
Overview
Your Mac, on the screens you already own.
Mirror
The receiver shows the same Mac display you see and follows along as you work.
Extend
The receiver becomes a separate display that macOS arranges like any other monitor.
Window view
Pick individual Mac windows and arrange them in panes, instead of a shrunken desktop.
- Price
- Free, no subscription
- Source
- Open source, GPL-3.0 on GitHub
- Mac
- 2.0.0 released · macOS 14 or later (receiver-only app: macOS 12 or later)
- iPhone & iPad
- 2.0.0 released · iOS / iPadOS 16.4 or later · App Store
- Android
- Closed testing · Android 10 or later
- Connections
- USB (iPhone, iPad) · local Wi-Fi · Remote Access over your own private network, such as Tailscale
- Developer
- Jai Sukka (raiseCatError), independent
Features
Media by feature.
Each collection starts with the clearest real screenshot. Select any image for the original file.
Stage Peek
Swipe in from the edge to see running apps, open windows and the Mac's displays, then switch or add a pane.
Touch, keyboard and typing
A control tray with modifier keys and shortcuts, three touch modes, a Text Bar and Zoom While Typing.
Mirror and Extend
Mirror shows the display you see. Extend adds a separate display that macOS arranges like any other monitor.
The Mac app
The Mac sends the picture, chooses each device's mode and keeps track of paired devices.
Remote Access and security
Pairing with a matching code, TLS 1.3, and control granted per device and per session. Remote Access uses your own private network.
Screenshots
Original screenshots.
Native-resolution captures of the released 2.0.0 apps on a physical iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPad (9th generation) and MacBook Air (M2), with demonstration content only. The only edits: two window-picker images are cropped, and the external-display thumbnail in the two Stage Peek images is blurred to remove a third-party wallpaper.
Device mockups
Real screens, real hardware.
Transparent PNGs: iPhone screenshots composited into Apple's official iPhone 14 Pro Max frame. The Mac app is distributed outside the App Store, so it is shown as an unframed window rather than in a MacBook frame. Apple no longer publishes an iPad (9th generation) frame, so iPad images are supplied as screenshots.
B-roll
Clean footage for your edit.
Screen recordings of real sessions on the physical devices, trimmed only. No music, voice, captions or logos. Native-resolution and 1080p versions; see the shot list.
Promotional graphics
Ready-made compositions.
Layouts built from the real mockups and screenshots for articles, social posts and thumbnails. They are promotional graphics, not raw screenshots.
Text & facts
Ready to quote.
One sentence
MeowDisplay is a free, open-source app that turns an iPhone or iPad into a display for your Mac, showing the whole desktop, an extended desktop or individual Mac windows you can control by touch.
About 50 words
MeowDisplay turns an iPhone or iPad into a second screen for a Mac. Mirror the desktop, extend it, or pick individual Mac windows and arrange them side by side. Touch controls, a keyboard with a Text Bar and Stage Peek window switching make it practical on a small screen. It is free and open source.
About 150 words
MeowDisplay is a free, open-source app that brings your Mac to an iPhone or iPad. Mirror an existing display, extend the desktop onto a new virtual display, or use Window view to show individual Mac windows rather than a shrunken copy of the whole screen. Panes can be arranged in splits and grids of up to nine windows on iPhone and iPad; on a phone, two or three larger panes are usually easiest to read.
Stage Peek lists open windows and running apps so you can switch, search or add a window to a pane. Touch controls include Direct Touch, Natural Touch and Trackpad modes, a control tray with modifier keys and shortcuts, and a keyboard with a Text Bar. Zoom While Typing keeps the line you are editing large.
Devices connect over USB or local Wi-Fi, or remotely over a private network you control, such as Tailscale. Devices are paired, sessions are encrypted, and the Mac decides who may control it.
Key capabilities
- Mirror, Extend or Window view, chosen per device.
- Window view panes: splits and grids of up to nine windows on iPhone and iPad.
- Stage Peek for finding, searching and switching Mac windows.
- Touch-first control: Direct Touch, Natural Touch and Trackpad, a control tray, keyboard, Text Bar and Zoom While Typing.
- USB, local Wi-Fi and private-network Remote Access, with pairing, TLS 1.3 and per-session control permission.
About the developer
MeowDisplay is developed independently by Jai Sukka, who publishes as raiseCatError. It began as a fork of OpenDisplay by Philip Poloczek, which provided a working low-level foundation; MeowDisplay has since been rebuilt and extended with its own receiver apps, Window view, Stage Peek, touch controls and Remote Access. The project is free and open source.
Reviewer's guide
Try it in five minutes.
MeowDisplay is free. No review codes, licences or accounts are needed.
Set up
- Install MeowDisplay 2.0 for Mac from Downloads (macOS 14 or later) and grant Screen Recording; grant Accessibility to control the Mac.
- Install MeowDisplay on iPhone or iPad from the App Store.
- Connect by USB or on the same Wi-Fi, confirm the matching pairing code and approve on the Mac.
Five-minute demo
- Mirror the Mac on an iPad in landscape.
- Switch the iPad to Extend and drag a window onto it.
- On iPhone, open Window view and add a second window from Stage Peek.
- Use Stage Peek to search and switch a pane, or show Full Desktop.
- Open the keyboard, type in the Text Bar and watch Zoom While Typing.
Connections
USB (iPhone, iPad) needs no network. Local Wi-Fi finds devices nearby. Remote Access reaches an already paired Mac through a private-network address you provide, such as Tailscale; the address never grants trust.
Security
Pairing needs a matching code and approval on the Mac. Sessions use TLS 1.3 and pinned device identities. Control is a separate, per-session permission set on the Mac.
Known issues in 2.0.0
On iPad with the Custom control layout, rotating can leave Window view panes mis-sized until you relaunch (#129). On iPhone in landscape, the default Compact Dock in Stage Peek shows about one window at a time; choose Settings › Controls › Dock › Normal for more (#130). Android is in closed testing.
Reviewer's guide with story angles (Markdown) · 2.0.0 release notes · Troubleshooting
Brand
Icon and logo.
Two official files. Use the app icon wherever you would show an app, and the rounded logo where the mark needs to stand on its own, on light or dark backgrounds.
- Write MeowDisplay: one word, capital M and D.
- Use the artwork as supplied; don't redraw, recolour, crop or stretch it.
- Both files work on light and dark backgrounds.
- Don't alter app screens or show features MeowDisplay doesn't have. Describe Android as closed testing.
Usage permission, brand and trademark notes · Asset provenance
Downloads
Take what you need.
| Collection | Files | Size | Download |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complete press kit | 45 files (incl. README) | 33.1 MB | Download ZIP |
| Original screenshots · PNG | 18 files (incl. README) | 10.0 MB | Download ZIP |
| Device mockups · transparent PNG | 5 files (incl. README) | 4.6 MB | Download ZIP |
| Promotional graphics · PNG | 11 files (incl. README) | 6.1 MB | Download ZIP |
| B-roll · MP4 and posters | 7 files (incl. README) | 11.1 MB | Download ZIP |
| Icon and logo · PNG | 3 files (incl. README) | 1.3 MB | Download ZIP |
| Descriptions, reviewer's guide, guidelines · Markdown, TXT | 6 files (incl. README) | 9 KB | Download ZIP |
Contact
Covering MeowDisplay?
For interviews, questions or additional screenshots, email [email protected].
Bug reports and public questions: github.com/raiseCatError/meowdisplay/issues