There are plenty of ways to see a Mac's screen from somewhere else. macOS has Screen Sharing built in, VNC has been around for decades, and many commercial apps offer remote access and remote support. So why build another one?
Because almost all of them start from the same idea: one computer controlling another computer. Tetherly starts from a different one: your phone or tablet, reaching your own Mac. That changes nearly every design decision.
The short answer
- Made for the device in your hand. Touch and trackpad modes, your phone's keyboard and dictation, Mac shortcuts and Mission Control, all designed for a small touch screen.
- Direct, not relayed. Your phone connects straight to your Mac over your Wi-Fi or your own Tailscale network. There is no Tetherly server in the path.
- No Tetherly account. Install the apps, pair once, and connect.
- Paired, not just password-protected. You scan a QR code, compare a short code on both screens, and approve on the Mac. After that, both sides check each other's keys on every connection.
- Open source. The Mac, Android and iOS apps and the protocol between them are public under the Apache 2.0 license.
Built for a phone, not adapted to one
Desktop-to-desktop tools assume a mouse, a full keyboard and a big screen on the viewing side. On a phone, those assumptions make for a cramped, fiddly experience: a tiny pointer, missing keys, and gestures that fight with the desktop.
Tetherly is designed the other way around. You can tap the desktop directly, or switch to trackpad mode and use your phone like a laptop trackpad. Scroll and zoom work the way they do on a phone. The keyboard bar adds the keys a phone lacks, such as Command, Option, Control, fn and F1 to F12, and your phone's own dictation keyboard types straight into your Mac. A Mission Control button and multi-finger swipes bring the overview you're used to on a trackpad.
Your Mac's real desktop
Tetherly shows and controls the desktop you already have: the same apps, windows and logged-in session you left on your desk. There is no virtual machine and no separate remote session to set up. If a video is playing, your Mac's audio can come along to your phone as well.
A direct connection you own
Many remote access services route your connection through the vendor's servers so they can find your computer from anywhere. That's convenient, but it means an account, and a third party in the middle of every session.
Tetherly connects device to device. At home, both devices are on the same Wi-Fi and find each other on the local network. Away from home, you can use Tailscale, which gives your own devices a private network across the internet. No port forwarding is needed, and Tetherly never sees your screen.
Security you can check
Pairing uses a QR code shown by your Mac and a short code you compare on both screens. That comparison is what stops someone else on the network from slipping in. After pairing, every connection uses mutual TLS 1.3 with pinned keys, and the keys stay in the Mac Keychain, the iOS Keychain or the Android Keystore.
Because the apps and the wire protocol are open source, you don't have to take our word for any of this.
Sharing only when you ask
Clipboard text moves only when you tap send or fetch. Files can go in either direction, and the receiving device chooses whether to accept each one and where to save it. Nothing is shared in the background.
When another tool is a better fit
Tetherly is focused, and it's not for every situation. Choose something else if you need to:
- Help someone else with their computer, as remote support tools do.
- Control a Windows or Linux computer. Tetherly's host app is for macOS only.
- Reach a Mac over the internet without installing Tailscale or a similar private network.
- Wake a sleeping Mac remotely. Tetherly needs the Mac awake with the app running.
If what you want is your own Mac, within reach of your phone or tablet, that is exactly what Tetherly is for. See how to connect, or download it.