PadRemote

macOS only. PadRemote currently supports macOS 13 or later. Linux and Windows are not supported yet — the app does not build for them. Platform support →

Install

Download PadRemote.dmg and drag it into Applications. macOS 13 or later, Apple Silicon or Intel. It isn't notarized yet, so each new install or update needs one click in Privacy & Security → Open Anyway. Install on macOS →

Or build it yourself (needs Rust and Node):

./install.sh

Builds the app with the phone page inside it, installs it to ~/Applications, launches it. Either way, grant Accessibility when macOS asks.

1. Open the QR	2. Scan it	3. That's it
Menu bar → Connect a device…	Point your phone's camera at it	The whole screen is the trackpad

Both devices on the same Wi-Fi. Full walkthrough →

What it does

Gesture	What happens
Move one finger	Cursor, with a macOS-like acceleration curve
Tap · two-finger tap · three-finger tap	Left · right · middle click
Two fingers, move	Pixel-precise scroll, with momentum
Press and hold, then move	Click-and-hold dragging, and selecting text
Three and four fingers, swipe	Spaces, Mission Control, app windows
Four-finger pinch · five-finger spread	Launchpad · Show Desktop

Every direction is its own setting, and every action a gesture can take is listed rather than hidden in a menu.

It copies the trackpad you already use

It reads your Mac's own trackpad settings on startup and every half-second after, and says what it managed to do with each one. Change a switch in System Settings and it follows within seconds.

Gestures, and what can't be copied → · Settings →

Also

• Several devices at once — a phone and a tablet take turns with the cursor: it goes to whoever touches next, as soon as the other stops.
• Pairing is enforced — the QR carries a 128-bit secret, every connection answers an HMAC-SHA256 challenge, web pages are refused at the handshake, and Forget revokes one device without disturbing the others.
• Not yet — Linux and Windows, TLS, PWA install, a signed installer. The link is plain ws://. Threat model →

Build from source

The page is compiled into the app, so build it first.

cd web && npm install && npm run build
cargo run --manifest-path desktop/Cargo.toml

It prints the address to open on your phone.

development · architecture · design · protocol · gotchas — every trap that has already cost a day

PadRemote supports macOS only; Linux and Windows are not supported yet. The gesture engine is pure and OS-agnostic, and platform support says what a port would take. Everything is indexed in docs/; the specification is plan.md. Licensed MIT.