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.
