Spooky
Install Spooky
A few minutes, once.
Download the installer
Download Spooky.pkg and open it. It installs Spooky in Applications and Spooky Microphone, which lets the Mac use your iPad's microphone. The installer is signed and notarized by Apple.
Open Spooky on the Mac
Spooky lives in the menu bar, as a small ghost. The first time, it asks for two macOS permissions: Screen Recording, to show the Mac's screen on your iPad, and Accessibility, to move the pointer and type from your iPad. macOS asks you to confirm them in System Settings; Spooky notices by itself when they are on.
Install the app on your iPad or iPhone
The app is coming soon to the App Store.
Pair
On the Mac, choose Pair a Device… in Spooky's menu and scan the code with the app. If the Mac and the iPad use the same Apple Account, the Mac also shows up by itself through iCloud.
Away from home (optional)
Install Tailscale on the Mac and on the iPad or iPhone, signed in with the same account. Spooky then reaches your Mac from anywhere.
For the smoothest picture
Apple devices share a direct Wi-Fi link (used by AirDrop and Cursor and Keyboard) that can briefly take the iPad away from your home network. If the stream stutters at regular intervals:
- set your router's 5 GHz network to channel 44 (149 in the United States);
- turn off Cursor and Keyboard on the iPad (Settings › General › AirPlay & Continuity) and on the Mac (System Settings › Displays › Advanced);
- turn off Low Power Mode on the iPad;
- keep the Mac's lid open.