Pointer and click, on a big screen
Move the pointer across the TV with your thumb and tap to click. Lost it somewhere on a 65-inch screen? Center Pointer brings it back to the middle (Full App).
For Mac minis under TVs and humans under blankets
Never get up to touch your Mac again.
The movie is playing, the Mac is across the room, and the volume is wrong. Control My Mac turns the iPhone or iPad already in your hand into a trackpad, keyboard and remote for your Mac — pause, scroll, search, full-screen, next episode. The blanket stays on.
macOS 14+ · iOS/iPadOS 18+ · Free Mac app · The couch essentials stay free after the 7-day trial.
iPhone & iPad app:
A Mac remote on your iPhone, for the Mac mini under your TV
A Mac mini on the TV makes a great media box, right up until you need a mouse. Here's what works from the sofa, and what to know before you set it up.
Search with a real keyboard
Type titles and web addresses on your phone's own keyboard. Live sends each key as you type; Draft lets you fix typos before anything reaches the Mac.
Streaming sites in a browser
Services you watch in Safari or Chrome are web pages, so a pointer and keyboard handle them fine: click play, pick an episode, and Space pauses most web video players.
Apps, windows and Mac volume
Open apps from the Launcher and jump between windows without a keyboard. Volume up, volume down and mute are available as shortcut buttons. Both are part of Full App.
Before you set it up
- Range. Bluetooth gives the smoothest pointer and is the recommended connection, but it's a short-range radio. Walls, a closed TV cabinet or a Mac tucked behind the screen can weaken it. If the pointer stutters or drops, move the Mac into the open, or switch to Wi-Fi in the app's Trackpad & Pointer settings with both devices on the same home network.
- Make the pointer easy to see. On the Mac, System Settings, Accessibility, Display lets you make the pointer bigger. From across a room, it helps a lot.
- Keep the phone dim. In the app's Settings, under Look, pick Dark. It uses warm, low-glare colors, so your screen doesn't light up the room mid-movie.
- Sound over HDMI. If the Mac sends audio to the TV over HDMI, macOS may not be able to change the volume at all. In that case the TV's own remote stays in charge of volume.
- It controls the Mac, not the TV. Power, inputs and the TV's built-in apps still need the TV remote.
Full setup steps, including Bluetooth vs Wi-Fi, are in the iPhone as a mouse guide. Comparing options? See how we stack up against Remote Mouse, Mobile Mouse and Unified Remote.
A remote for the whole Mac
Media-app remotes give up the moment a dialog pops up. A real pointer and keyboard never do.
Thumb-only operation
Drive the pointer, tap to click, flick to scroll — all with the thumb of the hand that's holding the phone. The other hand is for snacks.
Anything on screen, not one app
YouTube, Plex, a browser, that "Update later?" dialog — it's a pointer and a keyboard, so the whole screen is fair game. Switch from the movie to music without standing up.
Search without the squint-walk
Type the movie title on your phone instead of pecking at an on-screen keyboard with arrow keys. Draft it in the composer, send it over, done.
No ads between you and pause
Some remote apps show you a banner ad before they let you click. This one is a remote, not a billboard — no ads, no account, ever.
Set up before the popcorn's done
Free Mac app
Install the menu-bar companion on the Mac under the TV. It shows a QR code.
Scan from the sofa
Point your iPhone or iPad at the screen. Paired — directly, over your home Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
Press play
That's it. No account, no port forwarding, no "server software". It just works on your network.
Your couch called
It says you're never coming back to the desk. The Mac app is free; Essentials keeps trackpad movement, click, right click, Live and Draft Keyboard basics, one Grid button and Launcher preview free after the 7-day trial.
macOS 14+ · Free · Works with the Mac mini under your TV