Remote desktop shows the screen of a Mac you already connect to over SSH, inside Warpeer. It is made for a quick look: see what a coding agent built, click a button in a dialog, then go back to the terminal.
Set up the Mac
On the Mac, open System Settings, General, Sharing and turn on Screen Sharing. A user must be signed in on the Mac. Nothing else is installed: the remote helper that Warpeer already places on the host reads Screen Sharing over loopback.
If Screen Sharing is off, Warpeer says so instead of showing an empty screen.
Open a desktop
- On the Hosts tab, tap the display button in the header and choose a host, or open a host's menu and choose Open Remote Desktop.
- On a session card, open its menu and choose Open Remote Desktop.
- In a terminal, tap the Remote desktop magic key. It is added to your keys by default; if you remove it, it stays in the key chooser.
- In the notifications inbox, open an agent update's menu to see that host's screen.
The first time, sign in with an account on the Mac that is allowed to use Screen Sharing. Turn on Remember on this iPhone to keep the login in this iPhone's keychain. It is sent only inside the SSH connection and never typed into a locked Mac. More, Forget Saved Mac Password removes it.
Control the Mac
- Tap to click. Tap twice quickly to double-click.
- Touch and hold to right-click, or hold and move to drag.
- Two fingers scroll. Pinch zooms, and the zoomed area sharpens a moment later. Fit to Screen shows the whole desktop again.
- Keyboard opens a key bar with Command, Option, Control and Shift, Escape, Tab, Return, Delete, the arrows and a Shortcuts menu with Copy, Paste, Spotlight, Switch App and the function keys. Text you send is pasted on the Mac exactly as typed, whatever input method it uses, and your Mac clipboard is restored afterwards.
When the Mac is locked, Warpeer says so. Tap Unlock… and type the Mac password; it is used once and never saved.
Data and quality
Only the parts of the screen that change are sent, scaled to the size your iPhone shows and compressed. A changed terminal line costs about 2 KB. Quality steps down when the link slows, and stays capped on cellular and Low Data Mode. The status bar shows the network the Mac detected and the round trip.
The screen travels only inside your SSH connection. It never passes through Warpeer or another service and is not saved on your iPhone.
The floating ball
Collapse Desktop shrinks the desktop to the floating ball and pauses it: the Mac sends nothing while it waits. Tap the ball to resume. A collapsed desktop closes after 10 minutes, and any desktop closes when Warpeer goes to the background. The ball also holds file previews.
Remote desktop is an advanced feature, free during Early Access. It is not made for video playback and does not carry sound.