Couchpad

Your Mac, from the couch.

Couchpad turns your iPhone into a glass trackpad and media remote for your Mac. Play, pause, skip, change the volume and dim the screen without leaning over the laptop.

Download for Mac iPhone app: coming soon to the App Store

Free Mac app · macOS 13 or later · signed and notarized

Everything within thumb's reach

A real trackpad

  • Move, tap to click, tap with two fingers to right-click
  • Scroll with two fingers
  • Hold a finger still to drag windows or select text
  • Pointer speed you can adjust

A proper remote

  • Play, pause and skip 10 seconds in your browser's video player and the Apple TV app
  • Volume, and a choice of speakers or headphones
  • Brightness for each screen, down to off
  • A fullscreen switch that stays in step

Private by design

  • Talks to your Mac over your own Wi-Fi. Nothing goes through the internet
  • Paired with a PIN, and locks after wrong guesses
  • No account, no ads, no tracking

See it in action

Etched controls on glass, in light or dark.

The Couchpad remote in landscape and dark mode: play, pause and skip buttons on the left, volume, brightness and a fullscreen switch on the right.
The remote: play, pause, skip, volume, brightness and fullscreen.
The Couchpad trackpad with grey ripples spreading from a touch.
The trackpad: every click sends out ripples.
Couchpad's settings in dark mode: a PIN field, the connected Mac, a Disconnect button and the features this Mac supports.
Pair once with a PIN; the app shows what your Mac supports.
The Couchpad menu on the Mac, showing the pairing PIN, a New PIN button and the connection status.
The Mac app: a small menu bar item with your PIN.

Set up in a minute

  1. Install the Mac app

    Download Couchpad, drag it to Applications and open it. It lives in your menu bar.

  2. Allow it to help

    Under Privacy & Security, allow Couchpad in Accessibility so it can move the pointer and press keys for your phone.

  3. Enter the PIN

    Open the Couchpad menu to see your PIN, then enter it in the iPhone app and choose your Mac.

Your iPhone and Mac need to be on the same Wi-Fi network. Brightness works on the screens macOS lets apps control, such as the built-in display and Apple displays. Many other monitors can only be adjusted with their own buttons.