We know that screen mirroring from iPhone or iPad to Mac is easy. You can use the Quicktime Player which is pre-installed on Mac for the job. What about screen sharing from Mac to iPhone or iPad? You may think of the new Sidecar feature which can help Apple users extend or mirror Mac desktop to iPad. Sidecar however requires a compatible Mac using Mac OS Catalina or later and a compatible iPad using iPadOS 13 or later. If you own an old model of Mac or iPad, Sidecar won’t work. And it won’t work with iPhone at all. Here we recommend a free screen sharing tool for Mac, Deskreen, which can help us easily mirror or extend Mac screen to iPhone, iPad wirelessly.
Go to download and install Deskreen onto your Mac. You don’t have to install any app on your iPhone or iPad, just the web browser on your iOS device will do. When you run Deskreen on Mac, you will be prompted to grant it the permission to record screen from the System Preference >> Security & Privacy >> Privacy >> Screen Recording.
After that, Deskreen displays a QR code and an IP address on its home screen.
Connect your iPhone or iPad to the same Wi-Fi network as your Mac. Use your iPhone or iPad to scan the QR code and then access Deskreen using the web browser on your iPhone or iPad. If your iPhone or iPad is too old to automatically detect and recognise QR code, you can manually type in the Deskreen IP address in Safari for mobile on your iOS device to access it. Before the connection to be established, you have to click the Allow button in Deskreen on Mac to accept the connection request, then select the screen source.
You can choose to share the whole screen from Mac to iPhone or iPad, or just share certain app window. Once selected the screen or app to share, you will have the chance to preview it. Finally hit the Confirm button to beginning mirroring your Mac screen to iPhone iPad.
Extend Mac desktop to iPhone iPad
Note that by default Deskreen mirror your Mac display to iPhone iPad or other computers. If you want to use your iPhone, iPad, or other phones or tablets as second screen, or extend your Mac screen instead of mirroring it, you need to purchase a Virtual Display Adapter or Display Dummy Plug. You can buy one for very low price on Amazon, Aliexpress, or Ebay. It is a small plug that looks similar to USB Flash Drive. When you plug it into your computer, it makes your computer think that an external display is connected. You can then extend Mac display to this virtual external display and thus mirror it to iPhone, iPad, Android or other computers using Deskreen.