Step 2: Connect Your First Device
Recovery and control boundaries
For USB control, the bottom connection button verifies and connects in one action once the cable, trust and Developer Mode requirements are met. The Wi-Fi connection button also prepares, checks and connects in one action: saved pairing is verified directly, while first-time pairing is prepared over USB. The check verifies transport identity and input services without sending touch input or switching active control. Connecting verifies availability again. Saved pairing does not prove network availability. Bluetooth pairing, device identification, and phone instructions are grouped under “Bluetooth pairing and phone settings”.
Multi-view accepts Android devices only; open iPhone / iPad devices in individual large windows from the device wall. Each Mac or Windows computer controls one Bluetooth iPhone at a time; other mirroring and USB / Wi-Fi control are not limited by this rule. Preparing Wi-Fi pairing does not interrupt active USB control. To prepare again, explicitly stop USB control for that phone first.
Recoverable failures retry with backoff and switch to infrequent probes after sustained failure, without a lifetime retry lockout. Use Retry on a failed or timed-out Android large window or the service error prompt. Permission, trust, missing components and incompatible versions require the indicated action first. Recovery does not accept phone trust, change permissions or restart mirroring after you stop it on the phone.
USB discovery also recovers with backoff after an unexpected service exit; missing components or denied system permissions require corrective action before detecting again. Wireless mirroring ends a failed session if data arrives but no first picture is produced, or its video pipeline fails, instead of leaving a misleading stale picture. Select Screen Mirroring again on the phone. A single-session failure does not restart other phones’ receiver sessions.
Choose a connection method and follow its steps.
iPhone Wi-Fi LAN control
- For first use, connect USB, unlock and trust the computer. Enable Developer Mode and complete restart confirmation on the phone.
- Open the phone display, choose Control method → Wi-Fi LAN control, then use the bottom connection button. The client prepares first-time pairing and connects automatically.
- Connect both devices to the same reachable IPv4 LAN, keep the phone unlocked, and select Connect Wi-Fi control. Saved pairing can be reused later.
- To unplug USB, first start wireless Screen Mirroring on the phone, then choose Wi-Fi control and the correct saved phone in that display. Changing control does not change the video source.
USB, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi choices remain visible. Unsupported services and disconnections show instructions, without switching channels automatically. Wi-Fi input depends on the phone providing compatible developer services, not merely its OS version. No phone app, Xcode or developer account is needed.
After reconnecting a trusted iPhone over USB, video resumes when its capture source is ready. Manual detection remains available. An explicit stop prevents automatic restart during that connection, and control methods are not switched automatically.
In the iPhone display, use the right-hand toolbar to save a screenshot or copy the current picture. The control entry shows the active method and reconnects the last method after a disconnect. Connected USB / Wi-Fi control also shows Home, App Switcher and Touch trail; Bluetooth hides those three actions.
iPhone / iPad: USB mirroring in pictures
On Mac, the first USB capture explains that macOS calls this “Camera” access although VMOS Cast reads only the USB iPhone / iPad screen, not the computer camera. Select “Continue to permission request” to request access. If denied, use “Open System Settings” and return to recheck, or “Use wireless mirroring”. Previously authorized devices skip this step.
How do I enable control in the device window?
USB control in a USB video window is bound to that phone; Bluetooth still requires an explicit target selection. If Developer Mode is off, Control Method → USB Control shows the setup guide and the button to reveal the Developer Mode switch. Enable it and confirm the restart on the phone.
Multiple iPhones can mirror over USB simultaneously, with independent start, stop and restart sessions. On macOS, use distinct phone names. If identical names prevent reliable identification, rename the phones and detect again to avoid assigning the wrong screen.
Connect a data cable → unlock and trust → start mirroring. Developer Mode is not needed for viewing.
Client UI examples; follow only the prompts actually shown on your computer. USB mirroring supports Windows / macOS.
1. Open the USB page
Select Add Device, then iPhone / iPad and USB as highlighted. Connect a data cable, unlock your phone and choose Trust This Computer.
2. Windows: install missing support
If this prompt appears, select Install / repair Apple device support and complete the administrator prompt and Apple installer. Skip this on Mac or when support is ready.
3. Windows: install the device driver if prompted
Only if the driver is not ready, select Install capture driver for this device and approve the system prompt. Return to the page and select Detect again.
4. Select Start mirroring
Select Start mirroring beside the intended iPhone. Once its device card shows live video, click the picture to open the large display.
5. Want computer control? Enable Developer Mode
Skip this for viewing only. If the phone has no Developer Mode switch, select Show Developer Mode switch below, then complete these steps on the phone.
On your phone: Settings → Privacy & Security → Developer Mode → On → restart and confirm when prompted.
Unlock the phone again. Open Control method on the right of the single-device display, select USB and verify the target phone. The client prepares developer support; follow its detection result. macOS can try the native channel on iOS 17.0–17.3; the current Windows USB tunnel requires iOS 17.4 or later. A direct input channel for iOS 16 has not yet been verified; you can keep USB video and choose Bluetooth control.
Troubleshooting — open only if needed
Trusted, but no device listed?
Keep the phone unlocked and select Detect again. If it is still missing after first installation or reinstallation of components, reconnect the cable. A charging-only cable cannot carry video.
Download finished, but setup is not ready?
Downloading is not installation. Finish the installer and licence confirmation, then select Detect again. Check the taskbar for a hidden installer. If downloading fails, use Download the official Apple component manually.
Previously working, but no video now?
Unlock the phone and detect again. On Windows, stop mirroring, select Repair USB connection and approve the system prompt. Reconnect the cable if video does not return.
Video works, but control does not?
Enable Developer Mode on the phone and complete confirmation after restarting. If USB control is unsupported, choose Bluetooth control in the display. Viewing remains available.
More connection and compatibility help · After connecting: three things to try
A. Android phone — USB connection
An Android phone can only join this way the first time.
- Unlock developer options: on the phone, Settings → About phone → tap Build number seven times.
- Turn on USB debugging: back in Settings, open Developer options and enable "USB debugging".
Each vendor adds its own switches — one missing and it will not connect
Xiaomi / Redmi: USB debugging (Security settings), Allow ADB debugging in charging-only mode · Huawei / Honor: the same charging-only switch · vivo: USB simulated click. Full table: Enabling USB debugging (by brand).
- Plug in: use a data cable · charge-only cables carry no data. If nothing happens, change the cable first. After plugging in, pull down the notification shade · set USB mode to File transfer. On "Charging only" the computer cannot see the phone.
- Authorize on the phone: "Allow USB debugging?" → check "Always allow from this computer" → tap Allow.
- Wait: the device appears on the wall by itself. Nothing to add manually.
Switch to a wireless connection
Once the device is connected over USB, right-click its card → "Add LAN connection". You can then unplug the cable and keep using the device on the same network.
B. Android cloud phone — local network
- Make sure the device and the computer are on the same local network.
- Sidebar → "Add Device" → Android → "Local network".
- Type addresses in the box, one per line, and click Add beside it to queue them. A bare IP is treated as port 5555:
192.168.1.112:5555
192.168.1.113:5555- Click Add at the bottom right. The screens appear on the wall — pick the target group at the bottom left first if you want them grouped.
If you do not know the address, use Network discovery below: enter a subnet and click Scan (leave it empty to only listen for auto-discovery), then tick the devices found:
An Android phone will not connect by IP
Android phones do not accept network connections by default. Connect once over a data cable as in path A, then right-click the device card → "Add LAN connection" to switch it to wireless.
Addresses you connect to are saved and reconnected automatically on the next launch — no need to add them again.
C. iPhone / iPad — Screen Mirroring
On Windows, USB and wireless wall previews have a maximum long edge of 640 pixels. Independent displays preserve the original source and control coordinates while rendering at the window's physical display size, redrawing when enlarged. The wall and display for the same video source share one decoder, and opening the control dialog does not require restarting mirroring. USB and wireless connections remain separate sources and are not automatically merged. Open separate displays and confirm each phone's control target. Closing one display releases only that window; the other displays and wall continue working. Add further phones gradually and check moving pictures and control response; capacity depends on the computer and network.
On every iPhone or iPad, choose the same receiver name shown on the Add Device page in Screen Mirroring. Each incoming phone gets its own video session and device card, without pre-created numbered entries or a fixed two/eight-entry pool. Open separate displays for the phones; one sender stopping or disconnecting does not interrupt the others. Usable capacity depends on computer decoding resources, memory and LAN bandwidth, not an unlimited-device guarantee. Names are not unique identities. An unidentified connection belongs only to its current session, and an old connection cannot receive another phone’s picture. USB mirroring remains per-device.
Multiple-device Wi-Fi / USB control: Phones with compatible input services can use independent Wi-Fi or USB control in their own displays; there is no client-wide one-phone lock. Prepare and trust each phone separately. For wireless video, explicitly confirm the input target on first selection even if there is only one candidate; names and connection order cannot establish identity. Stopping one display’s control leaves other phones unaffected. If the same phone appears in both USB and wireless displays, only one window may own its developer input channel at a time to prevent duplicate input; stop that window’s control before switching. Wi-Fi capacity does not establish Bluetooth capacity.
Bluetooth control (Windows / macOS): Each computer controls one iPhone over Bluetooth at a time. Select and confirm the target in its display; other displays cannot start Bluetooth control until the current owner stops. Multi-device mirroring and USB / Wi-Fi control of other phones are unaffected.
Changing the Bluetooth phone: Stop control in the original display, disconnect this computer in that phone’s Settings → Bluetooth, then connect and confirm the new phone. Closing a display or switching methods releases software control, not the system Bluetooth connection or pairing record. Routinely forgetting the device is unnecessary.
Stopping and releasing control: Stopping, switching or closing a display releases only that window’s keys, contacts and target ownership. Other phones are unaffected. When no display is using or preparing Bluetooth, the service exits immediately and does not remain in the Dock or advertise in the background. Reopening a display restores the last successful USB or Wi-Fi route for that phone; Bluetooth still requires an explicit prepare action and target confirmation. Only one phone may use Bluetooth control at a time.
Avoid controlling the wrong phone: After target confirmation, that display sends taps, swipes and keys only to that Bluetooth connection. If it disconnects, input stops for that route rather than moving to a remaining phone; ordinary status updates do not change the binding. If multiple phones are already connected and cannot be distinguished, temporarily disconnect one phone’s Bluetooth without forgetting its pairing, observe which entry disappears, then reconnect and confirm.
Bluetooth names and saved bindings: On Windows and macOS, when available, the list shows the system Bluetooth name and the last eight connection-identifier characters; unnamed peers show a Bluetooth control label and suffix. Duplicate names remain separate targets and never automatically match a screen. After verifying the correct phone, choose “Confirmed this phone — remember”. Reopening the same video identity only preselects that target; choose Connect this device to confirm. Offline or busy targets never cause another phone to be selected. Changed video or Bluetooth identities require confirmation again; anonymous sessions are not remembered. Forget screen binding clears only this preference, not system pairing or active control.
Confirm before switching: Bluetooth, USB and Wi-Fi buttons only choose a draft method, and the dropdown only chooses a target. They do not disconnect active control. Use Connect this device or Switch to this method in the footer to apply; check the error message if connection fails. Closing discards unconfirmed selections without changing the active connection. The display titlebar stays visible; long content scrolls inside the dialog, detailed setup instructions expand on demand, and footer actions remain visible.
An idle USB / Wi-Fi route shows “Control not connected” without a spinner. “Connecting” appears only after confirmation; duplicate requests for that route are disabled while it connects.
If the client reports missing USB components, reinstall the complete client. This does not mean Developer Mode is off; repeatedly toggling it or reinstalling phone drivers will not restore missing client files.
After USB is unplugged, the large view shows the disconnected state in the picture area; its title-bar close button remains accessible. A USB disconnection does not require stopping Screen Mirroring on the phone.
Multiple USB iPhones on Mac: Capture initializes one phone at a time; established streams run concurrently, without a fixed device-count limit. A capture-source validation failure stops that stream instead of displaying another source’s frames in its card. If a picture does not match its label, stop control for that window and export logs; renaming the card is not a fix.
Bluetooth connection service: Starting the client or ordinary mirroring does not start Bluetooth. When needed, open Control Method → Bluetooth Control in that phone’s display and explicitly prepare it, connect the phone to the shown computer name, then select and confirm the target. Closing setup, stopping control, or closing the last Bluetooth display exits the service immediately. Allow iPhone Bluetooth connections is the master switch; turning it off does not affect USB/Wi-Fi control or delete system pairings.
Guidance by method: Bluetooth has expandable pairing and phone settings instructions. USB and Wi-Fi show Developer Mode status directly, without an empty Bluetooth guide. Select a target first; enabled devices need no repeat setup. Disabled devices require phone-side setup; unknown does not mean enabled. Connect and trust the target over USB to reveal the switch or check Developer Mode. Enabling, restarting and passcode confirmation remain phone-side actions.
Two cards for the same phone: USB and wireless mirroring do not expose a common, verifiable physical identity, so their video sources remain separate instead of being merged by name or model. Rename the sources to distinguish them. A single incoming source also joins the wall automatically. A known source keeps its management record on reconnect; an anonymous wireless connection exists only for that session and is removed on disconnect, without retaining its alias or group across sessions.
Multi-device validation boundary
Bluetooth control is limited to one phone per computer at a time on both Windows and macOS. This does not restrict multi-device mirroring. Mirroring and USB / Wi-Fi control capacity depend on devices, computer resources and network conditions; no fixed or unlimited capacity is promised.
Closing a display stops its control, not wall mirroring. Reopening restores the phone’s last successful USB/Wi-Fi route; Bluetooth still requires an explicit prepare action. Switching control methods closes the previous channel before enabling the new one, without deleting Bluetooth pairing records.
If the phone is smooth but the mirrored picture lags, see iPhone troubleshooting. Changing pointer speed does not fix delayed video.
iPhone / iPad support independent mirroring and management, without multi-view, Android group control or batch commands. Viewing does not require Bluetooth. On Windows and macOS, choose Enable control in the independent display and follow the illustrated pairing guide; Linux is view-only. Each display needs an explicitly selected Bluetooth connection, following the multi-device steps and validation boundary above. Losing Bluetooth leaves mirroring running. Closing the display preserves wall thumbnails. Inactive records can still be selected, renamed, moved or removed. Configure Auto-Lock on the phone.
Mirroring is started from the iPhone, not added on the computer. No app is installed on the phone.
- On the computer, open "Add Device" → the "iPhone / iPad" tab and note the computer name in the box (there is a Copy button).
- On the iPhone, swipe down from the top-right corner to open Control Center.
- Tap "Screen Mirroring" — in the row of circular controls at the bottom.
- Pick the name from step 1 in the device list.
- The screen appears on the device wall.
| Fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Platforms | Windows, macOS and Linux |
| Count | One wireless receiver name with dynamic sessions; USB is also per-device, with real capacity subject to validation |
| Control | Windows / macOS · choose Bluetooth, USB or Wi-Fi under Control method and complete its setup · pairing steps |
| Network | Wireless video and Wi-Fi input need a mutually reachable local network between phone and computer |
If the Bluetooth control service exits unexpectedly, choose Retry, then connect to the displayed computer name in the phone's Bluetooth list.
The iPhone does not list your computer
Check that both are on the same reachable local network, then look at the receiver status on this page. If it is not "Receiver ready", click Retry.
Cable-free setup: wireless debugging (Android 11 and later)
Android phones on version 11 or later can join with a pairing code instead of a cable:
- On the phone, Settings → About phone → tap Build number seven times to unlock developer options.
- Developer options → Wireless debugging → turn it on.
- Tap "Pair device with pairing code" on the phone. It shows a six-digit code plus an IP address and port.
- On the computer, "Add Device" → Android → "Wireless debugging", fill in that address and code, then click Pair.
- It connects right after pairing, and reconnects on its own after a phone reboot.
The pairing address is usually filled in for you
The app discovers it automatically. Discovery can fail across subnets or on restricted routers — in that case enter the address shown on the phone in step 3.
Next: Your first three moves
Windows USB mirroring: Do not select Stop Mirroring in iPhone Control Center → Screen Mirroring, as USB mirroring may not resume. If this happens, restart the iPhone, unlock it, then unplug and reconnect USB. A frozen last frame does not prove the connection is healthy. Do not repeatedly repair the connection or reinstall drivers.
Wi-Fi preparation saves pairing, but does not mean control is connected. After unplugging USB and starting wireless mirroring, select the paired phone in its large window and confirm the connection; pairing is not required again each time. Reconnection first tries that phone’s last authenticated LAN endpoint, then rediscovers it if necessary, always verifying identity. If connection fails temporarily, keep the phone unlocked on the same LAN and retry. Wireless video and control are separate channels.