The DuoBook app turns a laptop-folded iPhone Duo into a remote for your Mac, with the Mac’s screen live on the top half and a full keyboard and trackpad on the bottom half. Both the iPhone app and the Mac host app are free, and DuoBook collects no data.
DuoBook: Pocket Mac is available for iPhone Duo as well as regular iPhones, from the App Store. You need the free DuoBook Host app on a Mac running macOS 14 Sonoma or later, and the iPhone app also works on any iPhone with iOS 17 or later.
The DuoBook app shows your Mac on the top half and a Mac keyboard on the bottom half
The app follows the hinge as you fold the iPhone Duo, so you can use it like a laptop or flat with a big trackpad. When the phone is closed, the outside screen becomes a laptop lid that you design yourself, with a color, a finish, your initials or a photo, or even a glowing mark.
The keyboard
- Every key is laid out like a Mac laptop, with a top row for brightness, Mission Control, Spotlight, dictation, media and volume
- You can hold or latch the modifier keys, and a Touch ID key locks your Mac
- Keys have click sounds and haptics, and a Bluetooth keyboard paired to your iPhone also types on the Mac
The trackpad
- You tap to click, tap with two fingers to right-click, drag, scroll with momentum and pinch to zoom
- Three- and four-finger swipes open Mission Control and App Exposé or switch desktops
- You can also touch the Mac’s screen directly
DuoBook reaches your Mac over Wi-Fi at home and over the internet when you are away
At home the app finds your Mac on Wi-Fi in a blink. Away from home, you turn on Access from anywhere in DuoBook Host, which sets up most home routers automatically and keeps your Mac’s address in your own iCloud.
You pair once with a 6-digit code shown on both screens, and every connection after that is encrypted end to end. There is no account, no analytics and no ads, and your screen goes straight from the Mac to your iPhone. Yosei is another remote desktop app that reaches your Mac from anywhere on the iPhone Duo.
What version 1.1 added
- A Touch Bar top row that shows controls for the app you are using on your Mac
- Locking your Mac with Siri, and waking it or unlocking it from your iPhone
- A stream of up to 120 frames per second on Wi-Fi when the Mac and the iPhone both support 120 Hz
Six themes, a demo Mac and file sending come with DuoBook
The app has six themes, which are Graphite, Platinum, Lagoon, Tangerine, Home Computer and Phosphor, and each one has its own key sound. A built-in demo Mac lets you try everything before you set up your own.
You can send photos and files to your Mac’s Downloads folder, and copying on the Mac and pasting on the iPhone works too. You also hear the Mac’s sound on your iPhone. DuoBook Host needs Screen Recording and Accessibility permissions on your Mac, and you need about 5 MB of free space for the iPhone app.
