Transform your Android tablet into a second display for your Mac via USB-C. Under 30ms latency. Async pipeline with hardware H.265 encoding. Gaming ready. No cloud. No accounts.
Built by an indie developer
Hero Screenshot
Mac + Tablet Setup"Finally, a free solution to use my old tablet as a second monitor. Works flawlessly!"
— Reddit User
"The latency is incredibly low. I can even play casual games on it!"
— GitHub User
"Love that it's completely local. No cloud nonsense, just USB and go."
— Developer
"Setup was super easy. Download, connect, done. Great for productivity!"
— Designer
"The connection checklist in the Android app is so helpful for first-time setup."
— Tech Enthusiast
"Open source and privacy-focused. Exactly what I was looking for!"
— Privacy Advocate
"Finally, a free solution to use my old tablet as a second monitor. Works flawlessly!"
— Reddit User
"The latency is incredibly low. I can even play casual games on it!"
— GitHub User
"Love that it's completely local. No cloud nonsense, just USB and go."
— Developer
"Setup was super easy. Download, connect, done. Great for productivity!"
— Designer
"The connection checklist in the Android app is so helpful for first-time setup."
— Tech Enthusiast
"Open source and privacy-focused. Exactly what I was looking for!"
— Privacy Advocate
Your data stays on your devices. Always.
No cloud, no servers, no external connections. Everything stays between your Mac and tablet via USB.
We don't collect analytics, usage data, or personal information. Not even crash reports.
Full transparency. Review our code, contribute, or build it yourself. MIT licensed.
Built for performance, designed for simplicity
Create a true virtual monitor on your Mac. Drag windows to your tablet just like a real display - not just mirroring.
Async pipeline with decoupled capture, encode, and send stages. SCStream queueDepth optimization and async MediaCodec with Choreographer vsync deliver sub-30ms end-to-end latency.
Use your tablet's touchscreen to interact with macOS. Optimized touch path with reduced logging overhead and input prediction for near-instant response.
Enable Gaming Boost for optimized settings: higher bitrate, lower latency, and up to 120 FPS.
Configure resolution, frame rate, bitrate, and quality. Find the perfect balance for your setup.
No cloud. No accounts. No telemetry. Everything stays between your Mac and tablet via USB.
From download to second screen in under 5 minutes
Get Side Screen for your Mac and install the Android app on your tablet.
Plug your tablet into your Mac with a USB-C cable. Port forwarding is handled automatically.
Launch both apps and tap Connect. Your tablet is now a second display!
⚠️ macOS Gatekeeper: If macOS says the app is "damaged", open Terminal and run:
sudo xattr -cr /Applications/SideScreen.app
Free and open source. Always.
Currently, Side Screen uses USB-C for the most stable, low-latency connection. WiFi support is planned for a future release.
This happens because the app isn't notarized by Apple. Open Terminal and run: sudo xattr -cr /Applications/SideScreen.app, then open the app again.
No! The Mac app automatically runs adb reverse to set up port forwarding when streaming starts. Just make sure adb is installed (via Android SDK or brew install android-platform-tools).
With the optimized async pipeline (SCStream queueDepth tuning, async MediaCodec, Choreographer vsync, TCP_NODELAY, and BufferedInputStream), you can expect under 30ms end-to-end latency - smooth enough for productivity and casual gaming.
Currently, only Android tablets are supported. iOS support may be considered in the future.
Yes! Side Screen is free and open source under the MIT license. If you find it useful, consider supporting development.
Make sure you've granted Screen Recording permission on macOS and that both apps are running. Try lowering the resolution if you experience issues.
Side Screen is built by a solo developer and kept 100% free.
Every contribution directly funds development and keeps the project alive.
Your support funds new features, bug fixes, and ongoing maintenance. No subscriptions, no ads, no data selling. Just community support.
Support DevelopmentEvery contribution makes a difference
Side Screen is an open-source project made possible by contributors.