Headroom: Remote Desktop

Your Mac in the next room. Your headless Mac mini in the closet. Right on your iPad — nothing to install on the Mac. Try it free; go unlimited with Pro.

Headroom is a remote desktop for controlling a Mac from your iPad, iPhone, or another Mac.

The big idea: nothing to install on the Mac. Turn on macOS's built-in Screen Sharing — that's the whole setup.

WHEN YOU WANT IT

• Drive the Mac in the next room from the couch • Manage a headless Mac mini — no monitor, no keyboard • Peek at your dev machine or build server from wherever you are • Reach your home Mac from anywhere over a VPN such as Tailscale

WHY HEADROOM

• Zero install on the Mac Connects straight to macOS's built-in Screen Sharing (VNC). No server app, no agent, no menu-bar daemon.

• Finds your Macs automatically Macs on the same Wi-Fi appear instantly via Bonjour. Manual IP connections work too.

• Fast, smooth screen Metal rendering plus ZRLE compression — feels real-time on a LAN and stays usable on thin connections.

• Touch that makes sense on iPad and iPhone Tap to click, one-finger scroll, long-press to drag and select text, two-finger wheel scrolling, pinch to zoom.

• Real mouse behavior on the Mac On a Mac (same app), clicks, drags, and right-clicks pass through 1:1. Option-scroll pans; Command-scroll zooms.

• Full keyboard, and your voice Software and hardware keyboards both work. Modifier keys (⌘⌥⌃⇧) tap once for the next keystroke or double-tap to lock — every shortcut is reachable. Tap the mic on the keyboard and what you say is typed straight into the Mac.

• Private by design Credentials live only in your device's Keychain, and passwords are encrypted in transit using Apple's standard Screen Sharing authentication.

CONNECTED IN THREE STEPS

1. On the Mac: System Settings > General > Sharing > turn on Screen Sharing
2. Open Headroom — your Macs appear automatically
3. Sign in with the Mac's username and password. Done.

HEADROOM PRO

The free version limits connection time. Upgrade to Pro — a one-time purchase, not a subscription:

• Unlimited connection time • Every future Pro feature included

Buy once, use forever.

REQUIREMENTS

• Client: iPad / iPhone (iOS 17+), Apple Silicon Mac • Host: any Mac with Screen Sharing enabled (no extra software) • Same network; for internet access we recommend a VPN such as Tailscale

— Headroom is built by MusicFlow ("music × engineering") — the tool we made to run our own headless Mac minis, polished into something we use every day.