A second screenyou already own.

ExtenD turns your iPad into a second display for your Mac, with touch and Apple Pencil.Free and open source. No shared Apple Account needed.

How ExtenD
works

Plug in

USB-C for the lowest latency.
Wi-Fi takes over when you unplug.

On your Mac482 913
On your iPad482 913
✓ Codes match

Pair once

Compare a code on both screens.
After that, it just connects.

System Settings → Displays

Extend

A real display at the iPad's resolution.
Drag windows across. Rotate to turn it.

👆
TapClick, pointer stays put
↕︎
DragScroll with momentum
✋
HoldPick up · right-click
⇆
3 fingersSwitch Spaces

Touch that feels like touch

Gestures turn into what a trackpad would do. Buttons in native apps are pressed without the pointer jumping.

Apple Pencil, with pressure

Draw and drag with pressure and tilt in your Mac apps. Hover to move the pointer on supported iPads.

Peace of mind

Encrypted end to end.

Noise XX on every connection. No plaintext mode.

How it's secured

It stays home.

Cable or local Wi-Fi only. Never the internet.

Where your screen goes

No account. No servers.

No sign-up, no tracking, no analytics. Not even on this page.

What we collect: nothing

Read every line.

MIT-licensed and open on GitHub, threat model included.

Open source

Mac locked? No input.

Touches only reach the iPad's display, and stop when you lock.

Input stays in its lane

Scroll sideways for more · Read the threat model

No new monitor. No shared Apple ID. No subscription.

Gestures you
already know

TapClick
DragScroll, or drag sliders and title bars
Hold, then movePick up files and selections
Hold still · two-finger tapRight-click
Two-finger pinchZoom in and out
Three-finger swipe ← →Switch Spaces
Three-finger swipe ↑ ↓Mission Control · App Exposé
Three-finger pinchCopy · cut · paste
Three-finger double-tapUndo

Get ExtenD

Get the code

Install Xcode and XcodeGen (brew install xcodegen), clone the repo, run xcodegen generate.

Set your team

Copy Config/Local.xcconfig.example to Local.xcconfig and add your team ID. A free Apple ID works.

Run on your Mac

Run ExtenDMac, then allow Screen Recording and Accessibility in System Settings.

Run on your iPad

Turn on Developer Mode, run ExtenDPad, and accept the matching code on both screens.

No prebuilt downloads yet. With a free Apple ID, the iPad app stops opening after 7 days: run it from Xcode again to renew.

Get the source on GitHub Full instructions

Mac with Apple silicon · macOS 15 or later · iPadOS 18 or later

Questions

How is this different from Sidecar?

Sidecar needs the Mac and iPad signed in to the same Apple Account. ExtenD doesn't: you pair the two devices directly with a code. It also adds touch gestures beyond Sidecar's Pencil-first input.

Does it work over Wi-Fi?

Yes, on the same local network. USB-C gives the lowest latency; Wi-Fi takes over automatically when you unplug, and USB takes back over when you plug in again.

Can I use multi-touch apps on the Mac?

macOS has no public way to receive touches from another device, so ExtenD translates them into clicks, scrolls, drags and shortcuts. Pinch-to-zoom works in apps that zoom with ⌘+ and ⌘−.

Why isn't it on the App Store?

Creating a virtual display relies on a macOS interface Apple doesn't publish, so the Mac app can't be on the Mac App Store. It may also need updating after major macOS releases.

Does it collect any data?

No. There are no accounts, servers or analytics, in the apps or on this site. The only traffic is between your own Mac and iPad, encrypted end to end.