How can I mirror my Mac display on my iPad?

Solution 1:

The Xscope mirror, a free tool works without needing VNC but you need a paid companion app on the Mac to send the data.

I prefer to use screens on the iPad. VNC is the way that OS X sends it's video remotely to another display. If you don't use it, someone else needs to re-write that entire stack and it works very well for local networks.

As for why the app I recommend, it has an observe mode and seems to scale the screen much better than the Xscope app since it is designed primarily for designing, not mirroring. The same program works on iPad, iPod, iPhone of all sizes and retina or not displays. It is very fast and has an observe only mode so that you don't accidentally send touch events.

If you do decide to use it on the go for remote access, there is a free location app (similar to how Back to My Mac works) and works over ssh tunnels if you prefer more security than speed. It has great soft keyboard support and of course works with Linux and Windows as well. There is nothing I can say bad about it in terms of missing features os bugs or design.

It's a quality piece of software all around.

If you really must avoid VNC, there is another option. The Xscope app for software designers has a free companion app that runs on the iPad and will mirror your screen. It's more designed for counting pixels and looking at mockups you design on the Mac for eventual use on the iPad, but you can use it as a mirroring solution. It lacks any input from the iPad and simply sends the screen from the Mac to iOS.

It also is very high quality software - and is well designed, all around and fast.

Solution 2:

What's wrong with VNC? It's secure, can use compression (which I've found is the only way to make it responsive over a home broadband connection), and is supported natively in OSX. You'll just need to install a VNC client on the iPad, and activate it in the iMac's System Preferences.

I don't have an iPad, but I'd be surprised if there wasn't a decent VNC client app for it. I use ssvnc to connect to my Mac, which is a free Java client and I use it from KDE on my laptop and desktop at least; I'd be surprised if it was in the App store, but there should be alternatives.

Air Server looks good though, and is the only option you didn't rule out. It's designed for the task of 'mirroring', so file a bug report or something. If you paid for it, it should work.

Solution 3:

Use iDisplay app, that does just what you need, supports mirroring for up to 36 iOs devices.