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Displays & desktops

Share and control an Android screen

Share and operate your Android tablet or phone from Mac or Android. Set up direct or Room sharing, navigate apps and Home, type and annotate.

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Hold the Android orb and approve screen capture. The source stays in charge of starting and stopping its share.

Step by step

  1. Open Decky Display on the Android device whose screen you want to share. Hold the central orb, then approve Android’s screen-capture prompt. Keep that device unlocked and open the app you want to show.
  2. On the viewing Mac or Android device, open Decky Display and choose the shared Android device. A direct session opens its screen for one viewer. Existing trusted connections can connect without an extra code; a wireless connection without the host Mac uses the temporary connection code shown by the source.
  3. On the Android source, open Settings → Share this screen → Allow wireless control. Read the disclosure, choose Agree and continue, then enable Decky Display wireless control in Android Accessibility. On the viewer, choose Ask for control before using the Mac’s mouse and keyboard or Android touch. For several viewers, enable Share in a Room while connected to the host Mac.

What to know

Viewing, control and annotation are separate capabilities. You can show a screen without letting someone operate it. Stop sharing on the Android source when you finish; the temporary connection code belongs to that sharing session.

Choose the connection

Wi-Fi can carry a direct Android source feed on the local network. A Room needs Decky on a Mac to host and distribute the Android source.

USB connects Android devices to the Mac. The Mac can route a source to Decky Display on Mac or another connected Android device. Both viewing and control work over USB and Wi-Fi. A cable directly between two Android devices is not the setup shown here.

Enable input on the source

Allow remote control on the Android device being operated. Decky’s Accessibility service handles gestures and keyboard input there; enabling a permission on the viewer alone does not enable it on the source.

Mac input supports clicking, dragging, scrolling and typing. An Android viewer sends touch events. Multi-touch needs the source’s Accessibility input path; the USB HID fallback follows one primary contact. Keyboard behavior also depends on the Android version and the focused app. Only one viewer controls the source at a time.

Once you have control, use Home to leave an app and open another from the Android home screen. Back returns to the previous screen. Recents on Mac, or Recent apps on Android, lets you switch running apps. These buttons are in the viewer’s Android controls. You can also operate the navigation controls visible on the shared screen.

The Mac’s mouse and keyboard operate the Android tablet or phone, including launching apps and typing into focused fields. From another Android device, use touch. Opening Home, Settings or another app keeps the screen share running.

When to use a Room

Settings → Share this screen → Share in a Room. A direct session is for one viewer and does not automatically create a Room. To present the Android app to several people, use the explicit Room-sharing action while connected to the host Mac. Other Decky Display clients join the Room.

The Android device remains the source. Apps continue to run there, and input from the authorized controller operates that device. Room control and drawing permissions are managed separately.

Annotate between Android devices

Open Draw on the viewer and choose an annotation tool. Trusted direct sessions can annotate without asking a Room host; Room guests use the Room’s drawing permission. Android-to-Android annotations appear on the viewed image and on the Android source.

Source-side marks need Decky’s permitted overlay, through its Accessibility service or Android’s display-over-other-apps permission. If marks show on the viewer but not on the source, check that access. Marks use each author’s assigned color and fade by default. Drawing permission does not grant control of the app.

If it does not work

If the screen does not appear, check that sharing is still active, Android’s capture prompt was accepted and both ends have current apps. On Wi-Fi, check the local network; for USB, use a data cable and unlock Android. If the picture works but input does not, check remote-control permission and the Accessibility service on the source. For typing, first focus an editable field.