Comparison

Duet Air vs Ro

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Duet Air

Transform your iPad or iPhone into an advanced remote desktop or an extra display for your Mac or PC. Experience unparalleled performance and zero lag, with touch and gesture support. Offers professional-grade drawing capabilities with Apple Pencil integration for artists and designers.

Highlights
  • Remote desktop functionality
  • Extra display for Mac/PC
  • Touch and gesture support
  • Apple Pencil integration for drawing
  • Wireless and wired connectivity
  • Zero lag performance
Read full description

#1 best-selling iPad app in US, Japan, UK, Germany, and 17 other countries! Duet turns your iPad or iPhone into the most advanced Remote Desktop or extra display for your Mac & PC. Developed by a team of ex-Apple engineers, Duet offers unparalleled performance and display quality - all with zero lag. — DO MORE — Be twice as productive by multitasking with two screens. And for those that travel, have a portable way to stay productive. — INCREDIBLY SIMPLE — To get started, plug your iPad into your desktop using your charging cable or choose the desktop to wirelessly connect to. The Duet desktop app will automatically detect your device, and transform it into a high performance touchscreen display. — TOUCHSCREEN — Interact with Mac & PC like never before, with touch & gestures, including two-finger scrolling, pan and zoom. And with our latest release, you can even add a touch bar to any iPad with any Mac. — PERFECT FOR APPLE PENCIL — With Duet Pro, you can turn your iPad and Apple Pencil into a professional graphics tablet. We’ve re-engineered our rendering algorithms for ultra-responsive drawing, optimized specifically for designers, illustrators and artists. Duet Pro also unlocks pressure & tilt sensitivity, hover, palm rejection, and more to seamlessly draw in the most powerful programs for professionals. Get precise control in Photoshop, Corel Painter, Lightroom, ToonBoom, Illustrator, Manga Studio and more. — PRESS — TechCrunch - "Feels Like Magic" TIME - "Getting Work Done Faster and More Efficiently" The Guardian - "Lag-free" Forbes - "The simple thing to note is this...Duet Display works." The Verge - "Glorious Fluidity" Lifehacker - "It's fast, easy to use, and works great" Business Insider - "Zero lag and true retina resolution” Wall Street Journal - “It’s as easy as just plugging it in" — REVIEWS — “Awesome! My iPad Pro can be an extra monitor! Cool app” ~CEO of T-Mobile, John Legere “Very smooth and responsive indeed, plus you could use the touch screen to “click” on screen interfaces!” ~Photographer, Lok Cheung “Love the ability to use my iPad as a monitor with Duet.” ~Former Chief Evangelist of Apple, Guy Kawasaki “Just started using this app called Duet… Kinda love it so far.” ~Comedian and Youtube, Phillip DeFranco “All my mac folks look at the Duet app… GREAT!” ~Actor and Comedian, Sinbad "I really like the app, I suppose the biggest compliment I can give is that it's so easy to setup it almost seems like an Apple product.” ~Early Adopter, M. Nightingale "Amazing solution for me by the way. Works as I was hoping for and actually my main reason for getting an iPad : )” ~Early Adopter, M. Gemzoe Duet Works With: All iPhones and iPads with iOS 11.0 and later All Macs with 10.11 (Mavericks) and later All PCs with Windows 10 64-bit and later Duet Air is a $24.99 per year service built for professionals and remote workers. Price may vary by location. Duet Air subscriptions will be charged to your credit card through your iTunes account. Your subscription will automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You will not be able to cancel the subscription once activated. Manage Duet Air in Account Settings after the optional upgrade. Learn more at http://www.duetdisplay.com Terms: https://help.duetdisplay.com/duet-terms-services Privacy Policy: https://help.duetdisplay.com/duet-privacy-policy

About

Ro

This focus timer uses the Pomodoro Technique to break work into focused sessions with short breaks. It offers customizable timers, ambient sounds, and detailed stats to help users stay sharp and avoid burnout. Live Activity and Dynamic Island integration keep your countdown visible.

Highlights
  • Pomodoro Technique timer
  • Customizable work/break durations
  • Ambient soundscapes
  • Live Activity & Dynamic Island integration
  • Detailed focus stats
  • Background notifications
Features
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炉 Ro is a focus timer built for people who take their time seriously. Based on the Pomodoro Technique, Ro breaks your work into focused sessions separated by short breaks — helping you stay sharp, avoid burnout, and actually finish what you start. FOCUS WITHOUT FRICTION Start a session and get to work. Ro handles the rest — automatically starting breaks, tracking your time, and keeping you in flow. LIVE ACTIVITY & DYNAMIC ISLAND Your countdown lives on the lock screen and in the Dynamic Island. Glance and get back to work. AMBIENT SOUND Rain, café, or fire — choose a sound to block out the world and stay locked in. STATS THAT MEAN SOMETHING See your weekly sessions, total focus time, best day, and current streak. Every minute counts — even partial sessions are tracked. FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE Set your own work and break durations. Choose how many sessions before a long break. Auto-start breaks or step away on your own terms. NOTIFICATIONS Get notified the moment a session ends — even when the app is in the background. Ro is designed with a cinematic dark aesthetic inspired by forge light and darkroom photography. No ads. No subscriptions. No noise. Just work.

Screenshots

Duet Air3 screens
Ro2 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Ro at 100% against Duet Air's 24%. Ro also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.3) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). Duet Air's advantage is price (Free vs $0.99) and ratings volume (1.9K vs 3). On update cadence and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Duet Air is free to download; Ro costs $0.99 up front. Duet Air sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $49.99 per year. Ro asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Ro holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Duet Air has 1.9K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 24% of Duet Air's written reviews are positive against 100% of Ro's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Duet Air versus Ro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDuet AirRo
PriceFree — better$0.99
Rating4.3 (1.9K ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews23.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1.9K — better3
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 weeks
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscriptionPaid — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size67 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDuet, Inc.Zachary Foerst

Customer experience

Duet Air

All ratings1,870 ratings
Positive82.5%
Neutral4.0%
Negative13.5%
Written reviews421 reviews
Positive23.8%
Neutral6.2%
Negative70.1%

Ro

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Duet Air

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Incompatible with Citrix
  • Breaks Windows network
  • Bricked user's PC
  • Login screen issues
  • Inconsistent performance

Requested features

5 requests
  • Support for older devices
  • Improve wireless stability
  • Add audio support
  • Better integration with drawing apps
  • Easier subscription cancellation

Ro

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Duet Air

Subscriptions2
  • Duet Air (Annual)7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Duet Pro (Annual)7 Days trial$79.991 Year
None

Ro

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Duet Air free?
Duet Air is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Ro free?
Ro costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Duet Air or Ro?
Ro is rated higher. Duet Air averages 4.3 out of 5 from 1.9K ratings, while Ro averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Duet Air or Ro have ads?
Duet Air shows ads; Ro does not.
Which is updated more often, Duet Air or Ro?
Duet Air ships an update every 3 weeks, and Ro every 3 weeks. Most recently, Duet Air was updated on October 18, 2026 and Ro on October 3, 2026.

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