El Trackpad vs Emulstick
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
El Trackpad
Turn your iPhone or iPad into a responsive Mac trackpad. Control your computer with familiar gestures like scrolling, zooming, and rotating, all with minimal lag. It's a convenient way to enhance your Mac experience.
- Transform iPhone/iPad into Mac trackpad
- Full gesture support
- Lag-free control
- Inertial scrolling
- Multi-touch support
- USB connection
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Transform your iPhone or iPad into a fully featured Mac trackpad with gestures support. This app was written by a single person and was featured by 9to5Mac, Redmond Pie, AppAdvice, MacMagazine and more. REVIEWS “I’ve tried many similar apps before, but none of them worked as well as El Trackpad. Besides not having any notable lag, the app lets the user perform the same gestures as you can do on Apple’s Magic Trackpad.” — 9to5Mac “What makes El Trackpad so impressive here is the fact that it appears to be lag-free and works identically to an actual Apple Magic Trackpad, which is super awesome.” — Redmond Pie “If you’ve ever used a Magic Trackpad or the built-in version on any MacBook model, you’ll be right at home with the app.” — AppAdvice “This app transforms the iPhone/iPad into a complete trackpad for Macs, with multi-touch support and everything.” — MacMagazine DESCRIPTION Move the mouse cursor with the slide of a finger and smoothly navigate through your content with inertial scrolling. Pinch to zoom, rotate with your fingers and much more. Control your Mac in real-time with no lag. El Trackpad works like magic and has the features and touch gestures that you expect from a touchpad for a Mac computer. GET STARTED - Download and Install El trackpad on your iOS/iPadOS device and on your Mac. - Enable accessibility features on the Mac app when prompted. This is required to control the mouse cursor. - Connect the devices via USB cable. SUPPORTED GESTURES - Tap to click: Tap with one finger to click - Secondary click: Tap with two fingers to right click - Smart zoom: Double-tap with two fingers to zoom in and out - Scroll: Slide two fingers to scroll - Zoom: Pinch with two fingers to zoom - Rotate: Move two fingers around each other to rotate - Three-finger drag: Use three fingers to drag items on the screen - Look up: Tap with three fingers to look up a word - Show desktop: Spread your thumb and four fingers to show the desktop - Launchpad: Pinch with your whole hand to show Launchpad - Mission Control: Swipe up with four fingers to open mission control - App Exposé: Swipe down with four fingers to open App Exposé - Swipe between desktops: Swipe left or right with four fingers to move between full-screen apps or desktops ADDITIONAL INFO El Trackpad can be downloaded for free and offers a 7-day free trial with full functionality. After that, gestures with 2 fingers or more will no longer be recognized. At any time, you may unlock the app forever with a one-time in-app purchase.
Emulstick
This application simulates keyboard, mouse, and gamepad input for use with a specific dongle. It offers wireless, serverless, and network-free operation for a plug-and-play experience.
- Keyboard emulation
- Mouse emulation
- Gamepad simulation
- Wireless operation
- Serverless connectivity
- No network required
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keyboard, mouse, gamepad simulator application use it by emulstick dongle Full-Compatible, Plug and Play Wireless, Serverless, No network
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Emulstick at none against El Trackpad's 2. El Trackpad's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 months) and review sentiment (55% vs 25%). On price, ads 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
Both are free to download. El Trackpad sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Emulstick asks for nothing beyond the download.
El Trackpad ships an update every 5 days, Emulstick every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | El Trackpad | Emulstick |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (39 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 54.8% of reviews — better | 25.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 39 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Hugo Lispector | Shanghai Xuanhua Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. |
Customer experience
El Trackpad
Emulstick
Bugs and requests
El Trackpad
Reported bugs
23 issues- App no longer opens on Mac (M1 MacBook Pro)
- App is non-functional on M3 MacBook Pro with Sequoia OS
- Swiping with two fingers activates 'desktop view' on Sequoia OS
- Tap with two fingers for right click refuses to register in certain applications
- Rarely some gestures will not register
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- Scrolling functionality suspends and requires mouse click to fix
- Mouse movement is suddenly reversed on a monitor
- Pinch to zoom out is only good/precise for zooming in
- Double two finger tap sometimes registers as a zoom and often responds with a right click
- Swipes pickup on iPad and swipe you out of the app
- 3 fingers gestures like switching desktops became 4 fingers
- Does not recognize long press or 3d press as click
- El Trackpad overrides USB and nothing else works after sleep period
- Transaction error when starting trial
- Device not supported error when plugging in via USB
- iPadOS 15 no longer allows disabling multitasking gestures
- System zoom is disabled, cannot switch desktops with 3-finger swipe
- Mission control gesture does not work for some laptops
- App is extremely glitchy and frequently crashes
- Mouse behavior in the app does not replicate Magic Trackpad functionality
- App only works with USB cable connection
- Inconsistent trial messaging and immediate charging
- Cannot drag click for artwork
Requested features
20 requests- Add Bluetooth connectivity
- Add Wi-Fi connectivity
- Allow landscape orientation
- Support 3-finger swiping for browser back/forward
- Support 4-finger gestures for screen switching
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- Add gesture for toggling between windows
- Implement drag-and-drop functionality
- Add pressure sensitivity for drawing/art
- Make the app usable without a cable
- Add option to rotate the virtual trackpad
- Add keyboard support
- Add option to run app upside down for cable management
- Support iPhone as trackpad for iPad
- Add more settings options
- Add 3D Touch support
- Add support for 4-finger gestures
- Add 2-finger gesture for Notification Center
- Add 2-finger parallel swipe for page navigation
- Add FaceID authentication integration
- Make it compatible with Windows
Emulstick
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
El Trackpad
- 7-day TrialFree
- Unlock Full App$3.99
Emulstick
No in-app purchases
