Comparison

iDisplay vs Yam Air

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

Head to head
About

iDisplay

Transform your iPhone or iPad into a touch-enabled secondary display for your Mac or Windows computer. Extend your desktop space, interact with apps like Excel and Photoshop, and enjoy a seamless extension of your computer's capabilities wirelessly or via cable.

Highlights
  • External touch-screen display
  • Mirror or extend desktop
  • Full desktop app support
  • Touch interaction
  • Wireless or cable connection
  • Portrait/landscape rotation
  • Retina display support
Features
Read full description

Turn your iPad or iPhone into an additional touch-screen display for your Mac or Windows computer or mirror your desktop. All usual desktop apps, such as Excel, Word, PowerPoint or Photoshop, are available with desktop features on iPad and iPhone, touch-enabled. Works with both, Lightning and 30-pin cable connection or Wifi on macOS (with almost 0 latency). Double your personal productivity by extending your computer screen. Perfect tool for multitaskers, iDisplay lets you use your iPad and iPhone as an interactive touch-screen wireless display to give you more screen real estate. Works with up to 60fps. Recommended by Kim Komando, tech guru of USA Today. "iDisplay app turns your iPad or iPhone into secondary screen – too good to be true. That's... brilliant. I mean, I can think of about a billion uses for this." MobileCrunch "Yet another reason to buy an iPad: iDisplay" MobileWhack Why choose iDisplay over hardware display? Your iPad, iPad Pro, iPhone and iPod touch can be your secondary display. Works with both Mac and Windows computers. iDisplay lets you interact with your additional display: move objects, draw, control playback. Pan and zoom your desktop right on iOS device. Easily switch between portrait and landscape screen orientations: simply rotate your device and it will adjust automatically. Normal and double resolution modes for Retina displays. Customize display settings for each device you use as your secondary display, iDisplay will remember your preferences. Work with Excel, Word, Power Point and other apps and have all desktop features available on your iPad or iPhone. On macOS you can choose one of the following iDisplay modes: Use iDisplay as a regular secondary display: gives you more screen space for everything you have to keep your eye on. Mirror image from main display on your iPad / iPhone: comes in handy when you need to share your desktop with your audience. Keep in mind that iDisplay allows to connect multiple devices to one Mac! Yes, lots of them! Many colleges use iDisplay. On Windows, iDisplay can be used as a regular secondary display. COMPATIBILITY: macOS iDisplay Desktop application needs to be installed on your Mac. iDisplay Desktop is free and can be downloaded anytime at getidisplay.com iDisplay is compatible with Macs with Intel CPUs running on Mac OS X 10.9 and later. macOS Sierra supported! Windows iDisplay Desktop application needs to be installed on your PC. iDisplay Desktop is free and can be downloaded anytime at getidisplay.com iDisplay is compatible with Windows XP (32­bit only), Windows Vista (32­ and 64­bit), Windows 7 (32­ and 64­bit), Windows 8 and Windows 10. For Windows Vista and Windows 7 "Aero" theme may be disabled when connected to iDisplay and will be re­enabled upon disconnection). NETWORK CONNECTIVITY Your computer and iOS device must be connected by cable or to the same Wi­Fi network.

About

Yam Air

Transform your iPad or iPhone into a wireless second display for your Mac. Connect easily via Wi-Fi or AirDrop for enhanced productivity, with touch gesture controls and virtual keyboard support. Unlock advanced features like drag and drop with an in-app purchase.

Highlights
  • Wireless second display
  • Extend or mirror display
  • Touch gesture control
  • Virtual keyboard
  • Drag and Drop support
  • Teleprompter Mode
Features
Read full description

# Yam Air is a wireless version of Yam Display # # On your Mac, download Yam Display host app from www.yamdisplay.com # Yam Air turns your iPad/iPhone into a wireless second display for your Mac. On your Mac, download Yam Display host app from www.yamdisplay.com for free. Yam Air will automatically connect to a nearby Mac just by turning on Wi-Fi. For devices that support AirDrop, even internet connection is not required. Handy for simple tasks such as browsing or text editing when you are out in a café or outside. You can control your Mac with touch gestures and virtual keyboard on your iPad. For multitasking enabled iPads, you can utilize every single pixel of your screen in Split View. Plus features such as Drag and Drop and Teleprompter Mode will make your workflow more efficient. The extended display with Yam Air will help you improve your productivity. Key Features: - Peer-to-peer connection - Extend Display / Mirror Display - Energy efficient for static screens - Retina display - 30 FPS / 60 FPS (optional) - Split View (iOS 9 or later) - Touch Gestures: Click / Zoom / Rotate / Scroll / Drag - Virtual Touch Bar (for Macs with macOS Sierra or later) - Hardware keyboard and Mouse paired with iPad - Virtual keyboard (launch by 3 fingers tap) Plus Features (In-App Purchase): - Drag and Drop between iPad and Mac (iOS 11 or later) - Teleprompter Mode System Requirements: - Macs released after 2012 with macOS 10.10 or later: * MacBook Air (Mid 2012 or later) * MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 or later) * MacBook (Early 2015 or later) * iMac (Late 2012 or later) * Mac mini (Late 2012 or later) * Mac Pro (Late 2013 or later) * Mac Studio (※ Other Macs can cause delay) - All iOS devices with iOS 8.0 or later (Best for devices that support AirDrop: * iPad 4G or later * iPad Air, iPad Pro, iPad mini * iPhone 5 or later * iPod Touch 5G or later ※ Other devices need to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network or bluetooth pairing) For any questions or suggestions: help@yamdisplay.com

Screenshots

iDisplay4 screens
Yam Air4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: iDisplay at Free against Yam Air's $3.99. iDisplay also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 3 months). Yam Air's advantage is rating (3.9 vs 1.9) and review sentiment (56% vs 18%). On ratings volume, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

iDisplay is free to download; Yam Air costs $3.99 up front. Yam Air sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. iDisplay asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Yam Air holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 1.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 105 and 75 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 18% of iDisplay's written reviews are positive against 56% of Yam Air's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iDisplay ships an update every 6 weeks, Yam Air every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
iDisplay versus Yam Air: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriDisplayYam Air
PriceFree — better$3.99
Rating1.9 (105 ratings)3.9 (75 ratings) — better
Positive reviews18.2% of reviews55.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings105 — better75
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.08.0
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSHAPE GmbHYamstu Inc.

Customer experience

iDisplay

All ratings105 ratings
Positive21.0%
Neutral1.9%
Negative77.1%
Written reviews253 reviews
Positive18.2%
Neutral3.6%
Negative78.3%

Yam Air

All ratings75 ratings
Positive70.7%
Neutral6.7%
Negative22.7%
Written reviews138 reviews
Positive55.8%
Neutral8.0%
Negative36.2%

User reviews

iDisplay

From 105 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Works as advertised
  • 👍 Useful for extending display
  • 💡 Ability to control iPad with mouse

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Connectivity issues
  • 🐛 Causes system crashes
  • 🐛 Laggy performance
  • 🐛 Resolution/scaling problems
  • 🔋 High resource consumption

Yam Air

From 75 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ✨ Revives old iPads
  • 💰 Affordable one-time purchase
  • 🔌 Works well wired
  • 🚀 Smooth performance (sometimes)
  • 💡 Useful for reference/secondary screen

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent lag/stuttering
  • ❌ Connection issues/unstable
  • 🐛 Freezes/crashes often
  • ⚫ Screen goes black
  • 🚫 Doesn't work for some users

Bugs and requests

iDisplay

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Incompatibility with newer OS versions
  • Phantom display issues
  • Crashes and freezes

Requested features

4 requests
  • Support for more devices and OSes
  • Improved responsiveness and stability
  • Better resolution handling
  • Wired connection option

Yam Air

Reported bugs

20 issues
  • Connection fails repeatedly
  • App crashes after a few seconds
  • Screen goes black, only cursor visible
  • Freezes during typing or tab switching
  • Screen hangs and lags
Show 15 more
  • Horizontal mode shows black screen with only cursor
  • Public Wi-Fi causes app crash
  • Connection status stuck on 'connecting'
  • Works only on first connection
  • MacBook not starting after installation
  • App blocks access after a week, demands payment again
  • Mirroring only, not extended monitor
  • Automatically switches to mirroring mode
  • Status bar always on, creating black bars
  • Connection drops after ~30 minutes
  • App becomes unusable after updates
  • Mac software is unstable and crashes
  • Cannot clone screen with additional HDMI device
  • App requests payment again after purchase
  • Not compatible with updated Mac OS

Requested features

9 requests
  • Stream audio from MacMini
  • Virtual keyboard support
  • On-screen keyboard support
  • Add sound playback on iPad
  • Allow choosing sound output device
Show 4 more
  • Improve horizontal mode
  • Support for newer iPad Pro resolutions
  • Allow iPad device control
  • Support for Windows

In-app purchases

None

iDisplay

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Yam Air

One-time2
  • Teleprompter ModeFree
  • Drag and Drop$1.99

Questions

Is iDisplay free?
iDisplay is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Yam Air free?
Yam Air costs $3.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, iDisplay or Yam Air?
Yam Air is rated higher. iDisplay averages 1.9 out of 5 from 105 ratings, while Yam Air averages 3.9 from 75 ratings.
Do iDisplay or Yam Air have ads?
Neither iDisplay nor Yam Air shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iDisplay or Yam Air?
iDisplay ships an update every 6 weeks, and Yam Air every 3 months. Most recently, iDisplay was updated on November 1, 2026 and Yam Air on November 6, 2026.

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