Headroom vs Farroom

Headroom is a remote desktop for controlling a Mac from your iPad, iPhone, or another Mac. The big idea: nothing to install on the Mac. Turn on macOS's built-in Screen Sharing — that's the whole setup. WHEN YOU WANT IT • Drive the Mac in the next room from the couch • Manage a headless Mac mini — no monitor, no keyboard • Peek at your dev machine or build server from wherever you are • Reach your home Mac from anywhere over a VPN such as Tailscale WHY HEADROOM • Zero install on the Mac Connects straight to macOS's built-in Screen Sharing (VNC). No server app, no agent. One extra — the Mac's sound on your device, and its screen shape on iPad or iPhone Duo — needs Headroom on the Mac too. • Finds your Macs automatically Macs on the same Wi-Fi appear instantly via Bonjour. Manual IP connections work too. • Fast, smooth screen Metal rendering plus ZRLE compression — feels real-time on a LAN and stays usable on thin connections. • Touch that makes sense on iPad and iPhone Tap to click, one-finger scroll, long-press to drag and select text, two-finger wheel scrolling, pinch to zoom. • Real mouse behavior on the Mac On a Mac (same app), clicks, drags, and right-clicks pass through 1:1. Option-scroll pans; Command-scroll zooms. • Full keyboard, and your voice Software and hardware keyboards both work. Modifier keys (⌘⌥⌃⇧) tap once for the next keystroke or double-tap to lock — every shortcut is reachable. Tap the mic on the keyboard and what you say is typed straight into the Mac. • Private by design Credentials live only in your device's Keychain, and passwords are encrypted in transit using Apple's standard Screen Sharing authentication. With Headroom on the Mac too, traffic between your device and the Mac's helper is encrypted with TLS, using a key made for each connection. • Made for iPhone Duo Half open like a laptop, your Mac sits on the upper screen and the keyboard on the lower one. Fully open or held like a book, the Mac spans the inner screen; closed, the outer screen works on its own. Nothing is drawn across the fold. WHAT THE CONTROL BAR DOES • Trackpad: put one under the bar — slide to move, tap to click, tap then touch again and slide to drag. Two fingers scroll, a pinch zooms, a two-finger tap right-clicks • Displays: with several on the Mac, show them one at a time, full screen • Circle to zoom: draw around what you want to see • Open an app: type the first letters and the app opens on the Mac • Screenshots: the whole screen, an area or the panel, taken on the Mac • Picture in Picture: keep an eye on the Mac in a small window while you use other apps • Key button: types your saved password into the Mac's login screen AND ALSO • Apple Pencil works as a mouse: hover to move, touch to click and drag • A widget and a Control Center control reach your last Mac in one tap • Lock the app with Face ID, and hide your Mac's screen in the app switcher • Siri and Shortcuts connect, zoom and type for you CONNECTED IN THREE STEPS 1. On the Mac: System Settings > General > Sharing > turn on Screen Sharing 2. Open Headroom — your Macs appear automatically 3. Sign in with the Mac's username and password. Done. HEADROOM PRO • Unlimited connection time • Every future Pro feature included REQUIREMENTS • Client: iPad / iPhone (iOS 17+, verified on iOS 27 and iPadOS 27), Apple Silicon Mac • Host: any Mac with Screen Sharing enabled (no extra software) • Same network; for internet access we recommend a VPN such as Tailscale — Headroom is built by MusicFlow ("music × engineering") — the tool we made to run our own headless Mac minis, polished into something we use every day.

Your computers and PC games, on iPhone and iPad. Use touch controls on iPhone or a spacious workspace with keyboard and pointer support on iPad. On iPhone Duo with iOS 27.1, unfold for a larger desktop or partially fold for a desktop above a trackpad or keyboard. FOUR WAYS TO CONNECT • Mac Screen Sharing: Apple High Performance streaming on compatible Apple-silicon Macs, with physical or virtual desktops and host-supported computer audio. Choose all physical displays or an individual monitor. • RDP: connect to supported Windows and Linux desktops, with text and image clipboard sharing and host-supported audio. Transfer files and folders with Pro when the server supports clipboard file redirection. • VNC: connect to compatible Mac, Windows and Linux servers. Adjust image quality and compression on supporting servers and choose a monitor when the server supplies its layout. • Sunshine: stream a desktop or configured app from a separately installed Sunshine host. Use a compatible controller or the on-screen gamepad. Choose HEVC or H.264 and adjust stream size, frame rate, bitrate and stereo audio quality. Optional HDR needs a compatible host, decoder and display. CONTROLS THAT FIT Click, drag, scroll and type. Use touch gestures, an extra-key strip, standard shortcuts, and supported keyboards and pointing devices. Fit the desktop or zoom in. Desktop previews, Compact view and quick-access widgets help you find your computers. Built-in setup and gesture guides help you get connected. START FREE One saved computer, every connection type, full connection settings, supported audio and text clipboard, RDP image sharing, Sunshine HDR and game controllers, standard shortcuts, desktop previews and backup export. No ads, session timers or artificial quality limits. MORE ROOM WITH PRO Unlimited saved computers, folders, notes, reusable text, custom and pinned shortcuts, control presets, saved workspaces, desktop captures, screen-text recognition, RDP file and folder transfers, and connection-library import. Choose what to sync through iCloud, automatically or manually, with a Wi-Fi/Ethernet-only option. Open up to eight session windows on iPad or Mac. Customize the Duo control strip. Monthly, yearly and lifetime plans include the same Pro features across iPhone, iPad and Mac using the same Apple Account. Existing lifetime owners keep access. Restore Purchases is on the Pro page. YOUR CONNECTION, YOUR SETUP No Farroom account, relay or Farroom helper app. Your computer needs a supported remote-access server and a reachable address. Away from home, you can use a separately installed private-network app such as Tailscale. Farroom does not provide a VPN. KNOW YOUR CONNECTION Quality, frame rate, HDR, sound and available controls depend on the host, network and viewing device. Sunshine display selection is managed on the host; it has no clipboard or file transfer. Controller rumble depends on controller and host support. Unicode text input depends on the host; a US keyboard compatibility mode is available. VNC has no audio and supports Latin-1 text clipboard only. RDP images and files need host clipboard support; Windows Home cannot host built-in RDP. Linux support depends on its desktop and server. Microphone forwarding and session recording are unavailable. Mobile systems may suspend background sessions. Saved passwords stay in device Keychain. Optional iCloud setup sync excludes passwords, certificate approvals, desktop images, audio and clipboard contents. SUBSCRIPTIONS Monthly and yearly Pro renew automatically unless canceled. Eligible yearly subscribers receive a 14-day free trial. Local prices and eligibility appear before purchase. Manage or cancel through Apple Account subscriptions. Expiry returns to Free without deleting saved data. Lifetime does not renew. Privacy: https://farroom.danielren.tz/privacy/ Terms: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/