NightdeskGet the app

For Android phones · Mac and Linux

Your computer, in your hand.

See your Mac’s or Linux computer’s real screen on your phone and use it like you’re sitting at your desk: click, scroll, drag and type. From the couch, from bed, or from the other side of the world.

Get it onGoogle PlayFree downloadFor Mac and Linux

Free to try for 14 daysNo accountAndroid 12+ · macOS 14+ · Linux

A Mac and an unfolded Galaxy Z Fold showing the same desktop, linked by a beam of light.
How it works

01Pair once

Scan a code. That’s the whole setup.

Open Nightdesk on your Mac and on your phone, and point the phone at the code in the Mac’s window. Or tap your Mac under Nearby and type its 8-character code.

There’s no account and nothing to sign up for. Pairing makes a key that only your phone and your Mac know, and it never expires: from then on, one tap links you to your Mac.

  • No account
  • No sign-up
  • Pairing never expires
The phone held up to the Mac, scanning the pairing code in Nightdesk’s window.

02The stream

Your Mac’s real screen. Sharp, smooth, instant.

Your Mac’s hardware encoder turns its screen into video, and your phone’s hardware decoder shows each frame the moment it arrives. So the pointer moves when your finger does.

Up to 120 frames a second on phones with fast screens, at up to your Mac’s full Retina resolution. Pinch to zoom and small text gets sharp, with the view following the pointer. When nothing moves, nothing is sent, so both batteries rest.

120Hz
Up to, on fast screens
HW×2
Hardware encode and decode
Frames of the Mac’s screen streaming to the unfolded phone, which zooms in on the terminal.

03Control

A trackpad, Mac keys and a way to write.

Slide a finger to move the pointer, tap to click, two fingers to scroll with momentum or right-click. Three fingers up for Mission Control, sideways for the next Space. Or switch to touch and point straight at things.

  • Mac keys above your keyboard: ⌘ ⌥ ⌃ ⇧, esc, tab and arrows, and your own shortcuts.
  • Write: type or dictate a whole prompt, then send it. It lands in Claude Code, Terminal or any app in one piece.
  • One tap away: Mission Control, Spotlight, volume, brightness, media keys, screenshots and Notification Center. Switch apps with their real icons.
  • Bring a keyboard and mouse: Bluetooth ones work the way they do on the Mac, ⌘Tab included.
The phone showing Mission Control, the Mac panel with volume and brightness, and Claude Code shortcuts.

04Anywhere

From the couch, or the other side of the world.

At home, the picture goes straight from your Mac to your phone. Anywhere else, on cellular, at a hotel or at the office, Nightdesk links through a small relay by itself, with nothing to set up.

Everything is end-to-end encrypted on your Mac and your phone, with the key made when you paired. The relay only passes along bytes it can’t read or change, and it stores nothing. Your Mac just has to be awake and online.

256bit
AES-GCM, end to end
0
Bytes stored by the relay
The Mac and the phone far apart, linked through a relay that only sees encrypted data.

05Send anything

Links, text, photos and files. Both ways.

Share from any app on your phone to Nightdesk · Send to Mac. Links open in your Mac’s browser, text goes onto its clipboard or right where you’re typing, and photos, videos and files land in Downloads › Nightdesk.

Drop files on Nightdesk on your Mac and they land on your phone. It all goes over the same encrypted link, and if the link drops, a transfer picks up where it stopped.

4GB
A file, both ways
A link, a photo, some text and a file travelling between the phone and the Mac in both directions.

06Unlock

Unlock your Mac with your fingerprint.

When your Mac’s lock screen is up, your phone says so. Touch the sensor and Nightdesk types your Mac’s password in for you.

The password stays on your phone, encrypted with a key that only your fingerprint (or your PIN) opens, and only ever goes to your own Mac over the encrypted link.

  • Stays on your phone
  • Fingerprint or PIN
The Mac’s lock screen and the phone’s fingerprint prompt filling its ring of dots.

07Made for foldables

Unfold for a big Mac. Half-fold for a tiny laptop.

Nightdesk fills the Galaxy Z Fold’s inner screen, works on the cover screen, and keeps going as you fold, unfold and rotate.

Half-fold it in landscape and you get a tiny laptop: the Mac on top, a trackpad and keys below. Any phone, foldable or tablet with Android 12 or later works too.

  • Inner screen
  • Cover screen
  • Tabletop
The foldable phone half-folded in landscape: the Mac’s screen on top, a trackpad and keys below.

08Coming soonSoon

Mac to Mac.

Next, Nightdesk links your Macs to each other, so you can use one Mac from another the way you use it from your phone. We’re building it now.

A second Mac joining the first, linked by a dashed line: Mac to Mac, coming soon.

As smooth as your phone’s screen

Accounts to sign up for

End-to-end encryption, every link

Free to try, no card needed

09Private by design

Your screen is yours.

No accounts, nothing to sign in to. Your screen never touches our servers.

  • At home, straight from Mac to phone.On the same network, the picture goes directly from your Mac to your phone. Nothing in between.
  • Away, end-to-end encrypted.Anywhere else, a small relay forwards the link. Everything is encrypted on your Mac and your phone with a key made when you paired, so the relay can’t see or change what it carries. It stores nothing; it only knows whether your Mac is online.
  • No ads, no trackers, nothing sold.We count anonymous things, like how long sessions last, to make Nightdesk better. Never your screen, keystrokes, files or name. You can turn it off in Settings.

Read the privacy policy →

At home, the link goes straight from Mac to phone. Away, it passes through an encrypted relay that can’t read it.AT HOMEAWAYRELAY · CAN’T READ ITMacPhoneMacPhone

10Get started

Set up in about five minutes.

  1. Install Nightdesk on your computer

    On a Mac, download it and allow Screen Recording and Accessibility: each is one click. On Linux, paste one command in a terminal, even over SSH.

    Mac →   Linux →

  2. Get the app on your phone

    Install Nightdesk from Google Play on any phone, foldable or tablet with Android 12 or later.

    Open Google Play →

  3. Scan the code

    Point your phone at the code your computer shows: in Nightdesk’s window on a Mac, in the terminal on Linux. That’s it: from then on, one tap links you to it, at home or away.

11Questions

Good questions.

Which phones does it work on?

Android phones, foldables and tablets with Android 12 or later. It’s made with foldables in mind: unfold for a big screen, or half-fold in landscape for a tiny laptop with the computer on top and a trackpad and keys below.

Which computers?

Any Mac with macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later, with Apple silicon or Intel: Nightdesk for Mac. And Linux computers with GNOME, like Ubuntu or an NVIDIA Jetson, monitor or not: Nightdesk for Linux.

Do my phone and computer need to be on the same Wi-Fi?

No. On the same network they link directly. Anywhere else, Nightdesk links through its encrypted relay by itself. The computer has to be awake and online; keep a Mac plugged in.

Is it secure?

Every link is end-to-end encrypted (a P-256 key exchange and AES-256-GCM) with a key made when you paired. Only phones you’ve paired can reach your computer, and the relay only passes along encrypted bytes it can’t read or change.

Do I need an account?

No. There’s nothing to sign up for. Pair your phone with your computer once and you’re done.

Can I try it first?

Yes. Everything is on for 14 days from the first time you link to a computer, no card needed, and the app shows how many days are left. No computer handy? The app has a built-in demo to try. Nightdesk for Mac and Nightdesk for Linux are free.

Can I use it with my MacBook’s lid closed?

Yes. Set up lid-closed mode once in Nightdesk on the Mac. With the lid closed, your Mac stays awake while it’s plugged in (and on battery while your phone is linked), with a screen at your usual resolution. Don’t keep a closed, awake MacBook in a bag.

How much mobile data does it use?

A still screen sends almost nothing. Away from home the picture is capped at 12 Mbps and adapts to your connection, so a screen that’s changing all the time can use up to about 5 GB an hour. Watch your plan when you’re on cellular.

Can I control more than one computer?

Yes. Pair as many as you like, Macs and Linux computers together, and pick one from Home.

Does it work with Windows or Linux?

Linux, yes: Nightdesk for Linux works even on boards and servers with no monitor. Windows is on the way. The phone side is Android only.

More help on the support page.

Your desk, wherever you are.

Free to try for 14 days. No account, no card.

Get it on Google PlayFor Mac and Linux