Get started with Foldout
Set up your iPhone as a second display for your Mac in a few minutes, then make the most of it.
Quickstart
Six steps, and you only do them once.
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Check what you need
A Mac with macOS 14 Sonoma or later, and an iPhone with iOS 17 or later. iPad works too. Turn on Wi‑Fi on both. They can share a Wi‑Fi network, or just be near each other: Foldout can connect them directly.
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Install Foldout for Mac
Download the app, open the disk image, and drag Foldout into your Applications folder. Then open Foldout from Applications.
Foldout lives in your menu bar, at the top right of the screen, not in the Dock. Its panel opens by itself until setup is done.
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Allow Screen Recording and Accessibility
Foldout’s panel asks for two permissions. Click Allow… next to each, then switch Foldout on in the System Settings page that opens.
- Screen Recording sends the extra display to your iPhone. Foldout only captures the display it makes, never your Mac’s own screens. On macOS 15 and later it’s called Screen & System Audio Recording.
- Accessibility turns your taps on the iPhone into clicks on your Mac.
After allowing Screen Recording, quit Foldout and open it again. Foldout also offers to open when you log in, so your iPhone can find your Mac after a restart. It stays off unless you turn it on.
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Install Foldout on your iPhone
Get Foldout from the App Store and open it. When iOS asks, allow Local Network access: that’s how Foldout finds your Mac.
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Pair with the 6-digit code
Your Mac shows up under Your Macs. Tap it. Both screens now show the same 6-digit code:
If the codes match, click Pair on your Mac. If they don’t, click Don’t Pair and try again. Comparing them is what stops another device from pairing in place of yours.
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Use your new display
Your Mac now has an extra display, and it’s on your iPhone. Drag a window off the edge of your Mac’s screen and it appears there. Your Mac’s keyboard and trackpad work on it, and you can touch it directly: see Touch gestures.
Next time, just open Foldout on your iPhone. It connects to your Mac by itself, with no code.
Touch gestures
Your iPhone works like a touch screen for your Mac. There are no modes to switch: Foldout tells gestures apart by how you touch.
| Gesture | On your Mac |
|---|---|
| Tap | Click. Tap twice or three times to double- or triple-click. |
| Swipe | Scroll. A flick keeps gliding, the way it does on iPhone; touch the screen to stop it. |
| Touch and hold, then move | Click and drag: select text, move a window, drag a file. |
| Touch and hold, then lift | Right-click. A two-finger tap right-clicks too. |
| Two-finger drag | Scroll, like on a trackpad. |
| Two-finger pinch | Zoom whatever’s under your fingers: photos, maps, web pages, PDFs. |
| Three-finger pinch | Make text bigger or smaller, one Text size step per pinch. |
| Three-finger tap | Show or hide the controls, including Disconnect. |
When you touch the screen, the pointer jumps to your finger, then goes back to where your trackpad or mouse left it.
Display settings
Click Foldout in your Mac’s menu bar to open its panel. Position and Text size change right away, while you work.
- Position
- Drag your iPhone’s display to any side of your Mac’s screen in the picture. It snaps to the corners and the middle of each side, and Foldout remembers where you put it.
- Text size
- Slide from Small to Large. Small is the sharpest and fits the most. Medium makes Mac text the same size as your iPhone’s own. Large is the biggest macOS allows. A three-finger pinch on your iPhone changes it too.
- Quality
- Balanced, Sharp or Sharpest. Higher settings look crisper and use more of your Wi‑Fi. A change applies the next time your iPhone connects.
Everyday use
Connecting
Once paired, Foldout on your iPhone connects to the last Mac it used whenever it’s open and not connected, including after your Mac restarts or Wi‑Fi comes back. It never starts pairing on its own.
Folding and turning your iPhone
On iPhone Duo, unfold it for the 7.6″ inner screen, fold it for the outer one, and turn it sideways or upright. The display resizes in place each time, on the same connection, and your windows stay put. Other iPhones resize the same way when you turn them.
Switching apps or locking your iPhone
Your Mac holds the display for 10 seconds, with its windows where they were. Come back in time and you carry on. After that, the windows move back to your Mac’s screen. To bring them back sooner, click Bring Windows Back in Foldout’s panel.
Stopping
Tap Disconnect on your iPhone (a three-finger tap shows it), or click Stop Sharing in Foldout’s panel on your Mac. The extra display goes away and its windows move back to your Mac’s screen. After Disconnect, your iPhone won’t connect again until you pick a Mac.
Free sessions and Foldout Pro
Without a subscription, each session lasts up to 5 minutes. Foldout Pro removes the limit, and it comes with your Apple Account to any iPhone or iPad you sign in on.
Updates
Foldout for Mac checks for updates by itself, about once a day. To check right away, click Check for Updates… at the bottom of its panel. Foldout for iPhone updates through the App Store.
Pairing and devices
Your Mac shows its extra display on one device at a time. Each iPhone or iPad pairs with each Mac once.
- Add another iPhone or iPad: open Foldout on it and tap your Mac, then compare the codes as in the Quickstart.
- Pair again: on your iPhone, tap ⋯ next to your Mac (or touch and hold it), then Pair Again.
- Forget a Mac: on your iPhone, tap ⋯ next to it, then Forget This Mac.
- Forget a device: on your Mac, open Foldout’s panel and click Forget next to it under Paired devices.
- Moving to a new iPhone: install Foldout and sign in with the same Apple Account to keep Foldout Pro. Pairing keys never leave the device they were made on, so the new iPhone pairs once with your Mac.
Getting help
The Support page answers common questions about pairing, the Mac’s permissions, and Wi‑Fi. To report a problem, use Send Feedback… at the bottom of Foldout’s panel on your Mac or of the home screen on your iPhone, or email us.