A native Swift menu bar app that turns any browser into a full-featured remote. No account. No subscription. No internet.
Why iControl
Open a URL on your phone — that's it. Works on any OS, any browser. Android, iOS, Windows, Linux. No app store, no Bluetooth pairing, no nonsense.
Your keystrokes never leave your network. No relay servers, no cloud, no telemetry. iControl works entirely between your devices on the same Wi-Fi.
Pure Swift with zero external dependencies. Direct access to macOS APIs means native cursor acceleration through the HID pipeline — not simulated. Feels like real hardware.
The entire app — Swift binary, web server, full UI, and all icons in every size — weighs under a megabyte. 700 KB of that is logos and favicons. The actual app is basically nothing.
1-finger move with cursor acceleration, 2-finger scroll, configurable sensitivity per gesture. Tap, double-tap, triple-tap. Every interaction tuned.
Five tabs purpose-built for different contexts: General, Type, Media, Apps, System. Modifier keys, clipboard bridge, cursor pad, app launcher — it's all there.
Controls
Five tabs, zero compromises. From media playback to full system shortcuts — it covers the controls that actually matter when your laptop is across the room.
How it works
Drop iControl.app into your Applications folder. It lives in the menu bar — no Dock icon, no splash screen. Grant Accessibility permissions when prompted.
Tap the menu bar icon to see the QR code. Scan it on your phone — or just type your-mac.local:4040 in any browser.
The web UI loads instantly. Add it to your home screen as a PWA for one-tap access. Reconnect button handles any dropped connections.
Philosophy
iControl does one thing: send input from your phone to your Mac.
Built out of frustration with subscription-gated, ad-riddled remote control apps that charge recurring fees for something that doesn't continuously cost them anything. No frameworks, no package managers, no build steps on either side. The entire project is readable in an afternoon. Fork it, skin it, make it yours.
"Built with spite, refined on a couch."
Security
iControl only accepts connections from your local network. No port forwarding, no DDNS, no exposure to the internet.
The client sends commands. The Mac executes them. The only data sent back is connection state and volume level.
Nothing to sign up for, nothing to leak. No analytics, no telemetry, no third-party SDKs touching your traffic.
Commands are validated against a strict whitelist before execution. The server never evaluates arbitrary code or exposes the filesystem.
▸ Auth modes (accept / password / none) are planned for a future release.
Get Started
Download the latest release or build from source.