Questions
The ones that come up first, and the ones that come up at the worst moment.
Does my phone need an app?
No. It opens a web page your computer serves — any modern phone or tablet browser, nothing to install or sign in to.
Can someone else on my Wi-Fi move my cursor?
No — finding the port is not enough; every connection answers an HMAC challenge first. What isn't protected yet is confidentiality: the link is plain ws://.
macOS says “PadRemote” Not Opened.
Nothing is wrong with the download: it isn't notarized yet, so macOS stops it until you allow it. Click Done, then System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.
It asks again after every reinstall or update, because the approval belongs to the copy you allowed. If the cursor then doesn't move, remove PadRemote from the Accessibility list with – and grant it again. From a terminal, xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/PadRemote.app skips the dialog. Every case →
The cursor doesn't move at all.
Almost always Accessibility permission: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility → enable PadRemote. It starts working the moment you tick the box. The phone says which of the two causes it is.
Why does macOS ask for Accessibility again after a rebuild or an update?
Ad-hoc signing ties the grant to that exact binary, so a rebuild or a newly downloaded version is a different app to macOS — the box stays ticked and the app is still refused. Remove PadRemote from the list with – and grant it again; install.sh does that for you.
The phone says “this site can't be reached”.
PadRemote serves the page itself, so check it is running in the menu bar. If curl -I http://localhost:8787/ answers 200, the problem is between the phone and the Mac — a different Wi-Fi, or client isolation.
It worked yesterday and now the QR doesn't.
Your Mac's Wi-Fi address changed. Open Connect a device… and re-scan — your phone stays paired, only the address moved.
Scrolling goes the wrong way.
Open Settings on the pad. “Matching your computer” means your Mac decides it; “match my computer” means this phone is overriding — tap to hand it back.
The pad says someone else is using this computer.
Two devices are connected and taking turns. Just touch the pad — the cursor comes to you a third of a second after the other one lifts.
My iPhone never buzzes when a drag starts.
It can't — iOS Safari has no vibration API. That is why the buzz is a bonus: the animation and the click sound always arrive.
Does it work on Windows or Linux?
Not yet. PadRemote is currently supported on macOS only. Linux and Windows are not supported, and the app does not build for them — watch the repository for news.
Where do my settings live?
~/Library/Application Support/PadRemote/config.json, hot-reloaded — edit it and feel the change within half a second.
Not here? Troubleshooting covers two dozen more, and an issue is always welcome.