Saffsanity/sill

Sill is a remote desktop application that streams a Mac window or desktop to an iPhone or iPad over a local network or VPN connection.

Sill solves the problem of controlling a Mac from an iOS device by capturing individual windows from the Mac as HEVC video and streaming them to the companion iOS app, where users can interact via touch, Apple Pencil, trackpad, or keyboard. Input from the iOS device—taps, scrolls, and key presses—is sent back to the Mac to control it. The tool operates entirely peer-to-peer without requiring accounts or central servers. Connection options include same-network linking, USB cable, Direct Wireless Connection when devices are nearby, or a user's own VPN such as Tailscale for remote access.

Sill suits users who want to control their Mac from an iPad or iPhone without relying on cloud services or third-party infrastructure. It works best for those with Apple silicon Macs running macOS 14 or later and iOS or iPadOS 17 or later. The tool is particularly valuable for users concerned about privacy, since all communication stays on the local network or passes through a VPN they control. The approach of streaming individual windows rather than the full desktop allows selective sharing and can reduce bandwidth usage.

The project maintains active development with regular updates to the Mac and iOS applications. The tool has been refined to support multiple connection modes and includes features like window thumbnails, app launching from the iOS device, and adjustable quality and frame rate settings. The codebase is written in Swift and SwiftUI, leveraging ScreenCaptureKit and VideoToolbox for efficient video capture and encoding on macOS.