UniPad For Mac

Most Mac users own an iPhone or iPad, and there are already plenty of ways you can use these devices together. However, one thing you can’t do is take advantage of your mobile device’s touchscreen, or at least not without a third-party app.

UniPad lets you use your iPhone/iPad as a trackpad, sending mouse input to your Mac via Bluetooth. It is very simple to set up, requiring only that you install the app on both devices. It also supports clicking and two-finger scrolling.

Once you’ve installed the app on your Mac and mobile device, all you need to do is lunch them, grant the necessary permissions, and connect to the iPhone or iPad from the desktop app. Everything is done via Bluetooth, so the devices don’t even need to be on the same network.

When everything has been set up, you can start using the mobile device’s screen as a trackpad to move the cursor on your Mac’s desktop. There are buttons for left and right-clicking (you can also tap and double-tap the screen) and you can use two fingers for scrolling.

UniPad was easy to set up, and there were no bugs to speak of. You can quickly connect or disconnect multiple devices, and the app is accessible from the menu bar. However, it would be nice if it could be hidden from the Dock.

The biggest issue is how slowly the cursor moves across your desktop. There is currently no way to increase the sensitivity, and this is especially problematic on smaller iPhone screens. Flipping the phone into portrait mode helps, but we definitely need a way to adjust sensitivity.

While I can’t think of many potential use cases, aside from maybe controlling your Mac when away from your desk, or perhaps troubleshooting, UniPad does the job pretty well, and it’s completely free. However, one feature it really needs is the ability to increase cursor sensitivity.