PocketRocket Host settings

Whether the host starts on its own, what happens to the screens and windows of this Mac during a session, and what stays after it.

Start at loginDefault Off

Starts PocketRocket Host when you log in to this Mac, so it’s reachable without opening the app by hand.

When to change it Turn it on for any Mac you want to reach while you’re away.

Keep runningDefault Off

If the host crashes or someone quits it at this Mac, macOS starts it again within a few seconds. Available when Start at login is on.

When to change it Turn it on for a Mac nobody sits at. Turn it off when you want to be able to quit the host for good.

Restore window layout after the sessionDefault On

During a connection the screens of this Mac are turned off and macOS gathers every window on one screen. The host notes where your windows were just before and puts them back once the screens return — same screen, position, size and split views (like sidebar widths), when macOS allows it. For desktops, the end of the connection counts: if you added, removed or reordered desktops in Mission Control, or moved windows between them, each window goes to the desktop with the same number it had when the connection ended, and desktops you added stay. macOS doesn’t let apps reorder desktops, so the host moves windows rather than desktops — wallpapers stay with their desktops. Needs the Accessibility permission.

When to change it Turn it off if another app already restores your layout — with Spencer or spacekeeper running, the host leaves it to them anyway.

Recreate missing desktops (Mission Control animation)Default Off

If a desktop your windows were on disappeared during the session, the host creates it again before moving the windows back. This briefly opens Mission Control on this Mac.

When to change it Turn it on if you use several desktops and want each window back on its own one.

Keep a closed MacBook awake during a connectionDefault On

On power, while a device is connected, a closed MacBook doesn’t go to sleep — so the host can turn off every screen, an external display too, and the session runs on the virtual display alone. A small helper changes this system setting only for the connection and puts it back afterwards, when you unplug the power adapter, and after a restart. If you had already turned sleep off, the host leaves it alone.

When to change it Shown only on a MacBook. macOS asks you once to allow the helper in System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions.

Keep the virtual display after disconnectingDefault On

After a session, the screens of this Mac stay off and the virtual display stays until someone moves the mouse or presses a key at the Mac — with no time limit, so reconnecting is instant and your windows stay where they were.

When to change it Turn it off if the screens should come back as soon as a session ends. Shown on a Mac with a display connected.

If you turned PocketRocket Host off in System Settings › General › Login Items, an orange note here shows where to turn it back on. On a desktop Mac, the host doesn’t change sleep settings: to keep it reachable, keep it from sleeping in System Settings.

The sound of this Mac during a session, and the microphone and camera of your device that apps on the Mac can use.

Mute this Mac’s sound during a connectionDefault On

While you’re connected, the speakers or headphones of the Mac stay silent — the sound still reaches your device. When the connection ends, the previous volume comes back; if someone changes it at the Mac in the meantime, their choice is kept.

When to change it Turn it off when someone at the Mac should hear the sound too.

PocketRocket MicrophoneDefault Installed on first launch

A virtual microphone that lets apps on the Mac hear the microphone of your iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro or Mac during a session. Installing it needs an administrator password. The status shows Installed, Update required or Not installed.

When to change it If you dismissed the password prompt, click Install… here anytime.

PocketRocket CameraDefault Approved once in System Settings

A virtual camera that brings the camera of your device to apps on the Mac, such as FaceTime or Zoom. It’s a system extension: the status shows Active, Waiting for approval or Inactive.

When to change it Click Enable… and allow the extension when macOS asks.

Camera and microphone

Permissions macOS asks you to grant. Each row shows whether PocketRocket Host has them, and opens the right place in System Settings when it doesn’t.

Screen & System Audio RecordingDefault Asked on first launch

Captures the screen and the system sound to send to your device. Without it, there’s no picture.

AccessibilityDefault Asked on first launch

Lets the mouse and keyboard of your device control the Mac. Without it, you can look but not click or type.

Input MonitoringDefault Asked when needed

Notices when someone uses the keyboard or mouse at the Mac, so they can take back control there.

NotificationsDefault Asked on first launch

Lets PocketRocket warn you when it loses a permission or a device.

Granted means everything is in place. If a permission is Missing, click Open System Settings; if it’s Not determined, click Request Access and macOS asks you. Local network access is granted by macOS the first time it’s needed and can’t be checked here.

How much bandwidth the host may use, and which paths your devices may take to reach this Mac.

Bandwidth limitDefault No limit (∞)

Caps everything the host sends to your device — picture, sound, camera and error correction — between 1 and 50 Mbps. The host stays within it by adjusting frame rate, compression and, last, resolution. Changes apply right away.

When to change it Set a limit on a metered or shared connection, such as a phone hotspot.

Allow NAT (direct from internet)Default On

Lets your devices connect straight from the internet. When needed, the host asks your router to open a port (NAT-PMP or UPnP).

Allow LAN (local network)Default On

Lets devices on the same network connect directly and find the Mac with Bonjour.

Allow VPN (tunnel address)Default On

Lets devices connect through a VPN you use, such as WireGuard or Tailscale.

Allow relayDefault On

When nothing else works — for example behind carrier-grade NAT — both sides connect out to PocketRocket’s relay, which only passes on encrypted bytes. Turning it off stops traffic through the relay; the Mac is still found through it.

When to change it Leave all paths on unless you have a reason not to — for example, turn the relay off to keep connections inside your own network.

If macOS or a firewall blocks the host from your local network, a warning here says that the port for NAT can’t be opened and links to System Settings › Privacy & Security › Local Network. Until you allow it, devices connect through the relay.

How the paths work

People and devices with permanent access, given with Share Screen… or Online Key Sharing. One-time connections never appear here.

Each entryDefault Empty until you pair a device

Shows the device — or an iCloud account, which covers every device signed in to it — with its device key, when it was paired and when it last connected.

Remove

Takes access away at once. If the device is connected, the session ends, and its tile disappears the next time it contacts this Mac.

Allow connections without approvalDefault Off

Off: every connection from this device waits until you click Allow on this Mac — in the panel or in the notification. Nobody answers within 60 seconds? The connection is denied. On: the device connects without asking. Devices paired with the key have no switch here — the Online Key Sharing section decides for them.

When to change it Turn it on only for a device you fully trust, such as your partner’s Mac.

Online Key SharingDefault Off

Gives you a secret link through the relay to a page that always shows a current code for this Mac — a separate code from the one in Share Screen…. Copy Link copies the link, Recent page views show when the page was opened, and New Link… stops the old link and the current code at once. The Mac doesn’t show the full link or the code from the page.

When to change it For someone who connects often, or a Mac you look after, when reading out a code each time is a chore.

Allow permanent accessDefault Off

Off: each code from the link gives a single connection, which you approve on this Mac; when it ends, the device is forgotten. On: devices that pair with a code from the link are remembered, appear in the list like any other and can connect again. Removing one offers Remove and Create New Link, because anyone who still has the link can get a new code.

When to change it For someone who connects often and whose devices you want to keep in the list.

Allow connections without approvalDefault Off

Works only with Allow permanent access. Off: every connection from a device paired with the key waits for your approval on this Mac. On: those devices connect without asking while Online Key Sharing is on — and anyone who has the link can pair a device and take control of this Mac, so the Mac warns you before you turn it on, and again when you turn on Online Key Sharing with it allowed.

When to change it Turn it on only for a Mac you look after remotely, and keep the link secret.

You can change these at the Mac or remotely from your own devices. While a guest is connected, only someone at the Mac can remove devices or change the approval switches, and Online Key Sharing can only be turned off or made stricter.

Share Screen

Your own zsh scripts: one when a device connects, one when the session ends. For example, turn on a Focus, pause a backup or note who connected.

Before connectingDefault Off

Runs when a device connects to an idle Mac — after it’s accepted, before the screens are switched. Switching networks, resuming or another device taking over don’t run it again.

Time limitDefault 5 s

How long the host waits for the script before connecting: from 1 to 30 seconds. After that it connects anyway and stops the script.

After disconnectingDefault Off

Runs when the last device is gone and the screens of this Mac are back. The host doesn’t wait for it; it may run for up to 60 seconds.

Run Now

Tries the script right away and shows the exit code, how long it took and its output.

Scripts are changed only here, in PocketRocket Host settings — not from the PocketRocket app on your devices. Avoid AppleScript: macOS asks for permission on the screen of this Mac, and nobody can click it during a remote session.

Some apps that manage displays or windows turn the screens of this Mac back on, or move windows, during a session. The host can quit them for the session and reopen them afterwards.

A switch for each app foundDefault Off

When it’s on, the host quits the app before a device connects — before your own Before connecting script — and reopens it in the background after disconnecting, but only if it was running. This isn’t shown in Events.

When to change it Turn it on when an app keeps waking the screens or moving windows during your sessions.

Recommended

Marks apps known to turn the screens back on or move windows during a connection, such as BetterDisplay, Lunar or Stay.

DisplayLink ManagerDefault Off

Runs the screens connected through DisplayLink. While it’s closed, those screens stay dark, and they come back after disconnecting.

The pane lists only apps found on this Mac. The host knows display apps such as BetterDisplay, BetterDummy, SwitchResX, Lunar, MonitorControl, DisplayBuddy, Resolutionator and DisplayLink Manager, and window apps such as Stay, Spencer, spacekeeper, Amethyst, yabai, AeroSpace, Moom, Rectangle, Rectangle Pro, Magnet, BetterSnapTool, Spectacle, Divvy, Loop and Swish.

A key combination you press on your device’s keyboard during a session. The host recognizes it in the keys your device sends; nothing is set up on your device.

Open diagnosticsDefault ⌃⌥⌘D

Shows a window with live statistics of the stream on the Mac.

When to change it Useful when our support asks for it.

To change it, click the field and press a new combination with at least one modifier key. Esc cancels. Screen scaling has no shortcut on the Mac anymore — you change it on your device, in the session bar.

How the host balances sharpness and smoothness when the connection gets weak.

Sharpness vs fluidityDefault At least 30 fps

The lowest frame rate the host drops to on a weak connection, from 15 to 60 fps. Above it, the frame rate steps down gradually and only as far as needed; below it, the host compresses harder and only then lowers the resolution.

When to change it Move towards Sharper for text and design work, and towards Smoother for video and games.

Smoothness bufferDefault Up to 200 ms

The longest the picture may pause to recover a lost packet, from 25 to 1000 ms. On a clean connection it adds no delay. It’s also the most latency the host accepts — before it gets there, the host lowers the frame rate.

When to change it 25 ms for the lowest latency on a good network; 300–500 ms for smooth video over a connection that loses packets.

How the picture adapts

The installed version, and what the updater is doing.

Installed version and StatusDefault Checks at launch and every 24 h

PocketRocket Host downloads updates in the background and installs them only when nobody is connected. Updates are signed and notarized, and the host restarts on its own afterwards.

When to change it If the status says the app runs from the disk image or a temporary location, move it to Applications — otherwise it can’t update.

Check Now

Checks for an update right away. If one is already downloaded, it installs it and restarts the host.

A tool for our support team: live charts of the stream, the latest log lines and the live availability of this Mac over LAN, VPN, NAT and the relay. You don’t need it for everyday use.