Best Second Screen App And Ipad How To Make The

Eight years ago, when my oldest daughter was born, I spent 20 weeks across Canada working and visiting family.

I reluctantly gave up my dual monitor setup and spent time trying to figure out how I could use my brand new iPad 2 as a display with my 13 MacBook Pro.

At that point, I used Air Display with my iPad to get a dual monitor experience while working.

Luckily, weve come a long way with many decent contenders for making your iPad an external monitor for your Mac.

In fact, weve come so far in this category that Apple now offers its own, built-in option for using the iPad as an external display for your Mac.

Sidecar is a new feature inside macOS Catalina that is easily implemented, easily used, and even expands the functionality of your Mac beyond mere screen real estate.

Best Second Screen App And Ipad How To Make The

Get Started with Sidecar VIDEO TUTORIAL: How to Setup Sidecar Learn how to make the most of the second monitor you already have.

Give your productivity a boost whether working from home or on the go.

Well show you An Overview of Sidecar Settings on the Mac How to Position your Sidecar Display Correctly Walkthrough of Sidecar Features on the iPad GET THE VIDEO TUTORIAL Were grateful for such an easy-to-use feature built right into macOS, but there are a few consequences.

For one, a sherlocked feature enables more folks to expand their capabilities with a Mac and iPad, but it also results in a third-party app developer competing against Apple.

In many cases, this results in an abandonment of the third-party app entirely.

Third-party developers are generally much better at pushing features closer to the bleeding edge than Apple is.

As a result, weve had to name two separate app choices in the category of using your iPad as external display.

For those using iPadOS 13 and macOS Catalina in tandem, Sidecar is the easy pick as the best way to use your iPad as a second monitor.

For those who are avoiding macOS Catalina, our former pick (Air Display 3) is still a great pick for second monitor and dual-display workflows.

And for those who are using their Macs in a headless variety (i.e.

Luna Display option is still the winner.

What is this category The apps were looking at today allow you to use your iPad as a second monitor, or (in some cases) run your Mac in a headless configuration and use only your iPad as the monitor.

If youre only looking for a way to remotely connect to your Mac from your iPad, then you should look at VNC apps like Screens.

Criteria for Great Apps that Allow You to use your iPad as a second monitor Ease of use Its reasonable to want a quick and easy way to implement an iPad as a second display.

Ideally, the feature is built into the operating system and is one click from being implemented.

If not built right in, I dont want to play around with settings.

Similarly, if Im using my MacBook Air in clamshell mode, which is most often, and want to connect for a second to test something, I dont want to open the MacBook Air to make it work.

Best Second Screen App For Mac And Ipad