Why a VPN instead of a relay
Most remote-access tools route your screen through the vendor's servers so it "just works" from anywhere. That's convenient, and it means your screen content transits infrastructure you don't control. Apperture only connects over private networks — local Wi-Fi, private VPNs, and tailnet addresses — and rejects public internet endpoints outright.
Tailscale is the recommended way to take that private network with you. It builds a WireGuard-based mesh between your devices; to Apperture, your Mac at home looks like it's on the same LAN as your iPhone at the coffee shop.
Setup
- Create a free account at tailscale.com and install Tailscale on your Mac. Sign in.
- Install Tailscale from the App Store on your iPhone or iPad and sign in to the same account. Toggle the VPN on.
- Pair Apperture normally at home first (QR code on the Mac, scan with the phone, approve on the Mac).
- That's it. When you're away, turn Tailscale on and Apperture connects to your Mac over its tailnet address like you never left.
Tips
- Keep your Mac awake (or allow wake for network access) so the host is reachable.
- Apperture adapts stream quality to the connection — cellular works; latency depends on your route.
- Tailscale's free plan comfortably covers the personal one-Mac, few-devices case.
- What you can watch remotely: Xcode builds, AI coding agents, or any single Mac app.