If you're looking into trying out our remote desktop to desktop connections (PC - Mac), you don't need Duet's base app – check this article instead! If you still have questions, please don't hesitate and reach out to us at team@duetdisplay.com – our support specialists are ready and happy to help out! Jun 03, 2019  Screen Time is coming to the Mac, as well as the new iOS 13 features, such as the new photo gallery, folders in Notes, a redesigned Reminders app. And yes, Apple is.

Duet Display

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• Pros

  • Works with all major desktop and mobile platforms.
  • Easy setup.
  • Adds touch-screen capability.
  • Responsive performance.

• Cons

  • Wi-Fi and Apple Pencil support require paid in-app upgrades.
  • Not many in-app display options.
  • Pricey.

• Bottom Line

  The Duet Display iPad app is an easy way to add a second screen to your laptop.

With more of us working from home than ever these days, many of us have lost access to multiple monitor setups like those we have at the office. The Duet Display app ($9.99) can help, by turning a tablet or smartphone into an external monitor. The app works well in a pinch—or even full time—and offers upgrades like wireless connectivity and Apple Pencil support for the iPad, though the latter requires paying an extra fee.

Apple's latest operating systems, Catalina on the Mac and iPadOS on the tablet, now offer built-in secondary display functionality with Sidecar, but that only works with very recent hardware models. In fact, Sidecar won't work with any iPad released before 2019. Duet Display can work with iPads dating from as far back as 2012. This makes a good case for using Duet Display in a reclamation project for an old tablet you no longer use regularly. It also works cross-platform, so you can use a Windows PC or a Mac as the host and Apple or Android mobile devices as the secondary display. And you can even turn a Chromebook into a secondary display, since Chrome OS can run Android apps.

Installing Duet

You start by grabbing Duet Display($9.99 at Apple.com) from the App Store on your iPad (or iPhone) or on Google Play. The app is compatible with iOS 10 or later and iPadOS (there's only been one version so far) and with Android 7.1 or later.

When you first run the app, it tells you to visit Duet Display's website on your PC (running Windows 7 or later) or Mac (running OS X 10.9 or later). The installation requires a reboot of the computer, which is a bit of a nuisance, and rare these days.

After downloading and installing the driver on your Mac or Windows desktop or laptop, you simply hook the mobile device up to the computer's USB port. An upgrade, Duet Air ($1.99 per month), lets you connect wirelessly using Wi-Fi and even lets you use a second desktop instead of a mobile device (though Windows 10 has a built-in Connect feature for this).

Once you connect it via the USB cable, the mobile continues to behave normally, with all sync and recharging functions active. You even see mobile notifications while using the app. When you open the Duet Display app, the computer takes control. It briefly says 'Adjusting Resolution' and then you see an extended desktop on the mobile display. You can use Windows' Settings to choose whether you want the Taskbar on the second display, which isn't useful for small displays like those on smartphones. The mobile's screen can do all the typical multi-monitor functions, including extending or mirroring the desktop.

The app adds touch capability to any program you move over to that display—that's more than you get with Apple's Sidecar, which offers a non-touch display. Sidecar does, however, add a Touch bar, and drawing apps can use the Apple Pencil with it. Touch in Duet works well for scrolling and tapping icons and buttons, as well as for dragging windows around. If you usually carry your device's USB cable with you for recharging, you don't have to bring (or buy) anything extra to use Duet Display when you're on the road.

Dual Displays in Use

We used a Surface Book and several Apple and Android mobile devices to extend the desktop's interface (not at the same time: Duet only supports adding one mobile screen). Dragging a window from the computer's display to the iPad's screen works just as it would with any external monitor. That said, if you have eagle eyes, you may notice a slight lag when dragging windows around on the mobile's screen. You can minimize this delay by fiddling with the Duet Display's settings on the desktop. Setting the app's screen refresh rate from 30 frames per second (fps) to 60fps smooths out the animation and sharpens details, but it causes your laptop to work harder to maintain the higher resolution and drawing rates.

The performance options in the desktop Settings app include High Power (the best image but most battery-draining if you're using a laptop), Energy Efficient, and Pixel Perfect. The last requires Duet Pro, a $29.99-per-year add-on; Pro also adds faster drawing response, pressure and tilt control, multitouch gestures, zoom and pan, hover, line smoothing, and color calibration.

Using the iPad Air screen for social media and messaging functions is a snap. Playing 1080p HD videos using Duet Display was a smooth and stutter-free experience in our tests. Tweetdeck displayed multiple columns without a hitch, and Slack and WhatsApp windows looked fine. Using Duet for email, messaging, and social feeds while you do your main work on your main monitor makes a lot of sense.

Two Screens Are Better Than One

If you already have the latest Mac and iPad, you can use macOS Catalina's included Sidecar feature. But for people who have older devices, Android tablets, Chromebooks, or Windows laptops and desktops, Duet Display offers a simple, effective way to add a second screen to your computer—not bad for a $10 app. More ideas for using an iPad as a secondary display are in our help article, How to Use Your iPad as a Second Monitor on Any Computer.

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Further Reading

One of the most significant new features of macOS Catalina is Sidecar. The feature lets you use your iPad as a second display for Mac. For years, Duet Display has offered a similar paid product for many years. As Sidecar and macOS Catalina launches, here's a look at the critical differences between both tools.

What is Sidecar?

First introduced at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in June as part of Apple's macOS Catalina unveiling, Sidecar works wirelessly and wired between a macOS Catalina-supported device and tablet with iPadOS 13 installed. The Sidecar functionality is currently not available on iOS 13 or any iPhone.

Main purposes

Out of the box, Sidecar provides many different use cases. The first of these is as a second Mac display, which allows you to extend the computer's real estate or act as a mirror. Further, you can place one app on each screen, or put your main canvas on one display and your tools and palettes on the other.

Sidebar's second big highlight is that it brings Apple Pencil quasi-support to Mac for the first time. It does so by letting you use the input device on your tablet to control Mac apps on your connected computer. Desktop apps like Adobe Illustrator, Affinity Designer and Photo, CorelDRAW, Sketch, and many more, now support this with others expected to go online in the coming months.

There's also convenient sidebar and Touch Bar controls available that allow you to interact with multi-touch gestures to pinch, swipe, and zoom. Newly created iPadOS text editing gestures are also supported with Sidecar, including copy, cut, paste, and more.

Supported devices

Sidecar requires Macs with Skylake processors and later, as well as iPad models that support Apple Pencil.

Macs

• MacBook introduced in 2016 or later
• MacBook Air introduced in 2018 or later
• MacBook Pro introduced in 2016 or later
• Mac mini introduced in 2018 or later
• iMac introduced in late 2015 or later
• iMac Pro introduced in 2017 or later
• Mac Pro introduced in 2019

iPads

• 12.9-inch iPad Pro
• 11-inch iPad Pro
• 10.5-inch iPad Pro
• 9.7-inch iPad Pro
• iPad (6th generation or later)
• iPad mini (5th generation)
• iPad Air (3rd generation)

Two more things

Continuity Sketch and Markup are two Sidebar-related features that work on any Mac that supports macOS Catalina, plus any tablet with iPadOS 13 and iPhones with iOS 13.

Continuity Sketch lets you create on your mobile device a sketch that easily inserts into any document on your Mac. With Continuity Markup, you can sign documents, correct papers, or circle important details in images using either your Apple Pencil on iPad or finger on iPhone.

Cost

Sidecar is free to use, assuming your devices are supported.

Pros

• Free, no subscription required
• No app required
• Easy setup for casual users

Cons

• Limited gestures
• Won't work on iPhone or older devices

What is Duet Display?

Created by former Apple engineers, Duet Display lets you turn your mobile device into a second display for Mac or PC. Until the introduction of Sidecar, Duet Display only supported Apple mobile devices. That support now extends to Android devices. Duet Display also works on Chromebooks.

What Duet Display offers varies greatly according to your subscription level, for which there are three. To get started, you must first buy the Duet Display app for iOS or iPadOS. You can install the $10 app across multiple Apple mobile devices; the Mac version is free to download from the Duet Display website. Android users must download a Duets Display app from Google Play separately.

A free Duet subscription lets you use your iPad as a second screen for your Mac or PC. It includes touch screen capabilities, including iPad Keyboard support. However, your devices must be wired to work.

For $20 per year, you can purchase a Duet Air subscription, which adds wireless support, plus everything in the free version. You also gain a remote desktop connection that's accessible from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection.

Available for $30 per year, Duet Pro has been designed for digital artists and includes features that Sidecar does not. These include full gesture support, more resolution options, remote desktop support, customizable pressure curves, customizable performance (battery efficiency vs. performance), predictive line lead (which predicts the characteristics of lines, then rendering them without going to the Mac), shortcuts such as undo/redo, and more.

Both Duet Air and Duet Pro come with a one week trial.

Pros

• Works across multiple devices and platforms
• Advanced characteristics and features
• Best for Pro users

Cons

• Must buy for advanced features
• Perhaps overkill for casual users

Comparing both services

Who should use Sidecar

No doubt, Apple has designed Sidecar for the casual user who wants a second screen option for their Mac or has the ability to use Apple Pencil on Mac apps. As a first release, however, it doesn't go much further.

For example, Sidecar doesn't offer a remote desktop feature, nor can you adjust the settings for Apple Pencil, performance, or resolution. For the everyday user, however, these extras aren't necessary. However, in time, more advanced tools might be necessary to push Sidecar to a new level.

What about Duet Display?

If you own a Mac and iPad and are only looking for second screen capabilities, go with Sidecar. As is said often with Apple software on Apple devices, it just works.

However, if you also own Android or Windows devices, want some flexibility when it comes to set up and performance, and are already comfortable with using Duet Display, stick with it even though it costs some money. For less than $3 per month, you'll get advanced features that you can use across multiple devices and operating systems.

Questions?

Do you have any concerns or questions about Sidecar and macOS Catalina? How about Duet Display? Let us know in the comments below.

macOS Catalina

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