TetherShot

See and capture your iPhone or Android screen from a native Mac app.

USB or Wi-Fi · pixel-perfect captures · saved to a folder you choose · copied to your clipboard.

Website · Homebrew · npm · Install · Docs · Support

brew install --cask apoorvdarshan/tap/tethershot

--- > **Status — shipping.** iPhone USB/Wi-Fi capture, Android ADB capture, clipboard, global hotkey, per-device folders, Homebrew and npm installs, and in-app self-update are working. Built and tested on macOS 26 (Tahoe) with iOS 26. ## Why TetherShot macOS already exposes a tethered iPhone's screen as an AVFoundation source, while Android exposes its framebuffer through ADB. TetherShot turns both into a focused one-click capture workflow that writes straight to disk and your clipboard — including cable-free iPhone Wi-Fi capture through Apple's developer-services tunnel. ## Features - 🔌 **USB capture** — a trusted, cabled iPhone is grabbed at full resolution via native AVFoundation. Instant, zero setup. - 📶 **Wi-Fi capture** — cable-free over your local network via a RemoteXPC tunnel ([`pymobiledevice3`](https://github.com/doronz88/pymobiledevice3)). Pixel-perfect, even when the phone is locked. - 🤖 **Android capture** — discover authorized Android phones through ADB and capture their native framebuffer over USB or wireless debugging. - 🪪 **Stable device identity** — USB/Wi-Fi appearances of the same phone are merged, names can change safely, and hidden/quick-capture choices persist. - 📋 **Clipboard** — every capture is copied, ready to paste (toggle on by default). - ⌨️ **Global hotkey** — press ⌘⇧7 anywhere to capture every connected device, or choose one preferred iPhone and remember it across launches. - 🗂️ **Your folder, your rules** — any destination, timestamped filenames, optional per-device subfolders. - ⬆️ **Self-updating** — in-app **Check for Updates** downloads the signed, notarized GitHub release, verifies it, replaces the current app in place, and relaunches. - 🧭 **Single-window Mac dashboard** — capture, storage, connections, background behavior, updates, and project links stay together without sidebar navigation. - 🍥 **Optional menu-bar control** — enabled by default for quick capture and settings, and can be hidden persistently. - 🚀 **Launch at login** — keeps capture and the global hotkey ready in the background. - 🔒 **Local-first** — no account, no analytics, no servers. Screenshots never leave your Mac. ## Requirements - **macOS 14 (Sonoma)+** — developed/tested on macOS 26 (Tahoe) - **Xcode Command Line Tools** — only needed to build from source (`xcode-select --install`) - **Node.js 18+** — only needed for npm installation - An **iPhone** you can set to *Trust This Computer* - For Wi-Fi: iPhone + Mac on the same network, plus [`pymobiledevice3`](https://github.com/doronz88/pymobiledevice3) - For Android: [Android Platform Tools](https://developer.android.com/tools/releases/platform-tools) and USB debugging or wireless debugging enabled ## Installation ### Via Homebrew — recommended ```bash brew install --cask apoorvdarshan/tap/tethershot ``` Homebrew downloads the checksum-verified, signed, and notarized universal DMG and installs TetherShot into `/Applications`. Future Cask versions follow the latest stable GitHub Release. ### Via DMG Download the signed, notarized universal DMG from the [latest GitHub release](https://github.com/apoorvdarshan/TetherShot/releases/latest), open it, and drag TetherShot into Applications. The same build runs natively on Apple silicon and Intel Macs and becomes the canonical `/Applications` copy. ### Via npm ```bash npm install -g tethershot # installs the CLI (and builds the app) tethershot install # ensure the app is built into ~/Applications tethershot # launch it ``` This path **builds from source on your machine** and lands in `~/Applications` (no sudo). If a signed `/Applications/TetherShot.app` already exists, the CLI preserves it instead of replacing its Developer ID signature with a local build. All installation methods use the same bundle identity and settings. Homebrew and the DMG install the canonical `/Applications` copy. If you install either after using npm, the stale `~/Applications` copy is moved to Trash on launch. Future in-app updates replace that canonical copy in place. > npm 11+ blocks `postinstall` scripts by default, so if the app isn't built after `npm install`, the explicit `tethershot install` step always does it. ### From source ```bash git clone https://github.com/apoorvdarshan/TetherShot.git cd TetherShot ./build.sh # compiles + packages TetherShot.app open .build/TetherShot.app # launches the app and menu-bar control ``` On first USB capture, macOS asks for **Camera** permission — expected: the iPhone screen is delivered through the AVFoundation (camera) privacy bucket. TetherShot never uses your Mac's camera. ## Usage Open TetherShot from Applications or Spotlight, or click its menu-bar icon, then pick your phone. The PNG saves to your folder (default `~/Pictures/TetherShot`) and copies to your clipboard. Closing the window leaves capture and the global hotkey active in the background; open TetherShot again to bring the window back. | Option | What it does | |---|---| | ⌘⇧7 | Quick-capture the saved preferred phone, or every visible connected device by default | | **Quick Capture Device** | Choose one phone for the hotkey; the stable selection persists across names and transports | | **Hidden Devices** | Exclude unwanted phones from captures, then restore them at any time | | **Copy to Clipboard** | Also place each capture on the clipboard (default on) | | **Organize by Device** | Save into a per-device subfolder | | **Choose Folder…** | Pick any destination; remembered across launches | | **Show in Menu Bar** | Keep quick controls in the menu bar (default on) | | **Show in Dock** | Independently show or hide TetherShot in the Dock | | **Launch at Login** | Keep TetherShot available across reboots | | **Check for Updates** | Verify the latest signed GitHub DMG, replace the current app, and relaunch | ## Wireless (Wi-Fi) setup — one time Wi-Fi capture uses a root LaunchDaemon (`tunneld`) that keeps a RemoteXPC tunnel alive so captures need no sudo. ```bash pip3 install -U pymobiledevice3 # the engine tethershot setup-wifi # installs the tunnel daemon (admin password once) ``` Then, with the iPhone connected by USB once: - Enable **Developer Mode** — Settings ▸ Privacy & Security ▸ Developer Mode - Enable Wi-Fi reachability — `pymobiledevice3 lockdown wifi-connections --state on` After that you can unplug. While the iPhone and Mac share a Wi-Fi network, the menu shows it as **(Wi-Fi)** and `tunneld` discovers it automatically. Remove the daemon with `bash scripts/uninstall-tunneld.sh`. > **Why not AirPlay mirroring?** On macOS Tahoe, a mirrored iPhone window blacks out whenever a capture context is active — so TetherShot uses the developer-services path instead, capturing the device's own framebuffer regardless of transport. ## CLI ```bash tethershot # launch the app tethershot install # build & install to ~/Applications tethershot update # update to the latest published version tethershot setup-wifi # install the Wi-Fi tunnel service tethershot uninstall # remove the app tethershot version # print the installed version ``` ## How it works | Component | Role | |---|---| | `USBCapture` | Flips the CoreMediaIO screen-capture flag, finds the iPhone as a `.muxed` device, grabs one frame → PNG | | `WirelessCapture` | Talks to the `tunneld` HTTP API, runs `pymobiledevice3 developer dvt screenshot` over the Wi-Fi tunnel | | `AndroidCapture` | Uses ADB device discovery, stable Android IDs, and native `screencap` PNG transfer | | `Updater` | Checks GitHub Releases, verifies the asset digest and Developer ID signature, then atomically replaces and relaunches the current app | | `AppModel` | Main-actor state: device list, destination folder, options, status | | `MainWindow` / `MenuContent` | Compact SwiftUI app window plus optional `MenuBarExtra` controls | | `TetherShotApp` | Window lifecycle and independent Dock/menu-bar visibility while background capture stays alive | Capture backends sit behind a `CaptureBackend` protocol, so USB and Wi-Fi share one code path. The marketing/docs site lives in [`/web`](web) and deploys to [tethershot.apoorvdarshan.com](https://tethershot.apoorvdarshan.com). ## Contributing Contributions are welcome — see **[CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md)** for how to build, the project layout, and the PR flow. ## Security Found a vulnerability? Please report it privately — see **[SECURITY.md](SECURITY.md)**. ## Support If TetherShot is useful to you: - 🚀 **[Upvote on Product Hunt](https://www.producthunt.com/products/tethershot-2/)** - ⭐ **Star** the repo - ☕ **[Support on Ko-fi](https://ko-fi.com/apoorvdarshan)** - 🐦 **Follow [@apoorvdarshan](https://x.com/apoorvdarshan)** on X ## Star History