Lilypad

Your Mac, on your phone.

Pair once with a QR code, then reconnect forever. At home, Lilypad connects directly over your own network — no internet required.

macOS iOS

Plugged into a monitor? Lilypad shows any screen your Mac has — switch between them from the phone, mid-session.

macOS build available now — v0.1.15, signed and notarized by Apple, so it opens with no warning. iPhone is in TestFlight, by invitation while it is in beta.

It takes the cheapest path that works

Lilypad tries three routes in order and stops at the first one that connects.

  1. On your network

    Your phone talks to your Mac directly. Nothing leaves your home, and it works with the internet down.

  2. Peer to peer

    Away from home, your phone and Mac connect straight to each other across the internet wherever the network allows it.

  3. Relayed, only if it must

    When a network blocks a direct connection, traffic is relayed, staying end-to-end encrypted in transit (DTLS-SRTP) the whole way. The relay is live, and carries traffic over UDP, TCP, and TLS on port 443 — so it still works on networks that allow nothing but HTTPS.

On the first two paths your screen never passes through our servers. Lilypad is built on WebRTC — there is no custom video protocol.

Knowing your computer's name is never enough

A password is not a screen

Signing in puts a computer on your account, so you can see it and remove it. It does not let anything reach it. A phone sees a screen only after pairing — scanning the code that computer shows — so a stolen password is not a stolen laptop.

No silent access

A session has to be approved on the Mac. Nobody connects to a machine that is not expecting them.

Every device proves itself

Each phone and Mac holds its own key, kept in the system keychain, and proves who it is on every connection.

Removing a device is immediate

Remove one from your account and it loses access straight away — including a session running at that moment. It does not wait for a token to expire.

Ask it to do things

Ask is an assistant that drives your Mac. It runs on the Mac itself — not in our cloud.

  • It asks your phone before it does anything consequential.
  • You can take over at any moment.
  • Bring your own API key — Anthropic, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint. Your key stays in your Mac's keychain.

What actually runs today

Platform support
Platform Status
macOS Supported Universal build, signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple — it opens with no warning
iOS Supported iPhone, through TestFlight by invitation. No public App Store listing yet
Windows Not yet Not validated on real hardware
Android Not yet Not validated on real hardware

Windows and Android are listed as unavailable on purpose. Code exists for both, but neither has been proven on a real machine, and shipping is not the same as working.

Plans

Using Lilypad on your own network is always free. It costs us nothing to run, so there is nothing to charge for — and that stays true whatever else changes. Everything the app does today is free; paid plans are planned around the only two things that cost real money: relayed minutes, and AI we pay for on your behalf.

Free

Available now

  • Unlimited sessions on your own network
  • Unlimited direct peer-to-peer sessions
  • Relayed sessions when a network blocks a direct one
  • Remote control, input and clipboard
  • Multiple devices
  • Ask with your own API key

Pro

Planned

  • Everything in Free
  • A larger relay allowance
  • Managed AI — no key of your own to supply
  • Premium models
  • Extended history
  • Priority support

Team

Planned

  • Everything in Pro
  • Team and business features

Pro and Team do not exist yet, and prices are not set. Nothing on this page is an offer. When paid plans arrive the prices and allowances will be published here first, and using your own network to reach your own computer will remain free.

Three steps, once

About two minutes, and only the last one needs your phone in your hand.

  1. Make an account

    On the Mac. Signing in is what puts that computer on your account, so you can see it — and remove it — from your phone later. Do the same on the phone with the same account.

  2. Allow two things

    Screen Recording, so your Mac can show you its screen, and Accessibility, so your taps become clicks and keystrokes. macOS asks once; Lilypad explains each one before it does.

  3. Pair your phone

    The Mac shows a code, the phone scans it. That pairing is what lets that phone reach that Mac — being on the same account is not enough, which is the point. Once per phone; after that it reconnects on its own.

Pair a second Mac the same way. Every computer and phone you sign in on appears under Your devices, and you can rename or remove any of them from your phone — a removed device loses access immediately, including a session running at that moment. Ending a single pairing is Unpair, from either side, and leaves both devices on your account.

Get it

Download for macOS — v0.1.15, universal, 20 MB.

macOS ships as a universal build served from this site, and installed copies update themselves from it. It is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, and the disk image carries its own stapled ticket — so it opens on a first double-click with no Gatekeeper warning, nothing to approve in System Settings, and no need to be online for the check.

The iPhone app ships through TestFlight, by invitation while it is in beta. There is no public App Store listing yet, so ask for an invite rather than looking for it in the store — the Mac app on its own is half the product.

Download for macOS Ask for a TestFlight invite

Questions

Does my Mac have to be awake?
Yes — a sleeping Mac cannot be reached, and no remote-control app can change that. Lilypad launches at login and reconnects by itself within seconds of the Mac waking, so you do not have to touch it.
Does it work away from home?
Yes, over cellular as well as Wi-Fi. Lilypad tries your own network first, then a direct connection across the internet, and relays only when a network blocks both.
Can you see my screen?
On your own network and on a direct connection it never passes through our servers at all. On the relayed path it does pass through, and stays end-to-end encrypted in transit the whole way — we carry bytes we cannot read.
Do I need an account?
Yes. An account is what owns your devices, and it is the only place you can see them, rename them, or take one away. Email and a password — no phone number, no third party required.
What if I lose my phone?
Remove it from Your devices on any other device on your account. It loses access immediately, including a session running at that moment — it does not wait for anything to expire.
Can someone start a session without me knowing?
A first pairing always needs Approve on the Mac. After that a paired phone can reconnect on its own, which is the point of pairing — and you can turn that off per phone, or unpair it, from the Mac.
Is it really free?
Using Lilypad on your own network is free and stays free — it costs us nothing to run. Paid plans are planned only around the two things that cost real money: relayed minutes and AI we pay for. Nothing on this page is an offer.
Something is wrong. What do you need from me?
On the Mac: the tray menu → Diagnostics → Copy for support. It is written to be pasted into an email, and it says which build you are on, whether a phone can reach this Mac, and where the log file is. support@takedia.com.