Support
Setup, pairing and answers to the things that usually go wrong.
What you need
- iPhone running iOS 16 or later
- Mac running macOS 13 Ventura or later, with the free Trackboard companion app
- Apple Watch running watchOS 9 or later (optional)
- Both devices on the same local network
Setting up
- Install the Mac companion. The Mac app is distributed outside the Mac App
Store as a signed, notarized disk image:
download Trackboard for Mac.
Open the DMG and drag Trackboard to your Applications folder.
- Allow Accessibility. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security →
Accessibility and switch Trackboard on. macOS requires this before any app may move the
pointer or type. Nothing works until it is granted.
- Pair. On the iPhone, open Trackboard and tap your Mac under Add a Mac.
The Mac opens a small window with a six-digit code, shown as two groups of three. Type those
six digits on the iPhone and the pairing completes by itself.
- Start using it. Tap Done to close the picker. Tap the title at the
top to switch between paired Macs, or swipe inward from the left or right screen edge.
Apple Watch
The Watch app installs together with the iPhone app, or from Available Apps in the Watch
app on your iPhone. The Watch never talks to a Mac directly: it passes your input to Trackboard on
the paired iPhone, which sends it to the Mac selected there. Keep the iPhone app open and in front
while you use the Watch, with the iPhone nearby and Bluetooth on.
Drag to move the pointer, tap to click, turn the Digital Crown to scroll. Gestures sends
three-finger swipes with one finger, and Keyboard lets you dictate or scribble text and
press Esc, Tab, Delete, Return and the arrows. Remote at the top right opens media controls
and, one swipe further, Lock and Sleep. Try Demo on the Watch works without an iPhone or a
Mac, if you just want to see how it feels.
Troubleshooting
My Mac does not appear on the iPhone
- Check that both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network — a guest network, or a phone on
cellular, will not see the Mac.
- Make sure the companion is running on the Mac; it lives in the menu bar, not the Dock.
- Allow Local Network access for Trackboard on the iPhone (System Settings →
Privacy & Security → Local Network). If you declined it once, turn it back on there.
- Some routers block devices from seeing each other ("AP isolation", "client isolation"). If
other local features such as AirPlay also fail, this is usually why.
The pairing code does not work
- The code expires after two minutes. Close the window on the Mac and start again to get a
fresh one.
- Enter all six digits; they are shown in two groups of three only to make them easier to read.
- After several wrong attempts the Mac stops accepting codes for a short while. Wait, then
request a new code.
It pairs, but the pointer does not move
This is almost always the Accessibility permission. Open System Settings → Privacy & Security
→ Accessibility, switch Trackboard off and on again, and quit and reopen the companion. After a
macOS update the permission sometimes needs to be granted again.
The connection drops when the iPhone locks
Keep the Trackboard app in the foreground while you are using it. When you are driving the
pointer from the Apple Watch, the iPhone stays awake for two minutes after the last Watch input.
The Mac went to sleep and I cannot wake it
Sleep sent from the Watch disconnects the Mac, and a sleeping Mac cannot be woken from the Watch
or the iPhone. Wake it at the Mac, and the connection comes back on its own.
Still stuck?
Email [email protected] and tell us what you saw. The most useful
details are your iPhone and macOS versions, whether the Mac appears in the picker, and whether
Accessibility is switched on for Trackboard.