8 Real-World Uses of iPhone Mirroring in iOS 18 and MacOS Sequoia

Is Apple new? iPhone mirroring feature in the latest versions of iOS and MacOS actually useful? No matter where your iPhone is nearby – in another room, charging, or hidden in the bottom of your bag or pocket – you can view and control it from your Mac.

Apart from the sheer convenience of not having to answer the phone, I found several reasons to use iPhone Mirroring. In fact, I find myself using it regularly on my iPhone 16, now that iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia have been released. (And if you use latest betasyou can experiment with one of the coolest mirroring features, the ability to drag and drop items directly to your phone and vice versa.)

Read more: How to Control iPhone from Mac with iPhone Mirroring

iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia are now available and offer a range of other features such as animated text messages and skill customize your iPhone home screen.

When your iPhone is in your bag, purse, or other room

The easiest use case is when you want to access something on your phone but it’s tucked away in your bag, out of reach, or you can’t get up (or you can, but a snoozing cat or dog on your lap wouldn’t do it (I don’t appreciate the disruption).) Connecting with iPhone Mirroring is much more convenient.

However, this feature doesn’t work over long distances, for example if you accidentally left your iPhone at home and need to access it at work. iPhone Mirroring uses Apple Continuity technology to work, which means your iPhone and Mac must be within Bluetooth range.

When you need to sign in to the iPhone app

Missed your daily Duolingo check-in and your phone isn’t handy? If you have a Mac, iPhone Mirroring can connect and keep your streak going.

Or maybe you need to finish today’s Wordle challenge, but at work it would be too obvious that you’re checking your phone. The discreet iPhone Mirroring window can be easily covered or hidden when needed.

When you want to use the app rather than the web interface

Even today, some popular services perform much better in applications than in web interfaces. Yep, we’re looking at you, Instagram. Publishing from an app often includes more options and provides a better user experience. Because iPhone Mirroring gives you almost full access to the iPhone interface, you can post using your mouse pointer instead of your finger.

When you want to quickly transfer items between devices (coming soon)

I take a lot of screenshots for work, and I take even more photos myself, and they all end up in my Photos library. These images are then synced via iCloud to my Mac, but sometimes it seems to happen at a rate precisely described as “when the phone gets used to it.” When I need something on my Mac right away, I use AirDrop between devices, which works, but is more clunky than I’d like.

However, later this year we’ll be able to drag and drop all kinds of files – not just images – between an iPhone and a Mac running the iPhone Mirroring app. It works both ways too: drop a video or important PDF file from the Mac Finder window onto your iPhone’s mirror screen to transfer it to your phone. (You can now play with it on the latest version Beta iOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia.)

If you don’t want to clutter your Mac with junk software

macOS has a long history of supporting system extensions, startup items, and various background processes that you probably don’t realize are running most of the time. For example, some large application suites spread these accessory files like a dropped box of Lego bricks. In many cases, resource usage is negligible, but these items still consume memory and CPU power.

In contrast, iOS has always been built as a siled system, where each app has its own protected memory and tightly controlled routes for interacting with other apps. Especially for apps that you don’t use often but need to have with you at all times, you can install the mobile version to avoid the app creep that happens on macOS.

iPhone Mirroring allows you to continue using such an app on your Mac without infecting your macOS with all the accompanying junk that is usually installed.

When you want to log into your bank’s app instead of doing it on your computer

Unfortunately, several of these suggestions focus on the “app is better than a website” theme, and there is often no better example than banking websites.

It can be easier and more secure to access your bank accounts or investments by using iPhone Mirroring to log in via an iOS app rather than using a web browser on your Mac. You still have to authenticate the iPhone app once you open it (since you can’t use Face ID or Touch ID on the device), but this may be a more convenient option.

When you want to access locked and hidden apps on your phone

In iOS 18, you can hide sensitive apps or require authentication (like Face ID) to open them. If you prefer to use them on your phone rather than through an app or web interface on your Mac, iPhone Mirroring lets you access them when your phone is not nearby.

Once you do this, the iPhone Mirroring app requires authentication on your Mac, as you might expect. Enter your Mac login password, use Touch ID, or authenticate with a connected Apple Watch to open locked apps or view the Hidden folder on your phone.

When you’re giving a presentation and want to show what’s on your iPhone

Granted, this is a smaller subset of use cases, but if you want to demonstrate something on your iPhone during an online or in-person presentation, iPhone Mirroring is a much easier option than other methods.

Apart from mounting an overhead camera, the predominant method is to connect your iPhone to your Mac with a cable and use QuickTime Player to view the phone’s screen. Then you will still have to operate the phone with your hands.

Now, with iPhone Mirroring, you can connect your phone wirelessly and manipulate it using your Mac’s trackpad or mouse and keyboard.

The main limitation of this approach is that if you need to perform an action on your phone, activating it pauses the mirroring connection.

And one streaming restriction we’d like to see changed

One of the unannounced features of Apple devices is the ability to stream media from iPhone to Mac using AirPlay. Time to relax and watch a movie or an episode of your favorite TV show? You can run it on an iPhone and choose a Mac with a larger screen as the destination.

Since iPhone Mirroring allows you to control an iPhone that is out of range, it would be a good idea to start playing the video on your Mac screen. However, digital rights management rejects this idea in the context of iPhone Mirroring. Although you can open an app like TV and start a program, the image remains black.

This black screen also applies if you use AirPlay to stream while iPhone Mirroring is active. This only works if you physically control your phone and stream to your Mac.

iPhone Mirroring is just one new feature on iPhone and Mac with iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia. Don’t miss it how to spice up your text messages in Messages and how to work with the updated Control Center.