Support

Most problems have a quick fix below. If yours doesn’t, email support@getsill.app. Say which Mac and which iPhone or iPad you use, their system versions, and what happened.

Need Sill for Mac? Download it here.

Sill can’t see your windows

The Sill menu on your Mac says Screen Recording Is Off, or your iPhone or iPad connects but shows no windows.

1. On your Mac, open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Screen & System Audio Recording. On macOS 14, it’s called Screen Recording.
2. Turn on Sill.
3. Quit Sill and open it again. macOS offers to do this for you.

In Sill’s settings, Permissions has buttons that open these pages for you.

Taps and typing don’t reach your Mac

Sill needs Accessibility to click, scroll and type for you. On your Mac, open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility and turn on Sill. It works right away.

Your Mac isn’t listed

• Check that Sill is running on your Mac. Its icon is in the menu bar.
• Put your Mac and your iPhone or iPad on the same Wi-Fi network. Guest networks, and many office and hotel networks, keep devices apart. There, use a USB cable or Direct Wireless Connection.
• Connect your iPhone or iPad to your Mac with a USB cable. Your Mac then shows as Wired.
• Check that Local Network is on for Sill on both, as below.

Local Network is off

If Sill on your iPhone or iPad asks you to allow Local Network, open Settings › Privacy & Security › Local Network and turn on Sill.

On a Mac with macOS 15 or later, also open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Local Network and turn on Sill.

Direct Wireless Connection

Direct Wireless Connection lets an iPhone or iPad near your Mac connect without a shared Wi-Fi network, the way AirDrop does.

• Turn it on in the Sill menu on your Mac, or in Sill’s settings under General.
• If your Mac isn’t listed on your iPhone or iPad, tap Search Nearby. Your Mac then shows as Direct.
• Leave it off when your devices share a network. While it’s on, the Wi-Fi on your Mac keeps stepping away from its network, and streams over Wi-Fi can stutter.
• While it’s on, anyone nearby with Sill can find your Mac and connect to it.

Remote Access

Remote Access lets you use your Mac away from home, through your own VPN, such as Tailscale, or through a port you forward on your router. Only devices you pair can connect this way, and the connection is encrypted.

1. On your Mac, choose Remote Access… in the Sill menu and turn on Remote Access.
2. Pair each iPhone or iPad once. On your Mac, choose Pair iPhone or iPad… in the Sill menu. On your device, tap Add a Mac… and point it at the code.
3. Away from home, turn on your VPN on your device and tap your Mac.

If it doesn’t connect:

• Your Mac has to be awake, with Sill running and its VPN on. Sill can’t wake a sleeping Mac. To keep it reachable, stop it from sleeping in System Settings › Energy, or Battery on a laptop.
• Check that your VPN is on on your iPhone or iPad too.
• If your device says your Mac no longer accepts it, it was removed on your Mac. Pair it again.

The picture stutters or lags

• Pick a lower Quality in the Sill menu on your Mac, or in the settings panel on your iPhone or iPad.
• Use a USB cable, or 5 GHz Wi-Fi.
• Turn off Direct Wireless Connection if you don’t need it.

Sending a log

A log helps with problems that aren’t listed here. On your Mac, choose Show Log… in the Sill menu, or open the Sill folder in Library/Logs in your home folder. The log lists your window names, device names and network addresses, so read it before you send it.