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How to use your iPhone as a Keynote remote for your Mac

For a slide talk, Keynote’s built-in remote puts your speaker notes and the next slide in your hand. For a talk where you also need to open a website or run a demo, Nimvo lets you control those Mac apps from the same spot in the room.

Code with Beto
A stack of presentation slides beside a right arrow key.

Pair your iPhone with Keynote on your Mac

  1. Turn on Wi-Fi on both devices. On the Mac, open Keynote and choose Keynote → Settings → Remotes. Select Enable.
  2. On the iPhone, open Keynote. From the presentation browser, tap the remote icon, then Continue. If a slide deck is already open, go back to the browser first.
  3. Back on the Mac, click Link next to your phone. Compare the four digits on both screens and click Confirm on the Mac when they match.

Open the deck on the Mac. On the phone, tap Play in Keynote Remote. Swipe to advance or go back. Tap the layout button to choose what you see on your phone, including your presenter notes. Apple’s Keynote Remote instructions.

Switch from a slide to a live Mac demo

Say your third slide introduces a website and you want to show it working. With the Nimvo beta, you can leave the slideshow running in a window, bring the browser forward and return to the same slide.

  1. Open the demo page in the Mac browser before the talk. Connect Nimvo on the iPhone to that Mac using the Wi-Fi pairing guide.
  2. In Keynote on the Mac, choose Play → In Window. Select your starting slide and click the toolbar’s Play button.
  3. On the phone, tap Nimvo’s keyboard icon and press Space to advance one build or slide. At the demo slide, tap the browser’s icon in the Mac Dock, visible in Nimvo’s desktop view. Use the trackpad to click through the demo.
  4. Bring the slideshow back by clicking its window title bar. Press Space to continue. Press Esc when you’re ready to end the show.

For a video call, check what you’re sharing. If the call is sharing only the slideshow window, switch the call’s shared window to the browser for the demo and back to the slideshow afterward. Apple’s guide to windowed playback.

Rehearse the handoff on the room’s display

Advance one slide, open the demo page and switch back while someone watches the projector or call. With two displays, the phone may be showing your laptop while the audience sees the projector. In Nimvo’s Settings → Monitor, choose the display you want to control. That picker changes the phone’s view. The projector or call still has its own display selection.

If Space scrolls the website, the browser still has keyboard focus. Click the slideshow’s title bar before pressing Space again. If you see the Mac in Nimvo but neither keys nor clicks work, check Accessibility in Nimvo Companion on the Mac and turn on Allow remote keyboard and pointer input under This session.