iPad as Touchscreen on Mac

I have been exploring the Forum and YouTube etc for hints as to how to use my iPad as a touchscreen.
Most of the stuff is rather technical (like TouchOSC) and would involve investment of significant learning and development time, but I have stumbled upon a very easy and cheap solution. I am sorry if this is already known to most members!?
I have a MacPro 32gb using OSX 10.8.5 Mountain Lion and the advanced version of Hauptwerk.

Search for iDisplay on the iPad AppStore - it can be downloaded for less than £5.
Then go to this website - http://www.getidisplay.com - where you can download the desktop component free. It is called iDisplay Desktop. This installs an almost invisible server application (which is best to setup as a logon item at Startup); its controls appear in the top RHS menu bar.

The iPad component has rather mixed reviews, but in my Maccy environment it works fine. I already have two monitors on the Mac; this app offers one or two more windows which you can assign to console windows on the Hauptwerk View menu; you then "arrange" them. So, for example, I have the main Hauptwerk screen on my centre display; I have the Registration floating menus and others on the LHS screen; once the iDisplay has connected, I drag Console Window 2 (or 3 or 4, if you have enough iPads!) onto the iPad display and put a simple jamb, for example, on the landscape-oriented iPad.
Then it is totally easy to select and drag-select stops just as you would on a proper touch-screen.
The speed of response is perfectly satisfactory for this application.
The only inconvenience I have found is that, if you need to take the iPad away for other purposes, when you come back to your Hauptwerk you have to move the console window onto the iPad afresh.
I only discovered this last evening, so there may be some snags as yet unfound, but I am pleased that overnight a have a workable solution. The beauty is that there is no configuration or development to replicate the touch regions - it is all there - a complete replica of whatever console windows are offered by the organ sample provider.

I hope I'm not getting enthusiastic prematurely, but hope this might be a useful steer for other members.

[mdyde]

[Topic moved here.]

I will be very interested to see how you get on with this over the next couple of weeks as there are a number of very negative reviews of both the App and the Display Desktop. On the other hand, it is so cheap to get up and running that perhaps it is worth a try anyway.
There seems to be quite a few computer programmer/analysts on the forum so perhaps one of them will be able to debug the software?

That was precisely my thinking, so I gave it a try.
I think our application of the software (just positioning the screen and pressing a few stop-knob buttons) is particularly simple; it seemed to me that most of the comments involved more serious interaction between iPad and Desktop.
It's still working fine so far - very handy.
Mind you, I specified my environment in the previous posting because I also expect that this is quite sensitive to OpSys versions - eg: it may not work on an earlier (or later) version of OSX perhaps. However, at the cost of a couple of £ for the app and 20 minutes working out how to download and operate the desktop application...

Downloaded it a couple of days ago and all seems to be working perfectly. Very easy to set up on the Mac platform.

Neil P;

What version OSX are you running?

I've got 10.6.8 on my late 2008 Mac and am looking for a remote display solution - am hoping the idea in this thread could be it.

Thanks.

I had planned to use TouchOSC until I saw this thread. I have tested iDisplay with a 2009 Macbook pro and an iPad 1 (!), everything seems to work fine.
Much simpler than TouchOSC, and graphically more elegant.
Plan to test with 2013 Mac Mini asap.
OSX v 10.9.1 on both Mac systems, IOS 5.1.1 on iPad

It also works fine on a 2013 spec Mac Mini

After scanning the market for software to use for my new iPad Air - I ended up with MIDI Designer. WIll post some pics later. (Oh and my system is not Mac, it's Win7/64).

Setting up a MIDI-connection with Bonjour (Apple software) and Tobias Erichsens rtpMIDI was easy. Now WiFi is not usable for playing anything (too much latency) - but making settings and pushing buttons is more than fast enough.

What I particulary liked was the fact that once I made ONE "piston" - making sure it was set to "toggle", a dedicated MIDI-channel and note-on/note-off-setting - then choosing a round shape for the button - well after that it was just adding new ones using "Add similar"... and they just grow like fleas.. MIDI Designer automatically chose a free note for the next control. No additional editing needed.

Juggle them into position (very easy and done while watching TV) - and DONE! The only time consuming bit is to write the labels.. - which is pretty quick as well when using a Logitech keyboard. - then finish the whole thing by using Hauptwerk MIDI-learn - which is at the other end. I have suggested to the maker that even if it's too much work redesigning the knobs, faders and stuff for that particular program - it'd be nice if he added an option to his buttons only - i.e. allowing the user to choose two small images (on/off).

Before I knew it I had made touch-pad controllers for Skinner Dry, Jørgensen and St.Anne.. which are the organs I currently have here.

My iPad-controller is intended as a temporary solution until I get the next phase of my console project going.

Sadly I have now run into problems with this solution. It has been going well for several years with iPad and then iPad Pro, but recently I upgraded my main desktop to a powerful Mac Pro (2013) with High Sierra, since when I have been unable to connect.
I have repeatedly tried to get support from Shape AG, the developers of iDisplay, with total silence in response.
Then I tried a new alternative, Duet. Their description and requirements were extremely opaque and misleading, and forced me into using their chargeable versions @ £10 on both iPad and Desktop. The money is not the issue, as I would gladly pay for a working solution, but again, it does not work. And, again I cannot get any response from my support requests. It seems that either the desktop hardware or OpSys is incompatible, and there is nothing I can practically do about that. So it seems that it is extremely operating-system-dependent, in which case their description of the requirements is both confusing and actually wrong.
So now I have a splendid desktop computer, an excellent iPad Pro, but no touch-screen control of the organ!
BTW changing host computer and going over to HW v5 at the same time was extremely tricky and time-consuming.
I would rather be playing than fighting with technicalities and inaccessibility of support.

i have used Duet with Windows and HW 4, and don’t think using HW 5 would make any difference.

I tried it out this morning on a non HW Windows 10 system. It did not work until I downloaded and installed the latest Windows Duet program on the PC. Thereafter, it worked fine connecting via USB. I’ve not tried the wireless connectivity though the PC program warned me that I would need to adjust the Windows firewall. BTW you need iTunes installed on the PC for Duet to work, I suppose to access some libraries.

I am using the extended desktop mode of working.

I haven’t up dated the iPad app, but can’t readily find its version.

Iain

I'm sorry you have had problems mirroring the display to your iPad. I had an old iPad for many years, which connected well using TouchOSC to Hauptwerk.

That is strange that you have not had any replies from the makers of Duet display, but it may be because they don't officially support your operating system (Mac OS High Sierra 10.13). I agree that it is cryptically arranged on their website - I had to find it in their poorly organized FAQ section. They say that in theory it should work, however. Have you tried upgrading your Mac Pro to Mojave? If you were able to do that, then they should have to provide support, since it is officially supported. However, the stand alone app also seems to require a thunderbolt 3 port (again, cryptically only mentioned in their FAQ section), which I don't think a 2013 Mac would have.

I am guessing that you also paid for the 1 year Duet Air subscription? I'm guessing this because the desktop app is normally free. However, I am guessing that Duet Air would probably would only work if you have Mojave (10.14). If you did buy it, the signup process is quite long and complicated, but I'm assuming you already went through the process? I provide the FAQ link here in case it would be of help:

https://www.duetdisplay.com/help-center ... r-duet-air

If you haven't signed up for Air already, then I wouldn't - no guarantee it would work on High Sierra. They don't seem to mention the requirements on the website, at least I couldn't find them. I seem to recall there were some important changes to Desktop mirroring in Mojave, and it is possible that Duet Air requires them to work as well.

If it is any consolation, TouchOSC would probably still work with your setup, and I find the process isn't too difficult. I will be following this thread, and can help you with any problems setting it up if you encounter it. It's extra money, but you could also consider Luna Display. It will certainly work on High Sierra. https://lunadisplay.com/pages/support.

macOS Catalina supports the use of the iPad as a screen directly using the new Sidecar functionality. The iPad has to be on iOS 13.

Disclaimer: I haven't actually tried it since I don't own an iPad.

macOS Catalina supports the use of the iPad as a screen directly using the new Sidecar functionality. The iPad has to be on iOS 13.

Disclaimer: I haven't actually tried it since I don't own an iPad.

It works. I can successfully extend the display from my Mac to my iPad. Just like AirPlay to the AppleTV, the iPad appears in the same menu. Can be used as a mirror of the Mac, or as another screen.
(Using MacBook Pro running Catalina and iPad Pro running 13.4.1)

Regards,
Ray

macOS Catalina supports the use of the iPad as a screen directly using the new Sidecar functionality. The iPad has to be on iOS 13.

Disclaimer: I haven't actually tried it since I don't own an iPad.

Many thanks, but unfortunately my Mac Pro 5.1 (2013) will not go up to Catalina or support Sidecar.