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Install ElseScreen Host on your Mac and open it. Its window lists the permissions it needs: Screen Recording, Accessibility, and Local Network. Allow each one in System Settings, then reopen ElseScreen Host when it asks.

Choose Pair New Device in ElseScreen Host. Open ElseScreen on your iPhone or iPad, tap Scan Pairing Code, and scan the code your Mac shows; pair while both are on the same network. From then on your Mac appears in the app: at the top when both are on the same network, and under Asleep or away when they aren't.

Check that both are on the same network. Guest networks and some VPNs keep devices from seeing each other. When they aren't on the same network, your Mac appears under Asleep or away, where you can connect from away.

On your iPhone or iPad, open Settings → Privacy & Security → Local Network, and turn on ElseScreen. The app says so when this is off.

The first time a device connects, your Mac may ask whether ElseScreen Host may accept incoming connections. Choose Allow.

ElseScreen Host needs Screen Recording. On your Mac, open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen & System Audio Recording, turn on ElseScreen Host, and reopen it.

ElseScreen Host needs Accessibility to control the pointer and keyboard. On your Mac, open System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility, and turn on ElseScreen Host. The app tells you when this is missing.

macOS hides menu bar icons that don't fit, which often happens beside a MacBook's camera notch. Open ElseScreen Host again from your Applications folder or Spotlight, and its window appears with everything the menu holds.

Someone at the Mac stopped screen sharing from the recording indicator in its menu bar. ElseScreen pauses until you tap Resume, so whoever is at the Mac stays in control of their screen.

Yes. When your Mac is locked, ElseScreen shows its lock screen. Type your Mac's password with the keyboard in ElseScreen; it travels encrypted, and the apps never store it.

Tap the gear in ElseScreen's controls and check that Mac Sound is on, then turn up your iPhone or iPad's volume. Sound plays whatever your Mac plays.

Open ElseScreen Host on your Mac, and remove the device under Paired Devices. It can't connect again until you pair it with a new code. On your iPhone or iPad, touch and hold a Mac in the list and choose Forget This Mac.

Yes. Allow Access from Away is on in ElseScreen Host unless you turn it off. When your iPhone or iPad isn't on your Mac's network, your Mac appears under Asleep or away: tap it to connect. There's no account to create and no router to set up.

Sessions from away are encrypted end to end with the keys your devices exchanged when you paired them. They go directly between your devices where the networks allow, and otherwise through a relay that can't read them.

Your Mac needs to be awake and online. While it's plugged in, ElseScreen Host keeps it from going to sleep; on battery, it sleeps as usual. Its window says whether paired devices can reach it from anywhere.

Check that Allow Access from Away is on in ElseScreen Host, and that your iPhone or iPad has an internet connection. Networks that block UDP traffic, as some company and hotel networks do, can keep ElseScreen from connecting.

Yes. Turn on Privacy Mode in ElseScreen's settings during a session. Your Mac's own screens go black and its speakers go silent, while you still see and hear everything on your iPhone or iPad. Lock Mac When Done locks the Mac when you disconnect.