Duet Display – the popular app that turns your iPad, or iPhone into an extended display for your Mac and PC, has been iOS exclusive for almost five years, but the release of Apple Sidecar in macOS Catalina, has pushed Duet Display, to spread its wings to the most popular mobile OS – Android.
Oct 09, 2019 What Duet Display offers varies greatly according to your subscription level, for which there are three. To get started, you must first buy the Duet Display app for iOS or iPadOS. You can install the $10 app across multiple Apple mobile devices; the Mac version is free to download from the Duet Display website. Android users must download a Duets Display app from Google Play separately. Duet is the first app that allows you to use your iDevice as an extra display for your Mac using the Lightning or 30-pin cable. FROM CNET Upgrade to Windows 10 for free right now. My Mac is stuck on 'Connect To Mac Or PC' Home Help Center FAQ If you're having trouble using Duet, check below to see the most frequent questions users have – if you don't find your answer, please feel free to contact us at [email protected] and we'll help sort out any issue.
Courtesy of apple.com
During my testing, the Android app worked similarly to Sidecar, with minor lags and connectivity issues. The following are some features that separate Duet Display from Apple’s Sidecar.
Duet Display vs Sidecar
1. Android as an Extended Display
While both Duet Display and Sidecar support wireless and the wired connectivity, but as of now, Sidecar is only available on the latest iPad OS (not even iOS). Duet Display, on the other hand, supports Android, iOS, and iPadOS. In fact, it’s not just limited to Android smartphones, you can also turn your Android tablet or Chromebook into a secondary display.
Winner – Duet Display
2. Gestures
Duet Display not only extends a virtual display screen to your Android device, but it also gives you access to navigate the computer using the touchscreen and with gestures like two-finger scrolling, pan, and zoom.
Sidecar on the other hand, although supports touch, Apple Pencil and two-finger scrolling (in a few apps), it still doesn’t support gestures and the touch navigations are not quite intuitive. For instance, you can’t scroll with one finger like you would normally do on your iPad, rather you will have to use two fingers to scroll. Also the only way to click or tap on elements is by using the Apple Pencil.
Winner – Duet Display How do i remove app on mac.
What mac app is comparable to photo shop. 3. Mirroring/ Remote Desktop Best free todo app mac pro.
It is kind of obvious but I find it quite handy, the mirroring feature on Duet Display gives you the freedom to remotely use your computer with just your Android smartphone or tablet. Just grab the wireless mouse and keyboard, and you’ve got yourself a mobile workstation. You can choose to connect to your computer either through WiFi or using Cellular data. While the mirroring works out of the box, you need to create an account and keep your devices connected to the Internet to use the remote desktop feature.
This is not possible with Sidecar as it works on peer-to-peer connection, Sidecar only has a 10-foot range. If you go outside this range, you will see a warning on the iPad asking you to move closer to the Mac.
Winner – Duet Display
4. Resolution
Duet Display automatically recognizes the connected devices and adjusts the extended resolution to the native resolution of the device. I tried the Duet Display on Pixel 3 and it extended the display to 2160×1080 while the native resolution of my computer is 1366×768. Sidecar provides less resolution. Sidecar also does this automatically and adjusts the resolution so that you get a crisp display, even on the iPad.
Winner – Duet Display
5. Device Support
Sidecar support a limited number of Macbooks, mostly 2016 or newer. Although you can get it on the older Mac via terminal, some people have reported lag in the connection.
To enable Sidecar on older Macs and devices (sadly, doesn't work on mine): defaults write https://t.co/LLWkWTxkE0.sidecar.display allowAllDevices -bool YES
— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) June 5, 2019
Following Apple computers will support Sidecar;
Not just that, Sidecar also only works with a limited number of iPad models that support Apple Pencil (Generation 1 &2). The device list is as follows;
Duet Display on the other hand, works fine on older Macs and PCs. I’ve tried it on my 2013 Macbook Air, and it worked just as fine as my Macbook Pro 2016.
Winner – Duet Display
6. Sidebar vs Touchbar
Both of these features only work with iPad on Mac Computers. When you enable these features, you get special tools on the iPad’s display which offers quick functionality just like the Touchbar on the Macbook Pros.
Winner – Draw
7. Price
Finally the most important difference between Duet Display and Sidecar – the price. Apple’s Sidecar is free, works flawlessly and requires no third-party app installation.
To get started with Duet Display, you will have to download a free Duet Display Client application on your PC or Mac and purchase the companion app from the Play Store or the App Store. It’s available on iOS and iPadOS for $9.99, and $19.99 on Play Store. However, they’re offering the Android app for $9.99 as a limited time offer.
Winner – Sidecar
8. Setup
Since Sidecar is built-in macOS Catalina, it’s easier to set up than downloading extra apps in case of Duet Display. Simply, connect the Mac to your iPad using a cable or the same WiFi and click on the Airplay option on the menu bar, and select your iPad from the drop-down list. If you can’t find the Airplay option there, go to System Preferences > Displays and checking the “Show mirroring options in the menu bar when available” option.
To get Duet Display to work, first, you need to download both the client and server app for your Mac and iPad (or Android) respectively, and then connect both of them as we did above.
Winner – Sidecar
Duet Display or Sidecar; Which one to choose?
While Sidecar should work for most users with basic needs, if you are an expert, you should still opt for Duet Display or similar second screen apps to get extra features like better range, more device support, and intuitive gestures, etc. Sidecar is also limited to a small number of devices that run the latest OS Catalina which means you still would have to use Duet Display if your Mac computer can’t be upgraded to Catalina. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.
Shortly before Apple releases its Sidecar feature in macOS Catalina to allow Mac screen mirroring and extension onto iPads, the makers Duet Display are soon to release a version that will allow users to use an Android tablet as a Mac display.
Duet Display is a software tool that uses also uses a hardware connection to allow Mac users to utilize their iPads as an extra display, either mirroring or extending their desktop. Now that Apple has built a similar function into macOS Catalina called Sidecar, Duet Display is releasing an Android version of its software.
The app has previously worked with Windows, but did so by extending the PC screen onto iPads. Now its new version will be able to use Android tablets instead. It's not clear yet whether the software will allow Windows PCs to have their screens extended onto iPads, however.
Rahul Dewan, CEO and Founder of Duet Display, previously told AppleInsider that the company has been planning the move for some time.
'We have expected Apple [to get] into this space since day one,' he said when asked about Apple's Sidecar announcement. 'As we have been a top 10 iPad app for five years in a row, we were able to prove the market. So it isn't surprising that Apple wanted to provide their own solution.'
Using the Mac version of Duet Display with an iPad
'Since we expected Apple to get in to the space, we knew they only way to compete was to keep innovating,' he added.
Duet Display is due to be released on the Google Play Store today, and for a claimed 50% discount. The company has not said what the retail or discounted price for the Android version will be, but the Mac edition is $9.99 plus in-app purchases.
There are already apps on Android that do this, including the free software-only Spacedesk and USB-cable tool Twomon which costs approximately $10.
Duet Display Mac App Store
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