been wanting this since I keep leaving my Mac running some long job at home and then needing to poke at it from my phone. the "pair over Wi-Fi or use Online Access from anywhere" bit is the part I'd want to understand better before turning it on though - is Online Access relayed through your servers or is it a direct connection to the Mac, and what's actually protecting the trackpad/screen session at that point, just the Apple ID or something separate
@galdayan Great question. On the same Wi‑Fi, the connection stays local. Online Access may connect directly or use a secure relay, depending on the networks involved.
Apple ID isn’t the only protection—it authenticates your Maccess account, while the iPhone must be separately paired using the QR code or pairing code displayed on the Mac.
Each session uses fresh encryption keys established with X25519. Control data—including trackpad input, keystrokes, clipboard data, and commands—is end-to-end encrypted and authenticated with ChaCha20‑Poly1305, so intercepted traffic is unreadable and tampered messages are rejected. Screen content is also encrypted between the paired devices.
If a relay is needed, it only forwards encrypted traffic and never receives the session keys. Maccess doesn’t store the content of your remote-control sessions, and you can disable Online Access or remove a paired device at any time.
@expertguy that's a genuinely thorough answer, fresh X25519 keys per session plus a separate device pairing step (not just Apple ID) covers the exact gap I was worried about. the relay-never-sees-the-session-keys detail is the one that actually matters for the "anywhere" mode, most apps that offer that just quietly trust their own backend. good design choice to make removing a paired device instant too
@galdayan Thanks, Gal — really appreciate that. That’s exactly the principle behind the design: the relay can help establish connectivity, but it should never become a trusted party with access to the session itself. Glad the details addressed your concerns!
Dial
been wanting this since I keep leaving my Mac running some long job at home and then needing to poke at it from my phone. the "pair over Wi-Fi or use Online Access from anywhere" bit is the part I'd want to understand better before turning it on though - is Online Access relayed through your servers or is it a direct connection to the Mac, and what's actually protecting the trackpad/screen session at that point, just the Apple ID or something separate
Maccess
@galdayan Great question. On the same Wi‑Fi, the connection stays local. Online Access may connect directly or use a secure relay, depending on the networks involved.
Apple ID isn’t the only protection—it authenticates your Maccess account, while the iPhone must be separately paired using the QR code or pairing code displayed on the Mac.
Each session uses fresh encryption keys established with X25519. Control data—including trackpad input, keystrokes, clipboard data, and commands—is end-to-end encrypted and authenticated with ChaCha20‑Poly1305, so intercepted traffic is unreadable and tampered messages are rejected. Screen content is also encrypted between the paired devices.
If a relay is needed, it only forwards encrypted traffic and never receives the session keys. Maccess doesn’t store the content of your remote-control sessions, and you can disable Online Access or remove a paired device at any time.
Dial
@expertguy that's a genuinely thorough answer, fresh X25519 keys per session plus a separate device pairing step (not just Apple ID) covers the exact gap I was worried about. the relay-never-sees-the-session-keys detail is the one that actually matters for the "anywhere" mode, most apps that offer that just quietly trust their own backend. good design choice to make removing a paired device instant too
Maccess
@galdayan Thanks, Gal — really appreciate that. That’s exactly the principle behind the design: the relay can help establish connectivity, but it should never become a trusted party with access to the session itself. Glad the details addressed your concerns!