Using Sidecar: Extending Your iPad as a Secondary Display for Mac

In the upcoming version of Mac OS, Apple has added a feature called Sidecar that allows an iPad running iPadOS to serve as a secondary display for the Mac. In this article, we'll delve into how Sidecar works and explore its features.

To use Sidecar, you need to be running iPadOS on your iPad and MacOS Catalina on a compatible Mac. Then, all you have to do is go to the menu bar, select the AirPlay icon, and choose the iPad that you want to connect to. Once connected, the AirPlay icon will turn blue, and if you head back to that menu, you'll see a couple of options to turn on or off the Side Bar and Touch Bar that are on your iPad. You'll also see touch bar controls even if you're using a Mac without a touch bar.

Personally, I like the extra screen real estate, so I opted to turn these options off. There's also a Settings menu for Sidecar under System Preferences, which includes the same two options that I just mentioned plus an option to position each bar on the screen as well as a few Apple Pencil settings. The first interesting thing about extending and using your iPad as a secondary MacBook display is the ability to use your Apple Pencil. You can use the Apple Pencil as a pseudo mouse, although this isn't really the most fluid experience. If you aren't near your Mac's mouse or trackpad and you need to select something on the screen, this is your only option.

There isn't any support for touch gestures with Sidecar, but some apps do offer the ability to use two fingers for scrolling purposes writing or drawing with the pencil in apps like Photoshop. This is actually surprisingly good, with little latency, making it a nice Wacom tablet replacement when you're on the go or you're in a quick pinch.

As far as normal usage goes, Sidecar truly makes your iPad a useful and functional secondary display. You can easily drag and drop applications or windows from one display to the other, all of it being pretty seamless for the most part. It feels like I'm using a second monitor and not an airplane action on my iPad.

There's also a built-in shortcut on the Mac where if you hover over the green fullscreen button in an app, you'll see the option to move the window directly to your iPad. This feature has been invaluable for me, allowing me to free up space on my Mac for other windows or applications. For the most part, Sidecar has been a pretty solid experience.

However, there have been a few minor issues with the wireless connection. I attribute most of these bugs to being general beta bugs. Apple does offer the ability to connect your iPad via a wired connection, which gives me a more stable connection since it doesn't depend on wireless strength. This is something to keep in mind if you're considering using Sidecar.

One of the best things about Sidecar is its convenience. You can activate it with just a few clicks and use your iPad for normal iPad things before jumping back into Sidecar by tapping on the Sidecar icon in your dock. It's a great feature, and I'm excited to see how developers and Apple will utilize Sidecar in the future.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enin the upcoming version of Mac OS Mac OS Catalina Apple added a feature called sidecar which allows an iPad running iPad OS to serve as a secondary display for the Mac so in this video we're gonna check out sidecar and give you a look at how it works before we get started be sure to subscribe and hit the bell to get notifications whenever we share a video to use sidecar you need to be running iPad OS on your iPad and Mac OS Catalina on a compatible Mac and then all you have to do is go to the menu bar select the airplay icon and then select the iPad that you want to connect to once connected the airplay icon will turn blue and then if you head back to that menu you'll see a couple of options to turn on or off the side bar and touch bar that are on your iPad you'll see touch bar controls even if you're using a Mac without a touch bar the side bar gives you a few tools like command option and shift keys for example and then you have access to your touch bar controls just like you would on your macbook personally I like the extra screen real estate and so I opted to turn these options off there's also a Settings menu for sidecar under System Preferences which includes the same two options that I just mentioned plus an option to position each bar on the screen as well as a few Apple pencil settings so yes the first interesting thing about extending and using your iPad as a secondary MacBook display is the ability to use your Apple pencil you can use the Apple pencil as a pseudo Mouse although this isn't really the most fluid experience but if you aren't near your Mac's mouse or trackpad and you need to select something on the screen this is your only option there isn't any support for touch gestures with sidecar but some apps do offer the ability to use two fingers for scrolling purposes writing or drawing with the pencil in apps like Photoshop is actually surprisingly good there's little latency and it can really be a nice Wacom tablet replacement when you're on the go or you're in a quick pinch as far as normal usage goes sidecar truly makes your iPad a useful and functional secondary display or you can mirror displays if you want you can easily drag and drop applications or windows from one display to the other all of it being pretty seamless for the most part it feels like I'm using a second monitor and not an airplane action to my iPad there's even a built-in shortcut on the Mac where if you hover over the green fullscreen button in an app you'll see the option to move the window directly to your iPad I've been loving the ability to throw my timeline or windows from Photoshop on my iPad in order to sort of free up some more space on my Mac for other windows or applications and for the most part sidecar has been a pretty solid experience there have been a few minor issues with the wireless connection and I do attribute most of that to just being general beta bugs but Apple does offer the ability to connect your iPad via a wired connection so for my iPad pro I could just go ahead and use a USBC cable and a wired connection gives me a more stable connection since it doesn't depend on wireless strength so that's something to keep in mind overall I like the convenience of having a secondary display with me at all times that I can activate with just a few clicks you can also use your iPad for normal iPad things and then go ahead and jump right back into sidecar by tapping on the sidecar icon in your dock it's a great feature and I honestly can't wait to see how developers and Apple in general will utilize sidecar in the future so let us know your thoughts on sidecar if you've been using the betas let me know what you think about this in the comments section down below this has been down with Mac rumors thanks for watching and I hope to see you in the next videoin the upcoming version of Mac OS Mac OS Catalina Apple added a feature called sidecar which allows an iPad running iPad OS to serve as a secondary display for the Mac so in this video we're gonna check out sidecar and give you a look at how it works before we get started be sure to subscribe and hit the bell to get notifications whenever we share a video to use sidecar you need to be running iPad OS on your iPad and Mac OS Catalina on a compatible Mac and then all you have to do is go to the menu bar select the airplay icon and then select the iPad that you want to connect to once connected the airplay icon will turn blue and then if you head back to that menu you'll see a couple of options to turn on or off the side bar and touch bar that are on your iPad you'll see touch bar controls even if you're using a Mac without a touch bar the side bar gives you a few tools like command option and shift keys for example and then you have access to your touch bar controls just like you would on your macbook personally I like the extra screen real estate and so I opted to turn these options off there's also a Settings menu for sidecar under System Preferences which includes the same two options that I just mentioned plus an option to position each bar on the screen as well as a few Apple pencil settings so yes the first interesting thing about extending and using your iPad as a secondary MacBook display is the ability to use your Apple pencil you can use the Apple pencil as a pseudo Mouse although this isn't really the most fluid experience but if you aren't near your Mac's mouse or trackpad and you need to select something on the screen this is your only option there isn't any support for touch gestures with sidecar but some apps do offer the ability to use two fingers for scrolling purposes writing or drawing with the pencil in apps like Photoshop is actually surprisingly good there's little latency and it can really be a nice Wacom tablet replacement when you're on the go or you're in a quick pinch as far as normal usage goes sidecar truly makes your iPad a useful and functional secondary display or you can mirror displays if you want you can easily drag and drop applications or windows from one display to the other all of it being pretty seamless for the most part it feels like I'm using a second monitor and not an airplane action to my iPad there's even a built-in shortcut on the Mac where if you hover over the green fullscreen button in an app you'll see the option to move the window directly to your iPad I've been loving the ability to throw my timeline or windows from Photoshop on my iPad in order to sort of free up some more space on my Mac for other windows or applications and for the most part sidecar has been a pretty solid experience there have been a few minor issues with the wireless connection and I do attribute most of that to just being general beta bugs but Apple does offer the ability to connect your iPad via a wired connection so for my iPad pro I could just go ahead and use a USBC cable and a wired connection gives me a more stable connection since it doesn't depend on wireless strength so that's something to keep in mind overall I like the convenience of having a secondary display with me at all times that I can activate with just a few clicks you can also use your iPad for normal iPad things and then go ahead and jump right back into sidecar by tapping on the sidecar icon in your dock it's a great feature and I honestly can't wait to see how developers and Apple in general will utilize sidecar in the future so let us know your thoughts on sidecar if you've been using the betas let me know what you think about this in the comments section down below this has been down with Mac rumors thanks for watching and I hope to see you in the next video\n"