How to use your iPhone or Apple Watch as a remote control for your iPad using this hidden built-in feature

iOS has a hidden feature that will turn your iPhone or Apple Watch into a remote control for your nearby iPad or other Apple devices – and it’s nowhere near as complicated as Switch Control.

For a long time, Switch Control was the only built-in way to remotely control one of your Apple devices from another, but it remains one of Apple’s most confusing accessibility features. You can use a third party app for remote access, but in most cases a paid subscription is required for continued use.

Apple is addressing these issues with the iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and watchOS 9 updates, which include a new accessibility feature called Manage Nearby Devices. You won’t be able to control your iPhone or Apple Watch with your iPad, but you can use your iPhone to control your iPad or another iPhone, and you can also use your Apple Watch to control your iPhone or iPad.

If you want to control your Apple Watch from your iPhone, which would be helpful if you find it difficult to interact with the small screen and buttons on your watch, you should try a separate new feature called Apple Watch Mirroring. It mirrors your watch’s display on your iPhone. and you can interact with it from there.

Requirements

• iOS 16.0 or later, iPadOS 16.0 or later, and/or watchOS 9.0 or later.
• Each device must be signed in to iCloud with the same Apple ID.
• Bluetooth must be enabled on each device.

Restrictions

The ability to control nearby devices is currently limited and can only open the home screen, app switcher, notification center, control center, Siri, and other menus with media playback controls. So, if that’s all it can do, how useful is that? Here are just a few use cases:

• If you or one of your kids is watching a TV show on your iPad, you can use your iPhone or Apple Watch to pause it when needed.
• If your iPad has an alarm set and you don’t want to get up to snooze or turn it off, you can use Manage Nearby Devices to go to the home screen or ask Siri to turn off the alarm.
• If you’re playing music on your iPhone or iPad and need to mute or pause the sound when you’re in another room and need to mute the sound a bit, you can make your Apple Watch do the job.

Option 1: Control your iPad or iPhone from your iPhone

Open the Settings app on your iPhone, select Accessibility, then go to the Manage Nearby Devices menu and press the Accessibility button. Your iPhone will immediately search your local network for nearby devices that are signed in to iCloud with your Apple ID. When you see the device, tap it to connect.

The controls will open and a notification on your iPhone or iPad will say that your iPhone is now connected. On the main control screen, you will see buttons to open the following:

• House
• Application switcher
• Notification Center
• Control center
• Siri
• Options (•••)

The Options button opens another screen with the same controls as the main control screen, in addition to media playback controls.

• Play/Pause
• Previous track
• next track
• Turn up the volume
• Turn down the sound

Connecting to devices is easy and all controls work smoothly as shown below.

Tip: Manage access to nearby devices faster

If you don’t want to keep going to the Settings app to connect to another of your Apple devices, you can assign it to your accessibility shortcut.

Go to “Settings”-> “Accessibility”-> “Ease of Access Shortcut”and make sure “Manage Nearby Devices”is checked. Then, when you triple-click the side or home button from anywhere on your iPhone, the Manage Nearby Devices interface should appear. If the shortcut has more than one tool assigned, select Manage Nearby Devices from the action menu that appears.

Option 1: Control iPad or iPhone with Apple Watch

Open the Settings app on your Apple Watch, then scroll down and select Accessibility. Next, find and open the “Manage Nearby Devices”menu.

Your Apple Watch will immediately search your local network for nearby devices that are signed in to iCloud with your Apple ID. When you see the device, tap it to connect. The controls will open and a notification on your iPhone or iPad will tell you your Apple Watch is now connected.

On the main control screen, you will see buttons to open the following:

• House
• Application switcher
• Notification Center
• Control center
• Siri
• Options (•••)

The Options button takes you to another screen with the same controls as the main control screen, in addition to media playback controls and customizable hand gestures.

• Play/Pause
• Previous track
• next track
• Turn up the volume
• Turn down the sound

• Pinch
• double pinch
• squeeze

When you select Pinch, Double Pinch, or Clench, you can assign a media action to it so you can pinch, double pinch, or pinch on the main media control screen without opening the Options menu.

Connecting to devices is easy and all controls work smoothly as shown below.

Tip: Manage access to nearby devices faster

If you don’t want to keep going to the Settings app to connect to another of your Apple devices, you can assign it to your accessibility shortcut.

Go to “Settings”-> “Accessibility”-> “Ease of Access Shortcut”and make sure “Manage Nearby Devices”is checked. Alternatively, you can open the Apple Watch app on your iPhone and go to My Watch -> Accessibility -> Accessibility Shortcut to select the tools you want to quickly access from anywhere.

Then, when you quickly triple-click the Digital Crown, an interface for managing nearby devices should appear. If multiple tools are assigned to a shortcut, first select “Manage Nearby Devices”from the menu.