Install on macOS.

Get Ilopad running on your Mac.

Download Ilopad

This link always points at the newest release. It is a universal build, for both Apple silicon and Intel Macs:

Download for macOS

Drag it to Applications

Open the downloaded .dmg. Drag Ilopad onto the Applications folder beside it, then eject the disk image.

The Ilopad disk image window, with the app icon beside a shortcut to the Applications folder

Put it in Applications, not somewhere else, and do not run it from the disk image. Step 8 asks you to choose it in Applications, and Ilopad can only update itself in a folder it can write to.

Open Ilopad

Open Ilopad from your Applications folder. The first time, macOS asks if you are sure, because the app comes from the internet. Click Open.

macOS dialog: Ilopad is an app downloaded from the internet. Are you sure you want to open it? With Cancel and Open buttons

Ilopad then explains what it needs. Click Grant Access.

Ilopad window titled Permission Required, explaining it needs the Accessibility permission, with a Grant Access button

Ilopad needs Accessibility because it moves your pointer and types for you. That is the permission macOS uses for anything that controls the mouse and keyboard.

Let macOS take you to the setting

macOS asks to confirm. Click Open System Settings, which opens the right page for you.

macOS dialog: Ilopad would like to control this computer using accessibility features, with Open System Settings and Deny buttons

If you miss this dialog, you can get to the same place by hand: System Settings › Privacy & Security › Accessibility.

Turn Ilopad on

Find Ilopad in the list. The switch starts off:

The Ilopad row in the Accessibility list, with its switch turned off

Click the switch. macOS asks for your Mac password, because this changes a system setting. Type it and click Modify Settings.

macOS password dialog: Privacy and Security is trying to modify your system settings

The switch is now on. That is the whole permission:

The Ilopad row in the Accessibility list, with its switch turned on

Ilopad starts again

Ilopad closes its window and starts again by itself, so that it can use the permission you just gave. You do not have to do anything. Then its window opens.

Ilopad also has an icon in the menu bar, at the top right of your screen. When you close the window, Ilopad keeps running there. Click the icon to open the window again.

The Ilopad icon in the macOS menu bar, with the tooltip Ilopad Server

Pair your iPad or iPhone

In the Ilopad window, click + (or Add Device). Type a name for your iPad or iPhone and click Generate QR. Scan the code with the Ilopad app on it. Both have to be on the same network.

The Ilopad window, showing the server name and the plus button that adds a device

One more permission, only for pencil mode

Pencil mode shows your Mac screen on the iPad, so it needs Screen & System Audio Recording as well. Ilopad asks for it the first time you use pencil mode, and not before: an Ilopad window opens on your Mac. Click Open System Settings in it. That opens System Settings › Privacy & Security › Screen & System Audio Recording.

If Ilopad is in the list, switch it on. If it is not (macOS 15 does not let an app add itself), click + below the list, choose Ilopad in Applications and click Open. If macOS asks for your password, type it. Then macOS asks to quit Ilopad: click Quit & Reopen.

Trackpad, pointer and keyboard all work without it. If you never use pencil mode, Ilopad never reads your screen.

Uninstall

To remove Ilopad, with its settings and the permissions that it added, follow Uninstall on macOS.