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1. On the Mac, open System Settings > General > Sharing.

2. Turn on Screen Sharing.

   If Remote Management is already on, Screen Sharing cannot be switched on. You don’t need it in that case, but check in the Remote Management options that your account has Observe and Control permissions: when an account lacks permission, the Mac responds exactly as if the password were wrong.

3. Click the info button ⓘ next to Screen Sharing and make sure the account you will sign in with is allowed access.

4. Note the address shown in the same window, such as vnc://192.168.1.20/.

5. In PocketDesk, a Mac on the same network appears under “On this network”; tap “Add”. Or tap “Add connection”, enter 192.168.1.20 as the host and keep the default port, 5900.

6. Choose “macOS account” (or “Automatic”) as the method, and sign in with this Mac’s user name and password.

Using the free TightVNC as an example:

1. Download the Windows installer from the official TightVNC website: tightvnc.com.

2. Run the installer and choose “Custom” to install only “TightVNC Server”, or “Typical” to install the viewer too.

3. Under “Select Additional Tasks”, keep “Register TightVNC Server as a system service” and “Add exception for TightVNC to Windows Firewall” checked (they are on by default).

4. Under “Set Passwords”, set the “Password for Remote Access”. This is the VNC password you enter in PocketDesk (only the first 8 characters count). We also recommend an “Administrative Password” so nobody else can change the server settings.

5. Open Command Prompt, run the command below and note the “IPv4 Address”, such as 192.168.1.42:

   ipconfig

6. In PocketDesk, tap “Add connection”, enter the IPv4 address as the host, keep the default port 5900, and choose “VNC password” (or “Automatic”).

With UltraVNC, use VNC password authentication in the UltraVNC Server settings. PocketDesk does not support MS-Logon, encryption plugins (DSM Plugin) or the UltraVNC Repeater yet.

Linux uses different VNC servers depending on the desktop. The steps below use Ubuntu and Debian; on other distributions, use the matching package manager. First find the computer’s IP address with hostname -I.

Share the desktop on the screen (X11): x11vnc

1. Install x11vnc:

   sudo apt install x11vnc

2. Set a VNC password (saved in ~/.vnc/passwd):

   x11vnc -storepasswd

3. Open a terminal on the desktop and run:

   x11vnc -usepw -forever -shared -noncache

   -forever keeps x11vnc running after you disconnect (by default it exits), and -noncache avoids a large cache area below the screen.

4. In PocketDesk, add a connection on port 5900 and choose “VNC password”.

x11vnc only shares X11 desktops. On a Wayland desktop based on wlroots (such as Sway, labwc or Wayfire), use wayvnc below.

Start a separate virtual desktop (servers and headless machines): TigerVNC

1. Install TigerVNC (a desktop environment such as Xfce must be installed):

   sudo apt install tigervnc-standalone-server

2. Set a VNC password:

   vncpasswd

3. Start a virtual desktop that other devices can reach:

   vncserver -localhost no :1

4. In PocketDesk, add a connection on port 5901 (display :1 is port 5901) and choose “VNC password”.

Wayland desktops: wayvnc

1. Install wayvnc:

   sudo apt install wayvnc

2. Create the file ~/.config/wayvnc/config with your own user name and password:

   address=0.0.0.0
   enable_auth=true
   username=your-user-name
   password=your-password
   relax_encryption=true

   With authentication on, wayvnc offers only encrypted sign-in methods that PocketDesk does not support yet by default; relax_encryption=true switches to signing in with a user name and password. If your wayvnc does not recognize the option, update wayvnc first. The file contains a password, so restrict it with chmod 600 ~/.config/wayvnc/config.

3. Run wayvnc in a terminal on the desktop.

4. In PocketDesk, add a connection on port 5900, choose “Automatic”, and sign in with the user name and password from the file.

sudo ufw allow 5900/tcp

1. Turn on VNC: run the command below in a terminal on the Raspberry Pi and choose Interface Options > VNC > Yes. You can also turn on VNC in the Interfaces tab of the Raspberry Pi configuration tool on the desktop.

   sudo raspi-config

2. Let PocketDesk sign in. By default, the VNC server in Raspberry Pi OS accepts only encrypted sign-in methods that PocketDesk does not support yet. Adjust it for your desktop:

   • Wayland desktop (the default since Bookworm, using wayvnc): edit the configuration file, add the line relax_encryption=true at the end, save, and restart.

     sudo nano /etc/wayvnc/config

     sudo reboot

   • X11 desktop with RealVNC Server (older Raspberry Pi OS): in RealVNC Server, open Options > Security, set Encryption to “Prefer off” and Authentication to “VNC password”, and set a VNC password. If there is an “Allow connections from legacy VNC Viewers” option, turn it on as well.

3. Find the Raspberry Pi’s IP address. On the same network you can also use its hostname followed by .local, such as raspberrypi.local.

   hostname -I

4. In PocketDesk, add a connection on port 5900. With wayvnc, choose “Automatic” and sign in with your Raspberry Pi user name and password; with RealVNC Server, choose “VNC password”.

These settings make the connection unencrypted, like other VNC connections. Use it only on networks you trust.