Cliqer Remote for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch: the native app

Most of a talk is one thumb. Next, next, back, next, and a glance at the clock and your notes. Cliqer Remote for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch is built around that thumb: two big tiles you can hit without looking, the live screen of the presentation computer in your hand, and a wrist that taps back.

It is also more than a clicker. The same app pairs with the computer that runs Cliqer 3 and turns an iPhone or iPad into a remote for the whole host.

What Cliqer Remote does on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch

The Cliqer Remote app does three jobs. As a presenter remote (iPhone and iPad) you join a room and click through slides, read notes, watch the shared screen, point, draw, chat and call in on camera. As a remote for the host (iPhone and iPad) you pair the device with the computer that runs Cliqer and run the show from anywhere in the venue. As a clicker on your wrist (Apple Watch) you get Next, Back, the slide number and the timer.

The presentation itself still runs on the computer, so download Cliqer first. The phone, iPad and watch join and control; they do not host. The app is a choice, not a requirement: presenters can also join from a phone browser with nothing to install, as in using your phone as a clicker.

Built native, with glass and a Rust engine

The first Cliqer Remote was a Flutter app. We measured it on a real phone and threw it away, for reasons we wrote up in why we rebuilt Cliqer Remote native. What replaced it:

• A SwiftUI interface that uses the system's own Liquid Glass on iOS 26 and watchOS 26 and later, and a frosted look on older versions. The glass look is Cliqer's brand.
• One engine, written once in Rust. Joining and resuming a room, clicks, laser and ink, chat, notes, the timer, calls and pairing live in one library shared with the Android app, so the two cannot drift apart.
• Video on a system layer. The shared screen is decoded by the phone's hardware decoder and composed by iOS, so the interface does not redraw for every video frame.

The wider story is in why Cliqer 3 is native.

Join a room in three ways

All three end in the same place.

The host shows the room code and QR code in the Room page of the desktop app.

The app remembers your last room and name. If the host has not started the room yet, it says Waiting for connection and joins by itself when the host appears. Details: joining a room.

What you can do once you are in the room

The app shows the host's shared screen, a Back and a Next tile, and a bar of room tools. What shows up depends on what the host has switched on, so a missing control is usually missing on the host side.

Back and Next, as big as the phone

When the host shares slide numbers, the slide number is the real confirmation: it changes once the slide has moved on the host, and quick presses in a row all count. Turn the phone sideways and the screen fills the phone, with the left half Back and the right half Next. The Slide controls sheet adds First slide, Last slide, Go to and Blackout, where the presentation software supports them.

Notes, the timer and the shared screen

The notes for the current slide sit under the shared screen. Drag the grabber to change the height and use the text size buttons to enlarge them. The host countdown shows in the room bar and changes colour as time runs short. The app only shows the timer: starting it is the host's job, or yours from a paired device. With several hosts in the room you see a grid and tap the screen you want. See how we made screen sharing four times faster.

Laser, ink and chat

Touch the shared screen and a laser dot appears for everyone, labelled with your name. When the host allows drawing, Draw opens the ink tools: eight colours, four brushes (pen, highlighter, marker and a pen that fades after about three seconds), three widths, and shapes that snap, so a half-second pause turns a stroke into a line, arrow, rectangle or ellipse. The chat button opens Chat with host, where you can report or block messages.

Calling in on camera

On Studio HD or above the host can invite you on camera. A sheet says "The host invited you on camera", and your camera and microphone turn on only if you tap Join. An On call card then sits in a corner you can drag or pinch. See bringing remote guests on stage for the host side.

iPad: the same app, with room to spread out

Turn an iPad sideways and the notes sit beside the shared screen in a panel as tall as the display; drag its edge to set the width and the app remembers it. The drawing bar sits over the Next tile, and a hardware keyboard works: arrow keys send clicks, and B, Home, End and a slide number plus Enter work when the host allows them.

Click layout shows Back and Next side by side or stacked, and Screen only hides the click buttons and shows just the shared screen.

Control the host from your iPhone or iPad

Control the host turns a phone or iPad into a remote for the computer that runs Cliqer on a Mac or a Windows PC. Pairing works like linking WhatsApp Web: the computer shows a QR code, the device scans it, and there is no sign-in and no approval step on the computer.

The window on the computer: the QR code lasts 60 seconds and works once, and every paired device is listed with an x to remove it.

Keep the window off a shared screen, a stream or a recording: anyone who can scan the code in its 60 seconds can pair. A paired device can never open it or show the code. One computer takes up to 10 paired devices and a device up to 10 hosts. The desktop side is in Devices.

What the controls show

A Presenter | Host switch appears at the top of the app, and the controls sit in three tabs named after the host's own places.

• Show: the room link, the timer, the presenters list with a Click and a Screen switch for each person, and big Previous and Next buttons.
• Studio: from Studio HD. With Cliqer 3 on the computer it has REC, STREAM, Go Live, the transition keys and T-bar, and On Stage, Talkback and Hang up for each caller. STREAM sends a real-time encode with no frame reordering, so viewers add no decode delay. See the Studio switcher, Cliqer Live and the Studio docs.
• Settings: a mirror of the host's Settings menu in its own order, including Clear drawing, which wipes every presenter's ink.

A computer that is off stays in Your hosts, dimmed, with "Offline, last seen 2 h ago", and returns by itself when Cliqer opens again. For a stage clock see Cliqer Timer, and for the desk workflow show control from the tech table.

Apple Watch: Next and Back on your wrist

The Apple Watch app comes with Cliqer Remote for iPhone. Next fills the face, so tap anywhere. Back is a smaller red button cut out of the bottom-left corner. The slide number sits under the arrow, the room timer shows at the top, and every tap flashes the face in the colour of the button and taps your wrist.

The watch works in two ways, and you can use either.

Linked to your phone

Join a room on the iPhone, open Cliqer Remote on the watch and it shows the room the phone is in. Because the watch clicks as your phone, a room on the Free plan, which allows 1 connected presenter, works the same with a watch.

The catch is the phone. Cliqer Remote leaves the room when the phone has been away from the app for more than 5 seconds, and a locked screen counts as away. Keep the phone unlocked and face up on the lectern. If it is not in a room, the watch says Open Cliqer Remote on your phone and greys out.

On its own

Open Join a room on the watch (the page under the face, via the Digital Crown or a swipe), enter the code and tap Join. A watch that joins alone is a presenter and takes a presenter place, so on a Free room a watch on its own and a phone do not both fit: the second to join is refused. Link the watch to the phone instead. While the host is away, Next and Back grey out.

The same face on Apple Watch (left) and Wear OS (right). The Android and Wear OS side of the story is in Cliqer Remote for Android and Wear OS.

A watch is a clicker and nothing more: no laser, drawing, notes or chat. Those stay on the phone.

When the network misbehaves

A remote is only as good as the path between your thumb and the computer, so know what the app does when it gets worse.

• It needs a connection. Cliqer Remote needs internet on the phone and Cliqer open on the computer. There is no offline mode: the watch says No connection. Try again., and a closed host shows dimmed in Your hosts.
• It connects directly when it can. The phone and computer meet through Cliqer's signalling, then talk directly and encrypted. If a firewall blocks that, the connection goes through an encrypted relay, and last of all over a secure WebSocket. Presenter settings shows which you got: Direct (STUN), Relay (TURN) or WebSocket fallback. See security and networking.
• It reconnects by itself. If the network drops, the room stays on screen while the app reconnects. With no host reachable the tiles are disabled and say Clicking is disabled.
• Switching apps has a limit. Leave the app for more than 5 seconds and you leave the room. The screen stays awake while you are in it.

In our own tests on a Mac with Cliqer 2.3, a click became a slide change in a median of 48 ms in PowerPoint and 42 ms in Keynote, and a relay round trip took a median of 13 to 16 ms, with the network adding its own time. Clicker latency: why milliseconds matter explains what makes a software clicker feel fast.

Pro tip: before a big event, join the room from the venue Wi-Fi and check the connection line in Presenter settings. If it says WebSocket fallback, direct video is blocked on that network: share the outbound ports listed in security and networking with the venue's network team, then test again.

What the app asks for, and what it keeps

There is no sign-in, no in-app purchase and no advertising identifier. The app asks for the camera (the QR scanner and calls), the microphone (calls) and Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode (pairing), and never for your location, contacts or notifications. See privacy and security.

What is free and what needs a plan

The app is free on every plan. What a room allows is set by the host's plan.

Free is a simple clicker, with the rest shown locked and a free trial to try it. Before a show, run the pre-show presentation checklist, and see the phone presentation apps compared if you are choosing.

FAQ

Get Cliqer Remote on your wrist and in your hand

Cliqer Remote is on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, and on Google Play for Android and Wear OS. Pair it with the Cliqer desktop app on the computer that runs your slides.