What Is an Internet Clicker? Remote Slide Control Explained

An internet clicker does the same job as the USB dongle clicker you already know: it advances your slides. The difference is in how the command gets there. Instead of a radio signal hopping a few metres from a handheld transmitter to a receiver plugged into your laptop, an internet clicker sends that command over the internet, which means the presenter's device and the presentation can be in different rooms, different buildings, or different countries.

This post explains what makes something an internet clicker, how it actually works under the hood, and where it changes what is possible on stage.

The short definition

An internet clicker is presentation remote control software that connects a presenter's device (phone, tablet, laptop) to the computer running the slides using an internet connection rather than Bluetooth, RF or infrared. There is no physical receiver to plug in and no line-of-sight requirement.

Cliqer is built around this idea specifically. A desktop app runs on the computer showing your slides and holds the room, since a browser alone cannot host a presentation, and presenters join from any browser on any device using a room link or QR code, no install required on their end.

How it works under the hood

Cliqer uses WebRTC, the same real-time communication technology browsers use for video calls, to move control signals between devices. The two devices try to connect directly to each other first (peer to peer), and fall back to a relay only if a direct path is blocked by a firewall. Full technical detail is in our security and networking docs.

That matters for two reasons:

1. Low latency. A direct peer-to-peer connection is typically faster than routing commands through a central server and back.
2. No radio range limit. Since the connection is a standard internet connection, it works the same whether the presenter is ten metres away or standing at the back of a 2,000-seat auditorium.

Internet clicker vs hardware clicker vs phone clicker

These three terms get used loosely, so it helps to separate them:

A phone can be either a Bluetooth clicker or an internet clicker depending on what technology the app behind it uses. Cliqer's phone-based control is an internet clicker specifically, which is why it keeps working at the back of large venues where Bluetooth clickers start dropping out. We go through the full comparison, including where hardware still makes sense, in hardware, phone or internet: presentation clickers compared.

What an internet clicker unlocks beyond "next slide"

Because it is software rather than a fixed-function remote, an internet clicker tends to carry more with it:

Is it secure

Sending clicks over the internet naturally raises the question of who else can see them. Cliqer's control signals travel over encrypted WebRTC data channels, and each room link is a session-specific, cryptographically generated address rather than a guessable code. Nobody outside the room can join without that link, and once the session ends the link stops working. For a deeper look at what WebRTC's encryption does and does not protect against, our security checklist for presentation software is a good next read.

Internet clickers in bigger productions

Solo presenters are the simplest case, but the same idea scales up. AV crews running a show from a tech table can use an internet clicker as the backbone for cueing slides from a control surface like a Stream Deck, while a vision mixer output runs separately over NDI or into vMix. The clicker itself does not care whether it is the only thing happening on stage or one input feeding a full broadcast setup, it is still just sending next and previous commands, reliably, over the internet.

That scalability is also why internet clickers show up in hybrid and multi-host formats: the same link-based connection that lets one remote presenter click from home works identically when there are three presenters in three cities feeding the same room.

Setting up an internet clicker with Cliqer

1. Install the Cliqer desktop app on the computer running your presentation, from the download page.
2. Start the app and enable presenter control, which generates a room link and QR code.
3. Share that link with your presenter, or open it yourself on your own phone.
4. Start your slideshow and present, the internet clicker just sits in the background sending commands as they are triggered.

Go deeper

FAQ

Try an internet clicker for your next talk

Cliqer is free to try on one device, screen share and timer included. Download it from the download page or check the pricing page for the paid tiers built for bigger stages and teams.