How to Use Cliqer

Once you have successfully installed Cliqer on your Mac or Windows computer, using it to control your presentations is simple. The general workflow is similar for both platforms.

Basic Usage Steps

1. Start Cliqer:
   • Launch the Cliqer application on your host computer (the one running the presentation software).
2. Licence Activation (First Use):
   • If it's your first time running Cliqer, you may need to sign in to your free Cliqer account or enter your licence key. You can typically find your licence key in your account area on the Cliqer website or in your order confirmation email.
   • Your key and its device seats are in My Licences in your account. See Licences and devices to copy your key or release a device.
3. Pick your presentation app:
   • In Settings > Presenters > Room, set Control mode (the app that presenters' clicks turn): Focused window (any app in front), PowerPoint, Keynote (Mac), Google Slides or vMix (Windows). See Presentation control.
   • Cliqer shows the room link and code.
4. Share the Link/Code:
   • Share this unique URL or code with your presenter(s). They can open this link on any device with a web browser (smartphone, tablet, another computer).
   • Presenters can also join from the free Cliqer Remote app for iPhone, iPad and Android, by room code, QR code or link.
5. Test Connection:
   • Ask the presenter to access the link and test the control buttons (e.g., next/previous slide).
   • On the host computer, the Cliqer app shows visual indications when a presenter connects and when they press control buttons (buttons change colour to indicate active state). This confirms a successful connection.
6. Minimise Cliqer (Optional):
   • You can safely minimise the Cliqer application on the host computer. It will continue running in the background.
7. Start Your Presentation:
   • Open your presentation software (PowerPoint, Keynote, Google Slides, etc.) and start your slideshow in full-screen mode.
8. Remote Control:
   • The presenter can now control the slideshow using the interface on their device from anywhere in the world, as long as both devices have an internet connection.

Important Considerations

• Internet Connection: Both the host computer and the presenter's device require a stable internet connection for Cliqer to function.

• Firewall: Ensure your firewall (Windows Defender or third-party) allows Cliqer to make outgoing connections. Presenter devices and your host application exchange connection details through Cliqer's signalling service, then talk peer to peer, with an encrypted relay only as a fallback when a direct path is blocked.
• Software Updates: Keep Cliqer, your operating system, and your presentation software updated for the best performance and security. Cliqer checks for updates automatically and updates itself in place (Updates).

Screen Sharing

Stream your screen to connected presenters with real-time video. In Settings > Presenters > Sharing, Share to everyone shows the main display to everyone in the room, and everyone who joins. The same tab sets Show the cursor, Sharing border, Share audio (computer, microphone or both) and Computer audio from. Size, frame rate and bitrate are in Settings > Video > Program.

Full guide: Screen sharing.

Multi-Presenter Laser Pointers

Multiple presenters can use laser pointers simultaneously. Each presenter gets a coloured dot with their name displayed.

Each presenter gets a colour from their name, so their dot and their drawing are the same colour on every screen.

Drawing

Presenters can draw freehand over the shared screen. Tap the pen button in the presenter toolbar, then draw on the video with a finger or the mouse. Tap the pen again to go back to the laser pointer: that also takes your drawing off the screen.

• Drawing uses the host's Laser pointer setting (Settings > Presenters > Room). When it is off, the pen button is hidden and existing drawings are cleared.
• The pen is offered when the shared screen can take presses: a single shared screen on the presenter device, not covered by the click buttons. In landscape with the buttons over the video, turn on Screen only or Buttons at the bottom first.
• Drawings appear on the host screen and on every presenter watching the same screen. They are not part of the NDI output or the studio program output.
• Clear drawing (the eraser button, shown while drawing) and turning the pen off take off only your own drawing. Other presenters' drawings stay.
• Every presenter's drawing goes when the host taps Clear drawings in Settings > Presenters > Room, when Cliqer changes the slide (next, back, first, last, go to or blackout, from a presenter, the buttons in the Cliqer app or a clicker connected to Cliqer), or when the host turns off the Laser pointer setting.

Slide Controls

Besides next and back, presenters can black out the screen and jump to the first slide, the last slide or a slide number. The slide controls button (next to the settings button) opens them in a sheet. Only the controls the host's presentation app supports are shown.

Which controls each presentation app supports: Presentation control.

• Slide controls need the same permission as the click buttons. When the host turns clicking off for a presenter, they are hidden too.
• With several hosts in a room, a control is shown only when every host supports it, so all decks stay on the same slide.
• Blackout: while the screen is black, every presenter sees a "Screen is black" button to bring it back. Pressing next or back while the screen is black brings the slide back without moving to another slide. If someone presses B, or ends and restarts the show, on the host computer directly, Cliqer does not see it.

Keyboard shortcuts

With Keyboard shortcuts turned on in the presenter settings (desktop browsers), these keys work when the host supports the command:

Timer

The host runs a countdown or count-up timer that presenters see. Its look is in Settings > Show > Timer (Counts, Digit colour, Digits, Background, Opacity, Font). On a Mac, Send the timer over NDI sends it as an NDI source.

Full guides: Timer and Timer (Advanced) for the Timer API.

Free Plan

The Free plan is permanent, not a time-limited trial. It needs a free Cliqer account in the app with a confirmed email address and no card, and it is a simple clicker: slides, screen sharing and Stream Deck. The Pro timer, laser pointer and draw, chat and NDI start on Plus. Callers and Studio start on Pro. The app shows them locked, and pressing one opens the plans in your account.

• Video output carries a watermark
• Hardware devices (cue lights, Stream Deck) run for 10 minutes per session
• One room and one remote client
• Unlimited session time, no countdown and no card required
• Team and management features need a paid plan: multi-host starts on Plus, the Client API is an add-on from Plus (included in Ultra and Enterprise), whitelabel branding and custom domains are Ultra and Enterprise, and SSO, SCIM and custom team roles are the Enterprise add-on on Plus, Pro, Max and Ultra, included in Enterprise

Advanced Features

Beyond the basics, Cliqer offers (see each guide for the plan it needs):

• Multi-Host Support, Connect multiple hosts for backup redundancy or synchronised control (each connected host uses one seat on your licence)
• Screen Share Per Host, Each host streams independently; presenters see all available streams
• Callers, Bring remote video guests into your production with a Studio
• Cliqer Remote App, Present from the phone app, run the host computer from it, and move slides from your watch
• Custom API Access, Build integrations with the Cliqer API
• Stream Deck Support, Control slides and timer with an Elgato Stream Deck via USB or plugin
• NDI Timer Output, Broadcast the timer as an NDI source for production software (Mac)

See Advanced Topics for detailed guides.

Next, explore the various Use Cases for Cliqer.