Pair any iPad with any Mac
Lightspan doesn't require both devices to share an Apple ID. Pair once with a single click on your Mac — your work Mac with your kid's iPad, the school's iPad with your personal Mac, any combination.
Mac + iPad
Your iPad, as a second display for your Mac.
Works without a shared Apple ID. No subscription, no extra hardware. €9.99 once.
- €9.99 one-time
- No shared Apple ID
- No subscription
- Cable or Wi-Fi
- Family Sharing
Why Lightspan
Apple's Sidecar requires both your Mac and your iPad to be signed in to the same Apple ID. If your devices use different accounts — work and personal, parent and child, two members of the same family — Sidecar won't connect them. Lightspan does.
Features
Why people choose Lightspan
Smooth like a real second monitor
Drag any window onto your iPad and use it like an external display. No noticeable lag over USB-C or a clean Wi-Fi network.
Wired or wireless
Connect over USB-C for the lowest latency, or use Wi-Fi for freedom of movement. Lightspan picks whichever connection is faster, automatically.
€9.99
No subscription. No yearly renewal. Family Sharing supported. Apple handles the payment and the receipt.
How it works
Setup in three steps
- 1
Install
Get Lightspan from the App Store. The Mac component downloads from this site.
- 2
Pair
Open the iPad app — it lists the Macs on your network. Tap yours, then click Allow on the notification that pops up on your Mac.
- 3
Drag a window
Your iPad shows up as a second display in macOS. Drag any window onto it.
A second display, the way it should work.
Lightspan
€9.99
one-time purchase, on the App Store.
- One-time purchase, no subscription
- Works across different Apple IDs
- Family Sharing — share with up to five family members
- Cable or Wi-Fi, your choice
- Purchase via Apple App Store
macOS 14.2+ · iPadOS 16+
FAQ
Common questions
How is Lightspan different from Sidecar?
Sidecar requires both your Mac and your iPad to be signed in to the same Apple ID. Lightspan doesn't. Beyond that, the experience is similar — your iPad becomes a real second display, and you drag windows onto it.
Will it slow down my Mac?
Not noticeably. Modern Macs have a dedicated chip for video encoding, which Lightspan uses instead of the CPU. Expect roughly 3% CPU on M-series Macs and a few percent more on Intel.
Why isn't the Mac app on the Mac App Store?
To create a real virtual second display on macOS, the Mac app uses a system API that App Store apps aren't allowed to use. Other iPad-as-display apps (Duet, Astropad, BetterDisplay) ship as direct downloads for the same reason. The Mac app is signed by Apple, so macOS opens it without a warning.
Does my iPad need to be on the same Wi-Fi as my Mac?
Same Wi-Fi network is fastest, including a phone hotspot. Or just plug in a USB-C cable — no network is required at all.
Does it support Apple Pencil?
Your iPad receives the display from your Mac — that's it. Pencil input back to the Mac isn't supported.
Stop wrestling with Sidecar.
€9.99 once on the App Store.