scrcpy is the best Android mirroring tool there is, and it's free. Here's how to install and run it on macOS — and, if you'd rather never open a Terminal again, what a GUI wrapper actually saves you.
Up front: scrcpy is free, open source (Apache 2.0), and maintained by Genymobile. If you're comfortable on the command line, the guide below is all you need and you can stop there — no purchase required. PhoneDesk, mentioned further down, is a paid GUI built on top of it for people who want the same result without the setup.
Homebrew is the shortest path. scrcpy needs adb to talk to your phone, so install both:
brew install scrcpy
brew install android-platform-toolsThen on the phone: Settings → About phone, tap Build number seven times to unlock Developer options, and enable USB debugging. Plug in over USB, accept the authorization prompt on the phone, and run:
scrcpyA window opens with your phone screen in it, controllable with your mouse and keyboard. That's the whole basic flow.
Bare scrcpy works, but the defaults are conservative. These are the flags that change the experience most:
--video-codec=h265Sharper image at the same bitrate. Worth setting on any recent phone.
--max-fps=60Caps frame rate. Lower it to 30 to cut CPU use on older Macs.
--no-audioSkips audio forwarding — removes a common source of stutter.
--turn-screen-offKeeps the phone display off while you control it from the Mac.
--stay-awakeStops the phone from sleeping while plugged in.
--new-displayCreates a virtual display — the basis for desktop mode rather than plain mirroring.
They combine, which is where it gets verbose — a decent everyday invocation ends up looking like this, and you'll want it in a shell alias rather than retyping it:
scrcpy --video-codec=h265 --max-fps=60 --no-audio --turn-screen-off --stay-awakescrcpy has no wireless mode of its own — it goes over whatever connection adb has. So you set up adb over Wi-Fi first. On the phone, enable Wireless debugging in Developer options, then use the pairing code it shows you:
adb pair 192.168.1.42:37105 # port + code from the phone
adb connect 192.168.1.42:5555 # port from the Wireless debugging screen
scrcpyThe catch: Android throws away the pairing on every reboot, and the port often changes between sessions. Wireless scrcpy is genuinely useful, but expect to redo this more often than you'd like.
android-platform-tools and reopen your shell.--video-codec=h264 to rule out h265 support on your device.--video-bit-rate=4M --max-fps=30 is a reasonable starting point.scrcpy --version against the upstream releases if a flag from the docs isn't recognized.Everything above is a solved problem once you've done it a few times. The friction isn't any single step — it's that the interesting setups need flag combinations you have to go research. Desktop mode is the clearest example: getting a real windowed desktop session rather than a mirrored phone screen means driving --new-display with the right resolution and density, and the specifics differ between Samsung DEX and Pixel desktop mode.
PhoneDesk is a native macOS menu bar app that bundles scrcpy 4.1 and adb (unmodified, Apache 2.0, both Apple Silicon and Intel) and drives them with the correct arguments per mode. Nothing to brew, no PATH to fix, no flags to look up.
No Terminal, no Homebrew
scrcpy and adb ship inside the app. Nothing to install or keep on your PATH.
Desktop mode, preconfigured
DEX and Pixel desktop mode as real windows — the virtual-display flags are handled.
Wireless that reconnects
Pair once with a QR code; PhoneDesk re-establishes it instead of you re-running adb pair.
File transfer built in
Share from the phone's share sheet straight to your Mac — outside scrcpy's scope.
| scrcpy | PhoneDesk | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, open source | $25 one-time |
| Setup | Homebrew + adb + PATH | Drag to Applications |
| Interface | Command line + flags | macOS menu bar |
| Mirroring | Yes — excellent | Yes (same engine) |
| Desktop mode | Possible with the right flags | One click, preconfigured |
| Wireless | Manual adb pair each reboot | QR pair, auto-reconnect |
| File transfer | Not included | Share sheet → Mac |
| Updates | brew upgrade | Signed auto-updates |
If you already have scrcpy aliased in your shell and it does what you need, you genuinely don't need this. PhoneDesk is for the case where you want desktop mode and file transfer working in a couple of minutes and would rather spend $25 than an afternoon.
$25 one-time, lifetime license
scrcpy and adb bundled. Desktop mode, second display, and file transfer in one menu bar app. 14-day no-questions refund.
Yes. scrcpy is free and open source under the Apache 2.0 license, maintained by Genymobile. If you are comfortable with the Terminal, you never need to pay for anything — install it with Homebrew and you are done. PhoneDesk is a paid GUI for people who would rather not use the command line.
The simplest route is Homebrew: run "brew install scrcpy" and then "brew install android-platform-tools" for adb. Connect your phone over USB with USB debugging enabled, then run "scrcpy". If you do not already have Homebrew, you will need to install that first.
Not officially — scrcpy is a command-line tool, and everything is controlled through flags. Several third-party front-ends exist across platforms. PhoneDesk is a native macOS menu bar GUI that bundles scrcpy 4.1 and adb, so there is nothing to install separately and no flags to remember.
Yes, but it takes a few steps: enable wireless debugging on the phone, pair with "adb pair", connect with "adb connect", then run scrcpy. The pairing is cleared whenever the phone reboots, so you repeat it fairly often. PhoneDesk handles the pairing and reconnection for you.
scrcpy mirrors and controls your phone's regular screen. Samsung DEX is a separate desktop interface built into the phone, with a taskbar and resizable app windows. scrcpy can display a DEX session if you start one, but driving DEX reliably takes specific virtual-display flags — which is a large part of what PhoneDesk automates.
You would not, if the Terminal does not bother you — scrcpy is excellent software and PhoneDesk is built on top of it. PhoneDesk is worth $25 if you want desktop mode and second-display setups working without researching flags, wireless pairing that survives reboots, phone-to-Mac file transfer, and signed auto-updates. It is convenience, not capability.
No. PhoneDesk bundles upstream scrcpy 4.1 and adb unmodified (Apache 2.0), for both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, and drives them with the right arguments for each mode. You get upstream behavior without managing the install yourself.
Credit where it's due: scrcpy is built and maintained by Genymobile and its contributors, licensed under Apache 2.0. PhoneDesk bundles it unmodified. If scrcpy is useful to you, the upstream project is worth starring and supporting directly.