Use your phone as a remote, with notes and a laser.
Advance scenes, read your notes, and point at the big screen with a laser dot, all from your phone. There’s no app to install: scan the QR code on your laptop with your phone’s camera to connect.
Connect your phone
This works with projects saved in Studio. Connect your phone before you put your screen on the projector.
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Open the Remote window
On the right of the bar at the very top of the editor, next to the Share button, click Remote. The Remote window opens with a QR code and a 6-digit pairing code. The code works for 3 minutes. After that, it changes to a new code. In a narrow window, only the phone-shaped icon shows. In a narrower one, it’s in the three-dot More options menu.
Clicking Remote opens a window with a QR code and a pairing code. Video: Clicking Remote next to the Share button in the top bar of the Studio editor opens the Remote window with a QR code, a 6-digit pairing code, and the time left. -
Scan the QR code with your phone
Scan the QR code with your phone’s camera app, and open the link that appears. Your phone shows “Connected,” and then the project name and the Start from the first scene button. The window on your laptop also lists the phone as “connected.”
Scanning the QR code brings up the project on the phone, and the phone appears as “connected” in the laptop window. Video: Opening the QR link on the phone shows Connected, then a screen with a Start from the first scene button, and the first seat in the laptop’s Remote window shows the phone as connected.
Anyone with the pairing code can advance your show
A phone connects with just the code, without signing in. Once your phone is connected, close the Remote window. If you see a phone you don’t know, click Disconnect for that phone in the window.
When you start the show, the window closes on its own. If you open it again during the show, no code appears.
Present from your phone
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Start the show
On your phone, tap Start from the first scene. The first scene appears on the laptop screen. Click the laptop screen once to go full screen. This click doesn’t advance the scene.
Tapping Start from the first scene on the phone brings up the first scene on the laptop, and clicking the laptop screen makes it full screen. Video: Tapping Start from the first scene on the phone opens the first scene on the laptop at window size. One click on the laptop screen makes it full screen, and the scene stays the same. -
Advance from your phone
Tap the big Next button at the bottom of your phone. The big screen advances, and the button shows the scene or stop that comes next. The left arrow button beside it goes back. Swipe the scene picture on your phone to the left to go forward, or to the right to go back.
Tapping Next moves the big screen to the second scene, and the phone’s button shows the name of the scene after it. Video: Tapping the big Next button at the bottom of the phone moves the big screen to the second scene. The phone’s position changes to 02 / 03, and the Next button now reads Scene 03 · Three. -
Point with the laser
Tap Laser at the bottom. The scene picture appears large on your phone. Drag your finger across it, and a dot in your phone’s color follows along on the big screen. Lift your finger, and the dot disappears. Rest the dot on an object for a moment, and that object’s While hovering effect plays on the big screen. A short tap runs only the On click sentences of the object at that spot. If there are none, nothing happens, and the scene doesn’t advance either.
As the finger moves on the phone, a pink dot follows it on the big screen. Video: After tapping Laser on the phone, moving a finger over the scene picture makes a pink dot with a trail follow along on the big screen. Lifting the finger makes it disappear. -
End the show
In Settings on your phone, tap End show at the very bottom. Tap End show once more in the confirmation, and the big screen shows the “End of show” card.
Confirming End show brings up the “End of show” card on the big screen, and the phone shows a Back to the editor button. Video: Tapping End show at the bottom of the phone’s Settings, then again in the confirmation, brings up the End of show card on the big screen, and the phone shows a Back to the editor button. -
Go back to the editor
On your phone, tap Back to the editor. The laptop goes back to the editor.
Tapping Back to the editor clears the “End of show” card on the laptop and brings up the editor. Video: Tapping Back to the editor on the phone’s End of show screen clears the End of show card on the laptop and brings up the editor.
Buttons on the remote screen
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Notes | Shows the current scene’s notes and the project notes in large type, in place of the scene picture. Change the text size with A− and A+. Tap it again to go back to the scene picture. |
| Scenes | Shows all scenes that aren’t hidden. Tap one, and the big screen jumps to that scene, regardless of order. You can also open the list by tapping the scene number (01 / 03). |
| Blackout | Covers the big screen in black. Tap it again to bring the scene back. |
| Pause · Play | Appears only when the scene has animation to play. Tap it to pause in place, and tap again to continue. |
| Next scene | The picture and name of the next scene. Tap it to skip the remaining stops and go to that scene. This card doesn’t show on phones with short screens or on the laser screen, so use Scenes there. |
| Time | Each tap on the time at the top switches between the elapsed time and the time left until your target time. |
Remote settings and connections
In Settings on your phone, choose the screen theme, how the laser moves, and the target time. Your choices stay on that phone.
Once paired, a phone reconnects without a code for 12 hours. Before the show, if you switch to another tab on your laptop, minimize the window, or close the editor, your phone shows “Can’t reach the presenting screen.” Bring that project back on screen on the laptop, and the phone reconnects without a code.
You can also start the show from your laptop. Start it with Start the show in the Remote window or with F5, and the phone follows along.
Up to three phones can connect to one project. In the order they connect, they get pink, blue, and orange lasers. A pairing code works only once. For the next phone, click New code in the Remote window, then scan the new QR code.
Several phones can show laser dots at once. A short tap works only when the other phones’ dots are off. Otherwise, your phone shows “Another phone is pointing.”
| Setting | Choices |
|---|---|
| Theme | Dark (default) · Light · Device |
| Laser moves with | With Touch, you point with your finger. With Phone motion, you press and hold the screen and turn the phone to point. On iPhone, the first time you choose Phone motion, it asks for motion access. |
| Target time | Set in 5-minute steps. The default is 15 minutes. |
| Keep screen on | Keeps your phone’s screen from turning off while you present. It’s on by default. |
| Vibrate on tap | Gives a short vibration when you tap a button. Android only. |
| Disconnect this phone | Disconnects this phone. To use it again, you have to scan a new code. |
When the QR code doesn’t work · adding a phone · network
If you can’t scan the QR code. Open s.show/remote on your phone, and type the 6-digit pairing code shown in the window on your laptop. You can also send your phone the link you copy with Copy one-time link in the window, but that link also opens only once, within 3 minutes.
To add a phone during the show. New phones can connect only before the show starts. On your laptop, press esc to stop the show, connect the phone, and then start again.
You don’t need the same Wi-Fi. Your phone and laptop connect through the SSHOW server. Both need to be connected to the internet.
Updated 10/12/2026 · The videos on this page were recorded in the current editor.