SharePad is £6.99, a one-time payment, not a subscription. That includes automatic updates for life, so every future version is free once you've bought it. Prefer to build it yourself? The full source is on GitHub under the GPLv3, free of charge.

The app keeps working; sharing just pauses now and then until you add your licence.

Plug your iPad into your Mac over USB and SharePad opens a clean window showing its screen. In your call, choose “Share window” and pick SharePad from the list, the same way you’d share any app. There’s no mid-call setup, and it works in Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams. See the full step-by-step guide.

No. There’s nothing to install on the iPad and no app to open, just connect it to your Mac over USB. Everything runs on the Mac side.

No. A virtual camera shows up as a small webcam tile in a call. SharePad gives you a proper shared window at full size, which is what you want for live drawing and whiteboarding.

Yes. Use whatever drawing, writing or notes app you like on the iPad, SharePad simply shows the iPad’s screen, so your Apple Pencil strokes appear live in the call as you make them.

A Mac running macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later, and a USB cable to connect your iPad. That’s it.

macOS only treats a plugged-in iPad as a camera for apps that run outside Apple’s sandbox, and App Store apps must be sandboxed. SharePad is still signed and notarised by Apple, so it opens with a normal double-click. You just download it directly rather than from the store.

Any of them. SharePad shows your iPad’s whole screen, so you can use Procreate, GoodNotes, Freeform, Notability, Apple Notes, whatever you already draw or write in. There’s nothing to integrate.

You connect the iPad to your Mac with a USB cable. SharePad uses the same wired connection macOS already exposes for a plugged-in iPad, the one QuickTime uses, so there’s no wireless pairing or network involved.

It’s a live feed rendered straight to your screen on the GPU, using the same capture path QuickTime and OBS use, so it stays responsive for drawing and writing.

Two usual causes: the iPad is locked (a locked iPad shows black, so unlock it), or you haven’t tapped “Trust This Computer” on the iPad yet. Also, browser-based Google Meet and Teams only transmit a window that’s actually visible. If it’s hidden behind other windows the share goes blank, so switch on “Keep window on top” in the popover.

No. SharePad is video only by design. It shows the iPad’s screen, not its audio, so your call’s own microphone handles the talking.

SharePad mirrors your whole iPad screen, so anything on the iPad, including notification banners, is visible to the call. Turn on a Focus or Do Not Disturb on the iPad before you share to keep things tidy.

Yes. SharePad just shows the iPad in a window on your Mac. There’s no account, no sign-in, and no tracking or analytics in the app. The only network request it makes is an automatic check for a new version. It never sends your data or anything about what you share.