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Connect your phone ​

Pair with your Mac ​

  1. On the Mac: Settings › Phone › Pair a New Phone. A QR code appears.
  2. On the iPhone: Hosts › + › Scan to Pair, and scan it.

That's it. Your sessions start arriving right away.

  • Each code pairs one phone and is valid for 5 minutes.
  • Can't scan? Click Copy Pairing Info on the Mac and paste it on the phone.
  • The phone shows up in the Mac's list of paired phones by its name (set it in the app's settings; it defaults to the model name).
  • A small phone status light sits at the right end of the space bar on the Mac — click it to get the same code.

Every remote host your Mac knows about comes along automatically. When you rename or remove a host on the Mac, the phone follows.

How the phone reaches your Mac ​

You don't choose — Seedmux does:

  • Same Wi-Fi → straight to your Mac over the local network.
  • Same Tailscale network → direct as well.
  • Anywhere else → through the relay, end-to-end encrypted.

Moving between them is automatic. See Weak networks & reconnecting.

Add a Linux server ​

By pairing. On the server, run smx pair and scan the code it draws. This works for machines without SSH, like sandboxes and containers. (Installing Seedmux on a server.)

Over SSH, straight from the phone. Hosts › + › add an SSH host by hand: address, user, and a password or the phone's own key. If the server is only reachable through another machine, add a jump host.

  • Your credentials are stored only in the iPhone's keychain and never pass through any server.
  • The phone has its own SSH key. Your Mac can install it on your hosts for you, so you don't have to paste anything.
  • If Seedmux isn't on the server yet, install it from the host's page with one tap.
  • The phone checks the server's identity, and warns you clearly if it ever changes.

Choose the route per machine ​

On a host's page you can pick how that machine is reached:

AutomaticUse whatever works (default)
SSH onlyOnly connect over SSH
Pairing onlyOnly use the paired connection (local network or relay)

VPN apps ​

If your phone runs a VPN or proxy app, Seedmux works alongside it. Only turn on Allow VPN in the app's settings if your VPN is mandatory and can't be switched off.

Unpairing ​

Removing a host keeps the session history already on your phone. Add the same machine back and syncing continues from where it was.

Seedmux — native macOS, early access.