MetalPipe
Setup guide

From your device to OBS in five minutes

You pair once. After that, starting a stream takes two taps.

Requirements

  • An iPhone or iPad with iOS 26.2 or iPadOS 26.2 or later.
  • A Mac with macOS 26.2 or later, and OBS Studio if you want to stream or record in OBS.
  • Both devices on the same Wi-Fi network (5 GHz recommended). Guest networks and some office networks block devices from seeing each other.

1. Install both apps

Install MetalPipe on your iPhone or iPad and MetalPipe Receiver on your Mac. The broadcast feature is installed together with the iPhone/iPad app; there's nothing else to add.

The first time you open MetalPipe, iOS asks whether it may find devices on your local network. Tap Allow: that's how it finds your Mac. If you tapped Don't Allow, turn it on in Settings ▸ Apps ▸ MetalPipe ▸ Local Network.

  1. Pair your iPhone or iPad with the Mac

    • On the Mac, open MetalPipe Receiver and choose MetalPipe ▸ Pair iPhone or iPad… (⌘P). A 6-digit code appears.
    • On the iPhone or iPad, open MetalPipe. Your Mac appears under Pair a new Mac; tap it.
    • Type the code. Pairing finishes by itself after the sixth digit.

    You only pair once. A device can be paired with several Macs (it streams to the one with the checkmark), and a Mac can be paired with several devices.

  2. Start a broadcast

    • In MetalPipe, tap the round broadcast button, choose MetalPipe, then Start Broadcast.
    • Or, from anywhere: open Control Center, long-press Screen Recording, and choose MetalPipe.

    Your screen and app audio appear in the MetalPipe Receiver window within a couple of seconds. To stop, tap the red indicator at the top of the screen, or stop the broadcast in Control Center.

  3. Add it to OBS

    • Video: in OBS, click + under Sources and choose macOS Screen Capture with the method set to Window (older OBS versions call it Window Capture). Pick MetalPipe Receiver.
    • Sound: click + ▸ macOS Audio Capture and set Application to MetalPipe Receiver.
    • Right-click the video source ▸ Transform ▸ Fit to screen, or crop and position it like any other source.

    Tip: MetalPipe Receiver also has these steps built in, under Help ▸ Using MetalPipe with OBS.

Useful settings

On the iPhone or iPad (in the MetalPipe app, under Stream settings)

  • Frame rate: 60 fps is smoothest for games and scrolling; 30 fps uses less Wi-Fi and battery. Applies to the next broadcast.
  • Backup recording (Pro): also saves the broadcast on the device, so a Wi-Fi drop never costs you footage. Find recordings under Stream settings ▸ Recordings, where you can play, share or save them to Photos.

On the Mac (in MetalPipe Receiver)

  • View ▸ Smooth Playback (⇧⌘S): shows frames at an even pace. Adds about 0.1–0.2 s of delay on busy Wi-Fi; turn it off for the lowest delay.
  • Audio ▸ Mute iPhone/iPad Audio (⇧⌘M): OBS captures the app's sound, so muting here also mutes it in OBS. To hear it only through OBS, leave it on and use OBS audio monitoring.
  • Settings ▸ General ▸ Show stream stats in the window: frame rate, bitrate and stalls in a corner. Handy for checking your Wi-Fi, but OBS captures it too.
  • Settings ▸ Devices: see and remove paired iPhones and iPads.

Getting the smoothest stream

Use 5 GHz Wi-Fi. This matters more than anything else. On a crowded 2.4 GHz network a stream may only get a few megabits per second; on 5 GHz it runs at full quality.
  • Connect the Mac by Ethernet if you can, and keep the iPhone or iPad near the router.
  • Put both devices on the same network; if your router has separate 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz names, choose the 5 GHz one on both.
  • When Wi-Fi gets busy, MetalPipe lowers the quality for a moment instead of freezing, then goes back up.

Something not working? See Help & FAQ.