Contact Support
For questions, bug reports, or feature requests, contact:
Supported contact languages: Japanese and English.
Basic Usage
- Bring a supported window you want to keep visible to the front.
- Press the primary global shortcut (Option-Command-P by default) or use the menu bar to create the first Reference View.
- Add more Reference Views from the menu or a configured shortcut when needed. Free supports up to two views; Unlimited supports up to four.
- You can create multiple Reference Views from the same source window, then use Focus View when you want each view to emphasize a different area.
- Click or move a Reference View to select it. Press the primary shortcut to switch the selected view to the current frontmost window.
- Close the selected view, hide all views temporarily, or arrange them using the available menu commands and configured shortcuts.
Screen Recording Permission
Pocket Screen needs macOS Screen Recording permission to display other windows.
- Open System Settings.
- Go to Privacy & Security > Screen Recording.
- Enable Pocket Screen.
- Quit and reopen Pocket Screen if macOS asks you to restart the app.
Space and Full-Screen Behavior
If the source window becomes unavailable from the current Desktop or Space, Pocket Screen can temporarily hide that PiP instead of showing a black or stale preview. It restores the PiP when the source is available again.
Pocket Screen also includes recovery behavior for display changes, sleep/wake, Space restoration, and supported full-screen or Stage Manager transitions.
Focus View, Opacity, and Quality
Focus View lets you select a region inside the source and expand that region to fill the Reference View. Return to the full-window view from the view controls or menu.
Opacity and quality can be adjusted independently for each active Reference View. The four quality modes are Energy Saver, Standard, Smooth, and Ultra. Free includes the first three modes; Unlimited adds Ultra.
Choose a mode that fits your work instead of manually tuning resolution or frame rate.
Multiple Reference Views and Arrange
Free supports up to two Reference Views and Unlimited supports up to four. Pocket Screen can also create multiple Reference Views from the same supported source window.
Use the available Arrange command or shortcut when you want to bring your Reference Views back into a useful layout around the main workspace.
Temporary Hide and Global Shortcuts
Press Shift plus the selected primary shortcut to temporarily hide or restore all PiPs without losing their current state.
Add Another PiP and Close Selected PiP each have a configurable shortcut in Settings and can also be disabled.
Exclude PiP from Screen Capture
On macOS 26 or later, Settings includes an optional Exclude PiP from Screen Capture toggle. When enabled, Pocket Screen asks macOS to exclude PiP windows from supported screenshots, screen recordings, and screen sharing. The setting is off by default.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many Reference Views can I use?
Free supports up to two Reference Views in sessions of up to 10 minutes. Unlimited removes the time limit and supports up to four Reference Views.
Can I create multiple Reference Views from the same window?
Yes. Pocket Screen v2.0 added support for creating multiple Reference Views from the same supported source window.
What is the difference between Free and Unlimited?
Free has no expiration and allows unlimited sessions of up to 10 minutes, with up to two Reference Views and three quality modes. Unlimited removes the time limit, supports up to four Reference Views, and adds Ultra as the fourth quality mode.
Does Pocket Screen record my screen?
No. Pocket Screen displays the selected window locally as a live PiP preview. It does not create screen recording files.
Does the app upload captured screen content?
No. Captured pixels are used only for the local PiP preview and are not uploaded to developer servers or external AI services.
Why does the PiP hide when I switch Desktop or Space?
The source window may no longer be available to capture from the active Space. Pocket Screen hides the PiP preview and restores it when the source window is available again.
Why is the PiP preview black?
Check Screen Recording permission first. A black preview can also occur when the source window is minimized, closed, protected by the source app, or located on another Space.
Which macOS versions are supported?
Pocket Screen requires macOS 14 or later.
App Information
App name: Pocket Screen
Bundle ID: com.toybird.PocketScreen
The installed app version is shown in the app’s About screen.