iFarmControl multiple iPhones at once
iFarm's All phones grid shows every connected iPhone live in one Mac window, and each tile can be clicked, swiped and typed on directly. Check several phones and turn on Mirror to repeat every tap and swipe on all of them at once, scaled to each phone's screen size. It's free for any number of phones.
How to control multiple iPhones at once
Open All phones in iFarm. Every phone appears as a live tile in a grid, and each tile works like the large view: click to tap, drag to swipe, hold to long press. You don't have to open a phone to use it.
To act on several phones together:
- Tick the checkbox on each tile you want.
- Use Selection to press Home or Start on all checked phones at once, or to make a group from them.
- Turn on Mirror. Now every tap and swipe you make on one phone is repeated on all the checked phones.
Mirror scales positions to each phone's screen, so a tap on a button near the bottom of an iPhone 13 Pro Max lands in the same relative place on a smaller iPhone. That's what makes it practical across a mix of models.
Mirror multiple iPhones on a Mac, and control them too
Most "mirror multiple iPhones" tools only show the screens. Apple's own iPhone Mirroring shows one iPhone at a time. iFarm shows all of them live and lets you control each one, from the same window.
The layout control in the toolbar sets how many phones sit in each row: Auto, 1, 2, 3 or 5. Pick 1 or 2 to watch a couple of phones closely, 5 to keep a whole rack in view.
You can also show each phone inside an iPhone frame, with working volume, side and Home buttons. It's a switch at the top of All phones.
How the grid stays smooth with many phones
Streaming every phone at full quality would swamp the Mac, so iFarm spends its effort where you're looking:
| Where the phone is | Live view |
|---|---|
| A tile in the grid | about 10 fps, about 1 MB/s |
| The phone you open large | full quality, about 24–25 fps, about 7 MB/s |
| Scrolled off screen | 2 fps |
Each phone costs the Mac about 140 MB of memory (about 100 MB for its helper process and 40 MB for its live view). That's where these comfortable numbers come from:
| Mac memory | Phones, comfortably |
|---|---|
| 8 GB | 5–10 |
| 16 GB | 10–20 |
| 32 GB or more | 20–30, limited by USB hubs |
A base Mac mini M4 (16 GB) handles 4 phones easily, including watching all 4 live. On bigger Macs, the limit is usually cables, not memory: a powered USB hub carries about 10–15 phones, so use several hubs on separate ports. Past about 10 phones on Wi-Fi, use cables. iFarm's Health page shows your Mac's real numbers and "Room for about N more phones". The hardware guide covers hubs, cables and cooling.
Groups
Groups keep a large farm manageable. Make one from checked phones with Selection, and it appears in the sidebar ("Farm A", "All 5", whatever you call it).
- Right-click a phone to add it to a group or remove it.
- Right-click a group to rename or delete it.
- Run an automation or a schedule on a group instead of picking phones one by one.
When a phone misbehaves
If a phone's helper crashes or stops answering, iFarm restarts it by itself, waiting a little longer after each failure (2 s, 5 s, 15 s, 30 s, then 60 s). Unplugging a phone and plugging it back in reconnects it automatically. Each tile shows what the phone is doing, which connection it uses, and anything that needs you, such as "Unlock the phone by hand to continue".
To stop one phone, press Stop on its tile. Stop all in the toolbar, or ⌘., stops everything. On the phone itself, holding volume up and volume down together stops everything on that phone within a second.
Mirror or automation?
Mirror is best for live work: you're doing something once and want it done on six phones at the same moment, while you watch. It's also a good way to check a flow on several iPhone sizes side by side.
If you'll do the same thing again tomorrow, record it as an automation instead. A recording finds buttons by their text on screen rather than their position, so it holds up better when phones differ, and it can run on a schedule while you're away.
Limits worth knowing
- Mirror repeats gestures, not results. If one phone shows a popup the others don't, its taps land on the popup. Keep an eye on the tiles, or use an automation, which handles popups for you.
- All phones must be on this Mac. iFarm controls the phones connected to the Mac it runs on. For more phones, add memory and hubs; there's no cloud pool.
- A paid Apple developer team can register up to 100 iPhones a year. On a free team, the helper is re-signed every 7 days.
- Only automate phones dedicated to the farm. A mirrored tap lands on whatever is on screen, so don't mirror onto a phone someone is using.
Frequently asked questions
Can I mirror more than one iPhone to a Mac?
Apple's iPhone Mirroring shows one iPhone at a time. iFarm shows every connected iPhone live in one window, and lets you control each one, for free.
Can I tap on several iPhones at the same time?
Yes. Check the phones in the grid and turn on Mirror. Every tap and swipe is repeated on all checked phones, scaled to each screen size.
How many iPhones can I control at once?
It depends on memory and USB hubs. Comfortably 5–10 on an 8 GB Mac, 10–20 on 16 GB, and 20–30 on 32 GB or more, with about 10–15 phones per powered USB hub.
Do the phones have to be the same model?
No. Mirror scales each gesture to every phone's screen, and recorded automations find buttons by their text, so a mix of models and iOS versions (iOS 16 or later) works.