How to wake a sleeping Mac from your iPhone
TouchNow can try to wake a sleeping Mac using Wake-on-LAN on the same local network. Success depends on your Mac, power and network settings; it is not guaranteed. Set up and test wake before leaving your Mac unattended.
Set up Wake-on-LAN and try it on the same Wi-Fi
Set up and test local wake before you leave:
- Keep the Mac powered on, signed in and running TouchNow Host. Pair it with TouchNow on your iPhone.
- Enable “Wake for network access” in macOS System Settings. On a MacBook, open Battery → Options; on a desktop Mac, look under Energy or Energy Saver. Settings vary by macOS version. See Apple’s network wake instructions.
- Put both devices on the same local network and put the Mac to sleep. Try connecting in TouchNow. If “Wake” appears in the Mac card’s menu, touch and hold the card and choose it.
If the Mac does not wake or connect
- Confirm the Mac is powered on, signed in and running TouchNow Host. A shut-down Mac or a quit Host cannot accept a connection.
- Keep a MacBook open for initial testing. Closing the lid changes its sleep and display behavior; an existing streaming session’s lid setting is not a wake service.
- Connect the MacBook to power and test on the same local network first. Battery, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, VPNs and network isolation can affect wake.
- For longer unattended access, consider “Prevent automatic sleeping when the display is off” in Battery → Options or Energy settings, if available. The display can still turn off; preventing sleep increases power use.
The Mac wakes, but no picture appears
A Mac may enter DarkWake after a wake request: it can wake some services while the display remains asleep. A connection may be established before a capturable display is available, leaving the picture waiting.
Other causes can include permissions, a closed lid or a network problem. Check whether the Mac’s display is available and whether Screen Recording is allowed.
TouchNow Host can request display wake by declaring user activity (IOPMAssertionDeclareUserActivity). In one test on our machines, the display woke in 38 milliseconds. This is an observation, not a guarantee for other Macs or sleep states.
For more detail, run pmset -g log on the Mac and inspect DarkWake entries. Logs can help identify a wake event, but do not prove every cause of a missing picture.
Can you wake a Mac from another network?
Wake-on-LAN packets are normally sent on the local network. TouchNow’s remote connection does not relay a Wake-on-LAN packet into your Mac’s local network, so a wake from elsewhere cannot be guaranteed.
In an observed test on Apple Silicon with macOS 26, an existing TCP connection stayed active during sleep (TCPKeepAlive=active in pmset -g log) and network activity was associated with a wake event (wifibt). This behavior depends on the Mac and network; do not rely on it as a guaranteed remote wake method.
The keepalive can expire. Our test log included powerd request=TCPKATurnOff wakeAt= about four days later. Timing can vary; for unattended access, test your own setup and consider keeping the Mac awake on power.
A sleeping MacBook on battery may not respond to local wake packets. We observed a separate keepalive wake at low battery in one test, but that does not establish reliable battery-powered wake across devices.