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DeckCue and DeckCue Remote

DeckCue is a lightweight presentation-control system for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. The Mac app runs alongside your presentation and supports PowerPoint, Keynote, and Google Slides. DeckCue Remote lets you control that Mac from your iPhone or iPad, so you can start, stop, refresh, and navigate slides without being tied to the keyboard.

DeckCue is designed for local, direct control. Pair the remote with your Mac, connect over your local network or Bluetooth, and use your iPhone or iPad as a focused presentation controller.

DeckCue for Mac

The Mac app is the host. It manages the presentation connection, pairing, network/Bluetooth availability, and local control endpoint used by DeckCue Remote.

DeckCue Remote

DeckCue Remote is the iPhone and iPad companion app. It pairs with your Mac, remembers your paired devices, and gives you a clean remote-control surface for presenting.

Download on the App Store

Features

  • Supports PowerPoint, Keynote, and Google Slides
  • Mac app for hosting presentation control
  • iPhone and iPad remote app for controlling presentations away from the Mac
  • Supports OSC, HTTP, and Bluetooth control connections
  • Local network pairing between Mac and remote
  • Bluetooth pairing/control for supported setups
  • QR code pairing from the Mac app to DeckCue Remote
  • Save multiple paired computers
  • Edit saved computer settings, including name, IP address, port, app, and transport
  • Quickly switch between saved computers
  • Start a presentation
  • Stop a presentation
  • Refresh or reconnect to a paired computer
  • Navigate to the previous or next slide
  • Slide navigation panel for browsing the current deck
  • Jump directly to a specific slide when slide information is available
  • Display current connection status for the selected computer
  • Local-first design with no tracking, analytics, or advertising

Jumping to a Specific Slide

For Keynote and PowerPoint, DeckCue can jump directly to a slide by looking for a # tag in that slide’s presenter notes/comments field.

Add a short tag anywhere in the notes for the slide:

  • #Intro
  • #Demo
  • #Pricing
  • #Q_and_A
  • #Part-2

DeckCue reads those tags and uses them in the slide navigation panel. When you choose #Demo, DeckCue jumps to the first slide whose notes contain that tag.

You can also type the tag manually in the “Go to Slide Named” field. Either format works:

  • Demo
  • #Demo

Tags can use letters, numbers, underscores, and hyphens. Avoid spaces inside the tag.

This feature is available for Keynote and PowerPoint. Google Slides supports jumping by slide number, but named slide lookup is not available because DeckCue does not read Google Slides speaker notes.

Mac Settings

DeckCue’s Mac settings control how the Mac app identifies itself and how remotes or other clients connect to it.

  • DeckCue Name: The name shown to remotes when pairing. Leave this blank to use the default name, such as Adam’s DeckCue.
  • Listen On: Choose which network interface DeckCue listens on.
    • All Network Interfaces allows devices on your local network to connect.
    • Localhost only allows connections from the same Mac.
    • Specific Interface lets you choose one active network address, such as Wi-Fi or Ethernet.
  • OSC: Turn OSC control on or off and choose the OSC port. The default port is 48000.
  • HTTP: Turn HTTP control on or off and choose the HTTP port. The default port is 8090.
  • Web Control: Opens DeckCue’s built-in browser-based control page for the HTTP server.
  • HTTP Authentication: Require paired HTTP devices to use a DeckCue HMAC signature before sending commands. When this is off, any client that can reach the HTTP server can open the web controls and send commands.
  • HTTP Paired Devices: Add or remove trusted HTTP clients. When adding a device, DeckCue creates a pairing URL, pair ID, shared secret, and QR code.
  • Bluetooth: Turn Bluetooth control on or off. When enabled, already-paired iPhone and iPad remotes can connect over Bluetooth.
  • Discoverable: Make the Mac available for new Bluetooth pairing. This only needs to be on while pairing a new device.
  • Bluetooth Paired Devices: View and remove iPhone or iPad remotes that have paired with this Mac.
  • Reset Onboarding: Show the initial setup/onboarding flow again.

OSC Commands

DeckCue can receive OSC commands from other apps and automation tools. By default, DeckCue listens on port 48000.

Start Presentation

Start the presentation from the current slide:

/start

Start the presentation from the first slide by sending a truthy first argument:

/start true
/start 1
/start first

Accepted truthy values include true, yes, 1, first, beginning, and fromBeginning.

Stop Presentation

/stop

Next Slide

/show/next

Previous Slide

/show/previous

Go to a Slide Number

Jump to a specific slide by sending the slide number as the first argument:

/goto/slide/number 12

Go to a Named Slide

For Keynote and PowerPoint, DeckCue can jump to a slide by looking for a #tag in the presenter notes/comments field.

For example, add this anywhere in a slide’s notes:

#Demo

Then send:

/goto/slide/named Demo

You can also include the #:

/goto/slide/named #Demo

DeckCue searches the presenter notes for the matching tag and jumps to the first matching slide.

Examples with oscsend

oscsend localhost 48000 /start
oscsend localhost 48000 /start i 1
oscsend localhost 48000 /show/next
oscsend localhost 48000 /show/previous
oscsend localhost 48000 /goto/slide/number i 12
oscsend localhost 48000 /goto/slide/named s "Demo"
oscsend localhost 480

Privacy

DeckCue and DeckCue Remote do not include tracking, analytics, advertising SDKs, or third-party profiling.

The apps store pairing and device information locally so they can reconnect to your Mac. DeckCue Remote may use your camera to scan pairing QR codes, Bluetooth to find or connect to paired hosts, and local network access to communicate with your Mac. This information is used only to provide the app’s core presentation-control features.

No personal data is sold, shared for advertising, or used to track you across apps or websites.

Terms of Use

DeckCue and DeckCue Remote are provided as-is for presentation control and related personal or professional use.

By using the apps, you agree that you are responsible for your own presentation setup, network/Bluetooth environment, devices, and any content you present. While DeckCue is designed to be reliable, no software can guarantee uninterrupted operation in every venue, network, device, or presentation environment.

You may not use DeckCue or DeckCue Remote for unlawful activity, to interfere with systems you do not own or have permission to control, or in any situation where failure of the app could cause harm, injury, or damage.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, the developer is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including lost profits, lost data, interrupted presentations, or device/network issues arising from use of the apps.

Support

For help with DeckCue or DeckCue Remote, leave a comment using the form below: