💾 Archived View for finn.lesueur.nz › posts › initiate-sidecar-from-ios › index.gmi captured on 2023-06-14 at 14:19:06. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
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Welcome to my Gemini capsule. I am a Science and Physics teacher from Christchurch, New Zealand who writes code in his spare time, but would really rather be outside doing almost any type of sport! 🏔 🏃♂️ 🎿 🛶 🚴♂️ 🧗 🧘♂️
Sidecar is wonderful and adds a huge amount of functionality to an already awesome iPad Pro 12.9" - but let's say that I want to connect to a headless Macbook Pro (or Mac Mini) in the future. How can I initiate Sidecar from the iPad end of the equation?
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After much searching I concluded that Sidecar does not have a CLI, or at least not one I can find discussed at all.
While old and not overly well maintained, AppleScript has a huge amount to offer with regards to MacOS automation. Simply create a file initiateSidecar.scpt wherever suits you.
`applescript
activate application "SystemUIServer"
tell application "System Events"
tell process "SystemUIServer"
set displayMenu to (menu bar item 1 of menu bar 1 whose description contains "Displays")
tell displayMenu
click
delay 1
tell (menu item "iPad" of menu 1)
click
end tell
end tell
end tell
end tell
`
You can call AppleScript on the commandline with osascript yourScriptName.scpt. Just be aware that the first time you run it you will need to grant some extra permissions, so it will not work on first-run.
Then, from your iPad end, create a Shortcut that runs a SSH command on your Mac and add it to your homescreen widget - [download it here][shortcut]! Easy!
{{< figure name="shortcut-to-initiate-sidecar-from-ios" title="Shortcut to initiate Sidecar from iOS" author="Finn Le Sueur">}}
This has already been a huge improvement for me. Enjoy!
- [Sidecar Shortcut][shortcut]
- [Reddit Discussion][reddit]
[shortcut]: https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/fc7dea1568204200aede157cf0c28fd1 "Download Sidecar Shortcut"
[reddit]: https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/fzjlil/initiatesidecarfrom_ipad/fn509uh/ "Reddit Discussion"
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