Step 1 of 4 · Mac
Turn Ginga on
Switch on “Accept tablets over Wi‑Fi”. The Mac starts advertising on the network and the tablet, already looking, finds it by itself.
hover · click the horizon
Second display for Mac
Your Galaxy Tab becomes a Mac display.
Drag windows, touch the screen and draw with the S Pen: Ginga turns the tablet into a true extended display. Over USB with no developer mode, over Wi‑Fi, or with no router at all.
Try it right below: tap or click the Mac’s screen and connect the tablet.
1Turn on the Mac 2Discover 3Pair 4Extend
FinderFileEditView
Sat 8:20 PM
Sat 8:20 PMNotes — Calculus II
Ginga Off Connection
Tablets
No paired tablets yet.
Pair with Galaxy Tab S11?
Does the tablet show the same code? Only pair tablets you own.
Looking for your Mac
Turn on Ginga on the Mac. It shows up here.
Wi‑FiUSB cableNo router
Mac nearby
Tap to use this tablet as a second screen.
MacBook Pro
Wi‑FiUSB cableNo router
Confirm on the Mac
Waiting for the Mac
Cable connected
The Mac asked to become a display.
Open Ginga for “Second display for your Mac”?No USB debugging needed.Always, for this accessory
Notes — Calculus II
Turn on Wi‑Fi
See it work
Ginga in 30 seconds
demo · 30 s
How to connect
Three ways into orbit
Use whatever you have. Ginga remembers next time.
Wi‑Fi
Pair once by comparing a 6‑digit code on both screens. After that the tablet reconnects on its own, fully encrypted.
TLS · code pairingUSB cable
Plug it in: Android opens Ginga as an accessory. No USB debugging, no adb, no developer mode.
120 fps · ~13 msNo router
Hotel, train or no internet: the tablet creates its own Wi‑Fi network and the Mac joins it. When you finish, the Mac goes back to your network.
direct connectionFeatures
Built to feel like it was always there
60 · 120 Hz
Pick smoothness or battery. 60 Hz uses about a third of the power of 120 Hz for the same 60 fps stream.
Touch and S Pen
Touch clicks, drags and scrolls. The S Pen becomes a pen tablet for macOS, with pressure, tilt and eraser.
2560×1600
Pixel‑exact on the tablet’s panel, with HiDPI: looks like 1280 × 800, sharp like a Retina screen.
Saves power
A still desktop costs close to nothing extra. Nothing is captured or sent while the screen doesn’t change.
Tablet keyboard
Choose which key becomes ⌘: the Samsung key or Ctrl. Mac shortcuts work on the cover keyboard.
Like a real monitor
Place the tablet left, right, above or below in macOS Displays settings, in landscape or portrait.
Security and privacy
Your Mac, your tablet, and nobody in between
Ginga asks for sensitive permissions on the Mac, so here is exactly what it does with them.
Stays on your network
Mac and tablet talk directly: over the cable, your home Wi‑Fi or the tablet’s own network. No server in the middle and no account.
Encrypted
Wi‑Fi uses TLS 1.3 with each side’s certificate pinned. Over direct USB, only tablets you approved get a session.
Code pairing
The first time, both screens show the same 6 digits. Only pair tablets you own; “Forget” revokes access instantly.
Open source
All the Mac and Android code is on GitHub. Anyone can read, audit and build it.
- Screen Recording
- macOS asks for this so Ginga can capture the virtual display it creates for the tablet. That is what goes to the tablet’s screen.
- Accessibility
- Needed so touch and the S Pen on the tablet can move the cursor and click on the Mac. Without it, the tablet only shows the picture.
Compatibility
Does it work with what you have?
Tablets and phones
tested
Galaxy Tab S11SM‑X730 · 2560×1600 · 120 Hz
tested
Galaxy S25 UltraSM‑S938 · 3120×1440 · phone
to confirm
Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ and other AndroidsThey already have display profiles and the app adapts to the panel the device reports, but they haven’t been tested yet.
required
Android 12+The tablet app is an APK on GitHub. Over direct USB, no developer mode needed.
Mac
required
macOS 14 Sonoma+Tested on macOS 26.6.2. Ginga checks on every version that the virtual display is still available and tells you instead of crashing.
required
Apple Silicon (M1+)Intel Macs are not supported: the hardware encoding and virtual display Ginga uses depend on Apple Silicon.
connection
USB‑C, Wi‑Fi or no routerA USB data cable, the same Wi‑Fi network, or the Wi‑Fi network the tablet creates itself.
Compare
Galaxy Tab + Mac: who does what
Most “tablet as a second screen” options were built for Windows or for iPad. Here is what works when the computer is a Mac and the tablet is a Galaxy.
Swipe the table sideways →
Mac + Galaxy tablet
Gingathis app
Duet DisplayKairos
Deskreenopen source
Second ScreenSamsung
SidecarApple
spacedeskdatronicsoft
Extends a current Mac
YesmacOS virtual display
YesmacOS 10.14 or later
Yes
NoWindows 10 or later only
Yes
NoWindows only
Works with a Galaxy / Android tablet
Yesbuilt for Galaxy Tab
YesAndroid 7 or later
Yesin the browser
YesGalaxy Tab S7 or later
NoiPad only
Yes
Extended display, no extra hardware
Yes
Yes
Partlyextending needs a virtual display adapter
Yes
Yes
Yes
Over a USB cable
Yesno developer mode
Yes
Nolocal Wi‑Fi only
NoWi‑Fi only
Yes
Yes
Cost
Free · AGPL‑3.0
Paid, in‑app purchases
Free
Included with Galaxy Tab
Included in macOS
Free for personal use
Based on official pages and app store listings as of September 2026; details may change. Duet Display, Deskreen, Second Screen, Sidecar and spacedesk are trademarks of their owners, named here for comparison only.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Does it work with any Android tablet?
Ginga was built and tested on the Galaxy Tab S11 (2560×1600, up to 120 Hz), and it also works on the Galaxy S25 Ultra phone. The app adapts to the panel of other devices with Android 12 or later; the Tab S9 FE+ already has a profile but hasn’t been tested yet.
Do I need developer mode?
No. Over direct USB, Android asks once whether to open Ginga; tick “Always”. The adb path is still available under Advanced if you prefer it.
Does it work without internet?
Yes. Over the cable, the local Wi‑Fi, or the direct connection, where the tablet creates its own network and the Mac joins it. Meanwhile the Mac is off its previous Wi‑Fi unless it also has Ethernet.
Do touch and the S Pen work?
Yes. Touch clicks, drags and scrolls with two fingers. The S Pen becomes a pen tablet for macOS, with pressure, tilt, eraser and hover, like the Apple Pencil with Sidecar. macOS asks for the Accessibility permission for this.
Does it drain the battery?
Barely. Measured on the Mac: a 60 Hz display with continuous animation adds about 230 mW, and a still desktop adds close to zero, because nothing is captured or sent while the screen doesn’t change.
What’s the best way to connect?
Direct USB: 120 fps at 120 Hz, no dropped frames and about 13 ms end to end. Wi‑Fi (60 fps) lets you carry the tablet around. The direct connection is for hotels, trains or places with no router.
Why does the Mac ask for Screen Recording?
Because Ginga creates a virtual display and captures only that one to send it to the tablet. Since macOS 15 the system asks you to reconfirm this permission monthly. DRM content shows black, and nothing is captured at the lock screen.
How much does it cost?
Nothing. Ginga is free software (AGPL‑3.0), downloaded from GitHub. It uses a private macOS API to create the display, so it can’t be on the Mac App Store.
What about Linux and Windows?
Linux is next on the roadmap. For Windows, Samsung already offers Second Screen, so Ginga focuses on Mac users and, soon, Linux.
Open source
Open from end to end
100% of the code on GitHub
The Mac (Swift 6) and Android (Kotlin) apps and the protocol live in one repository under the AGPL‑3.0. Read it, build it, open an issue or send a pull request.
$ git clone https://github.com/Kelvin-Jesus/ginga
$ open mac/ # SwiftUI
$ open android/ # Kotlin
What’s next
What’s coming. You can follow everything in the issues.
LinuxA Linux host with the same protocol and the same tablet app: X11 first, then Wayland.
Several tabletsMore than one tablet at once, one display each.
Signed and notarized appDeveloper ID distribution, so it opens without macOS warnings.
Your ideaSomething missing? Open an issue
Who made it
Made by a software engineering student
Ginga is an independent project by Kelvin Jesus, a software engineering student. It started from a simple wish: use a Galaxy Tab as a second screen for a MacBook, with no subscription and no developer mode. Every line of code is open for anyone who wants to learn from it or improve it.
Kelvin Jesus · Software Engineering
Ready for liftoff?
Get Ginga for your Mac and your tablet on GitHub.
1Download both apps2Turn it on on the Mac3Connect the tablet
Apple Silicon Mac with macOS 14+ · Android 12+ · free, AGPL‑3.0