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Connect iPhone to Mac

Use the TealeCompanion app on your iPhone to chat with models running on your Mac. Inference stays on your local network --- nothing leaves your devices.

Prerequisites​

  • Mac with Teale running and cluster enabled
  • iPhone or iPad running iOS 17 or later
  • Both devices on the same Wi-Fi network

Step 1: Enable clustering on your Mac​

If clustering is not already enabled:

teale config set cluster_enabled true

Or in the desktop app: Settings > Cluster > Enable.

Verify your Mac is advertising to the local network:

teale status

You should see cluster: enabled and bonjour: advertising in the output.

Step 2: Install TealeCompanion​

Download TealeCompanion from the App Store on your iPhone or iPad.

Step 3: Open TealeCompanion​

Launch the app. TealeCompanion automatically discovers Macs running Teale on your local network via Bonjour. Your Mac should appear in the device list within a few seconds.

If your Mac does not appear:

  1. Confirm both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network (same subnet).
  2. Check that your router does not block mDNS traffic between devices.
  3. Restart Teale on your Mac: teale down && teale up.

Step 4: Start chatting​

Tap your Mac in the device list to connect. Select a model and start a conversation. All inference runs on your Mac --- the iPhone sends prompts over the local network and streams responses back.

Dual mode (iPad with M-series)​

iPads with M-series chips can also run small models on-device using MLX. TealeCompanion detects compatible hardware and offers the option to run inference locally on the iPad as a fallback when no Mac is available.

To enable on-device inference, go to TealeCompanion Settings > On-Device Inference > Enable.

Optional: Cluster passcode​

If you have set a cluster passcode on your Mac, TealeCompanion will prompt for it on first connection:

# On your Mac
teale config set cluster_passcode "my-secret"

Enter the same passcode in TealeCompanion when prompted. All peers in the cluster must use the same passcode.

Next steps​