Full control of a Mac,
to really help family.
HearthWire lets you watch a family member's Mac and point at what to click. This free add-on goes one step further: with their permission, it lets you move the mouse and type on their Mac, so you can fix the thing they cannot describe over the phone. It works alongside HearthWire from the Mac App Store.
Download for Mac🔒 Local network only, no cloud, no account. Free. macOS 12 or later, Apple Silicon.
Set it up in a minute
Install HearthWire from the Mac App Store first, on the Mac you want to be helped.
Get the Helper here and open it. A setup window appears and moves it into your Applications folder for you, no dragging.
One button opens the right permission screen. Turn on HearthWire Mac Helper there and the setup window confirms it by itself.
Now a family member on another computer sees a Control button for this Mac, and can help hands on, with your approval.
Built for helping, safely
Every session needs the person at the Mac to approve it. A red bar stays on screen the whole time, with a Stop button that ends it at once.
Everything travels directly between your own computers on your home network, encrypted. No cloud, no account, no data collected.
Put the Helper on every Mac you want to be controllable. A Mac that only helps others does not need it.
The Mac App Store does not allow an app to control the computer, for good security reasons. So HearthWire in the App Store can watch and point, and this small companion, delivered outside the store and notarized by Apple, adds the hands-on control for the people who want it. You stay in full control: nothing happens without your approval, and you can stop any time.