Use both iPhone and iPad on Keynote Presentation

I know some Apple iOS device users. When they need to do a presentation provided by Keynote, they know how to connect the projector to an iOS device by a Lightning Digital AV Adapter or a Lighting to VGA Adapter. Some advanced users even know they can connect the projector to their Mac computers and use an iOS device to do a remote controlling for Keynote presentation, if they have them both.

But they ain’t good enough. If you do it on an iOS device, you have to get close to the projector. The cable for that connection is really heavy and uncomfortable if you want to hold your device with your show. Using a Mac computer is better, but I really hate to bring such a heavy metal just for using Keynote. Yes, I have a Macbook Pro, not a Macbook Air lol.

Today, I realize it’s possible to use Keynote Remote technology from one iOS device to make a show on another iOS device. If you like me, having both iPhone and iPad, there is a better solution.

To prepare, you need to make a connection between both Keynote apps.

  1. If you want to do this by WiFi, connect your iPhone and iPad to the same WiFi network. If you prefer Bluetooth, enable Bluetooth on both devices and turn off WiFi on one device to avoid WiFi interference.
  2. Open Keynote on iPad.
  3. On iPad, in the presentation manager, press the Keynote Remote button (the second one on the title bar, next to the + button) and tap Continue.
  4. Open Keynote on iPhone.
  5. On iPhone, open a presentation, press the button with a wrench icon, select Presentation Tools – Allow Remote Control, then turn on Enable Remotes. Tap Link next to the device of your iPhone. If you see other than 1 connection, make sure the connection is set correctly as in step 1.
  6. Four digits will be displayed on both device.
  7. Press Confirm on one device to finish this step.

To make a show:

  1. Open presentation on your iPhone and connect it to the projector.
  2. Open Keynote on your iPad and press the Keynote Remote button to start.
  3. Give it a little time for syncing data from your iPhone if you don’t want to do that blindly.

Now you can hold your iPad and leave your iPhone next to the projector. I prefer to use iPad for controlling for a dual slides display. If you want to do it reversely, swap all jobs on iPad and iPhone.

Next time, when Apple TV is not provided by your client, you may want to try this. One more piece of advice: do not forget to get your iPhone back after your show.