Help › Connect › D5

Control from a phone, tablet or Fire TV

With the app on an iPhone, iPad, Android phone or tablet you control a computer with finger gestures; on a Fire TV Stick with the remote. You connect as on a computer — with ID and password, a quick code or from the device list.

Preview this guide has not yet been clicked through on a real device. Button names and steps come from the program but may differ in details.

For: Technician · Employee working from home
Applies to: Free · Cloud · Own relay
Controlled device: Windows · macOS · Linux
Control from: Phone/tablet/Fire TV

What it is for

You are out and only have your phone with you — or you want to show a computer on the TV from the sofa. The BrowserDesk app turns a phone, tablet or Fire TV Stick into a viewer: you see the computer's screen and control it with your finger or the remote. It can control a Windows, macOS or Linux computer.

What you need

iPhone or iPad with iOS or iPadOS 15 or later.
Android phone or tablet with Android 7 or later.
Amazon Fire TV Stick with Fire OS 6 or later — the same app as for Android. Not on the sticks with Vega OS: Stick 4K Select (2025), Stick HD and Stick 4K 3rd gen (2026) (H15).
How to get the app: C1.
At the computer: BrowserDesk and ID with password (D2) or a quick code (D1).
With Free, every session has to be confirmed at the computer.

How to do it

Phone and tablet: connect

At the bottom (on a tablet in landscape, on the left) there are four tabs: Verbinden (Connect), Mandant (access), Verlauf (History), Einstellungen (Settings).

Tab Verbinden, card Entfernten Desktop steuern (Control a remote desktop).
Type the "Partner-ID" — that is the computer's ID. Below it, the computer's password. Or switch on Schnellcode statt Kennung (Quick code instead of ID) and type the six digits the computer shows.
If the app should keep the password: switch on Zugangsdaten speichern (Save credentials — only on this device).
Tap Verbinden (Connect). Afterwards the devices are listed below under Zuletzt verwendet (Recently used).

Phone and tablet: from your access's device list

Tab Mandant (access).
Under Am Mandanten anmelden (Sign in to the access) enter the access name, your user and the password, then Anmelden (Sign in). If your account has a second factor, the window Zweiter Faktor (Second factor) asks for the code from your authenticator app.
The devices appear with an online dot. Pull down to reload the list.
Tap a device. If no password is saved, the window "Mit … verbinden" (Connect to …) asks for it. Kennwort auf diesem Gerät speichern (Save password on this device) is preselected. Tap Verbinden.

In the tab Verlauf (History) tapping an entry fills in the ID.

Phone and tablet: working in the session

The default is Trackpad-Modus (Trackpad mode): your finger moves a pointer as on a laptop touchpad.

Gesture	Trackpad mode (default)	Direct mode
Drag one finger	Move pointer	Drag with the left button held
Tap	Left click at the pointer	Left click where the finger is
Tap twice	Double click	two clicks
Tap twice, hold, drag	Drag	—
Long press	Right click	Right click
Two fingers up/down	Mouse wheel	Mouse wheel
Two fingers sideways	Horizontal wheel	Horizontal wheel
Spread two fingers	Zoom the view (up to 8×)	Zoom the view
Drag two fingers while zoomed	Move the visible area	Move the visible area

Quick bar at the bottom: ⌨ opens the on-screen keyboard. Strg (Ctrl), Alt, ⇧, ⊞ latch: tap one, then a key — that gives the combination; afterwards they release on their own. ⊞ twice = Windows key. Plus Esc, Tab, arrow keys, Entf (Del), 1× (undo zoom) and Zwischenablage senden (Send clipboard).
Mouse wheel at the edge: to the right of the picture is a strip. Dragging it scrolls where the pointer is.
External keyboard on an iPad: every key goes straight to the computer, including combinations.
Switch to direct mode under Einstellungen (Settings) → turn off Trackpad-Modus. That is also where Standard-Qualität (default quality), Standard-Codec (default codec) and the Relay-Adresse (relay address) are.

Fire TV Stick

On the TV a separate interface for the remote starts.

Enter the ID on the number pad on the left. Back deletes the last digit.
Go to the field "Kennwort eingeben — OK drücken" (enter password — press OK) and press OK. Fire OS opens its on-screen keyboard.
Choose Verbinden (Connect). Next to it the devices are listed under Zuletzt verbunden (Last connected).

In the session:

Remote button	Effect
D-pad	Move the pointer — it speeds up while held
OK	Left click
Play/Pause	Right click
Fast forward / Rewind	Mouse wheel down / up
Menu	Switch between controlling the computer and the app's own toolbar

How you know it worked

The computer's screen fills the app. Afterwards the computer is listed under Zuletzt verwendet or, on the TV, under Zuletzt verbunden.

What the other side sees

The same as with a connection from a computer: depending on the settings, the dialog Zugriff erlauben? (Allow access?) and, during the session, the session window (F1).

Good to know

The phone is not controlled. Here the app is only a viewer.
A password is always needed: without a password the computer refuses the connection — even if the field suggests otherwise. Without a password only a quick code works.
Clipboard: the app reads the phone's clipboard only when you tap Zwischenablage senden. Text from the computer arrives on its own.
iPhone in the background: when you switch apps, it disconnects by itself and reconnects when you come back.
TV: the arrow keys move the pointer there and are not passed on to the computer as arrow keys — not even from a Bluetooth keyboard.
Light and dark follow the system setting on phones and tablets.

If it does not work

You see	Meaning and fix
Connection refused, password field was empty	Enter the computer's password. It is always required (D2).
"Bitte eine neunstellige Geräte-ID eingeben." (TV — please enter a nine-digit device ID)	The ID has nine digits. Add the missing ones.
"Keine Geräte im Adressbuch des Mandanten." (no devices in the access's address book)	Your access has no devices yet, or none has been shared with you.
The app does not start on the Fire TV Stick	Probably a stick with Vega OS (H15).
The iPhone app closes, or saved connections are gone	H16.
Zooming moves the mouse instead	Put both fingers down at the same time and spread them clearly. The app decides once per gesture whether you zoom or scroll.

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