Installing on macOS

The first release has not been published yet. The download link below lands on an empty releases page until the release pipeline runs against a tag. The browser version needs no install and works now.

Install it

1. Download RealtimeClipboard_<version>_universal.dmg from the releases page.
2. Open it and drag RealtimeClipboard to Applications.
3. Launch it. It requires macOS 11 or later.

There is one download, not two. The release workflow builds --target universal-apple-darwin, so the same file runs natively on both architectures. If you are looking for a separate Apple Silicon build, you already have it.

Or from a package manager

brew install --cask akshaynikhare/tap/realtimeclipboard

The cask lives in akshaynikhare/homebrew-tap and is generated from each release by tools/release/manifest.mjs, so its version and checksum come off an artifact that was actually built. No brew tap first — naming the tap in the install command is enough.

It is also the easiest way past the Gatekeeper problem above: the cask strips the quarantine attribute after installing, so the app opens without the trip to Privacy & Security. That is Homebrew doing on your behalf what you would otherwise do by hand, not a signature — the build is still unsigned.

The command-line client is a separate formula, realtimeclipboard-cli, and is not the same thing as the desktop app — see the command-line guide.

Check it worked

• A menu-bar item appears. Click it to bring the window back; Quit is in its menu, on purpose — an app that watches your clipboard has to have a visible way to stop it.
• The status bar reads T0 · watching the system clipboard, bottom right of the window. That is the native watcher confirming itself. Safari on the same machine reports T1 · paste only, which is the difference you installed this for.

Your first sync

1. Note the five-character key at the top of the app, or type your own.
2. Open the app on a second device and enter the same key.
3. Copy something on the Mac, without switching to RealtimeClipboard. It appears on the other device.

Nothing happened? The app ships set to Manual. macOS grants clipboard access to any running application with no prompt at all, so nothing in the operating system would have told you this app had begun reading every copy you make. That is precisely why it does not begin until you say so. Switch to Live for the automatic behaviour.

When it does not work

“RealtimeClipboard cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified”

Expected, and not a sign the download is broken. The build is not signed or notarised, because both need a paid Apple Developer account this project does not yet have. Gatekeeper refuses anything un-notarised the first time.

1. Try to open the app once, and let it be refused.
2. System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down: there is now a line naming RealtimeClipboard, with an Open Anyway button.

On macOS 14 and earlier, right-clicking the app and choosing Open does the same thing in one step. That shortcut was removed in macOS 15, which is why the longer route is written first.

Either records an exception for this app alone — a narrower thing than turning Gatekeeper down globally, which you should not do. Only do it for a file you got from the official releases page, and check the SHA256 on the release against the file if you want to be certain.

No permission prompt appeared

There is not one to appear. Unlike the camera, the microphone or the screen, the pasteboard is readable by any running application on macOS without asking. The app cannot show you a system prompt that does not exist, so the Manual default is the substitute for it.

Clips arrive on the Mac but not from it

That is the Manual/Live setting, not a bug: receiving always works, sending is what you opt into.

Stuck on “Connecting…”

The app tries a WebSocket first and falls back to server-sent events plus POST where upgrades are blocked. If neither connects, the relay host is blocked outright — point the app at your own under Settings → Relay. Running one is one container.

Uninstalling

Quit it from the menu bar and drag it from Applications to the Trash, or brew uninstall --cask realtimeclipboard.

No clipboard content is ever written to disk, so there is nothing to find and delete afterwards. Your settings and clip history live in the app's own browser storage and go with it.

Ready to install: the download page. Every other platform: the installation guide. Something wrong or out of date here? Open an issue.