ArcRelay Suite documentation

Product direction and current stage

ArcRelay connects desktop and mobile devices into a local-first working environment. Move a pointer between computers, find something you copied, access a shared directory, or turn routine operations into quick actions and local automations.

The integrated application already implements the capabilities described below; standalone product releases remain in validation. The seven areas named Mouse, Transfer, Clipboard and so on describe the product portfolio. They do not mean that every feature is unimplemented, or that seven separate installers are available. Your version, platform and granted permissions determine what is usable.

Mouse: cross-screen input

Share desktop input

Arrange displays to match your physical desk in Cross-screen input. Enable sharing, then move the pointer through an adjacent display edge to switch computers. Layout accounts for display size, scale and rotation; handoff areas are generated from neighboring edges rather than drawn individually.

• Use one mouse, keyboard and scroll wheel across computers in the workspace.
• Local physical input on another computer can take control; one device is not permanently assigned as the controller.
• Keyboard profiles can translate semantic shortcuts such as copy and paste for the target system or application. Terminal-oriented profiles can preserve physical key behavior.
• Crossing an edge while dragging is disabled by default and can be configured. Input crossing is not itself a file transfer.
• Disconnection, disabling sharing or emergency release clears held keys and buttons and restores local input.

For recovery, Command/Ctrl + Alt + Shift + M releases remote control and returns the pointer to the center of the local display. Command/Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Escape releases control without recentering.

Phone touch and text input

Phone control is a separate flow: move the pointer with one finger, tap or double-tap to click, use two fingers to scroll or right-click, and long-press to drag. The system input method supports composed text, including Chinese and emoji; special keys and editing shortcuts supplement the touch keyboard.

Only one authorized device can hold phone-control ownership at a time. Desktop settings identify the controller and provide an emergency disconnect. Multi-finger system gestures on compatible Macs depend on negotiated support and system permissions, not a promise of identical behavior on every OS version.

Neither input mode is a video remote desktop. To see and control another computer’s complete screen, explore SubnetDesk.

Transfer: nearby file delivery

Select files and a receiving device in Nearby transfer. Once the receiver approves, the interface tracks direction, file lists, progress, destination and history. Use it for an occasional document, screenshot or batch of files.

• Accept, reject, pause, resume or cancel a current transfer.
• Configure automatic receipt for paired devices; that convenience does not establish trust or replace pairing.
• Files are committed to the receiving directory after size and integrity checks, not presented as complete while still arriving.
• Pause and resume apply within a live application session. After an application exit or interrupted session, inspect history and start a new transfer; cross-restart resumability is not promised.

Clipboard: content relay

Local history and search

History covers text, rich text with a plain-text fallback, images and file-path records. Search, filter by kind, favorite, delete or clear records. Copying the same content again updates its record instead of continually adding duplicates.

Retained images receive background OCR locally, and recognized text participates in history search. This is separate from Sniptra’s on-demand OCR inside its capture canvas.

Retention settings control count, capacity, age and sensitive content. Normal pruning preserves favorites. Masking sensitive content in a summary does not mean the original was never stored: review the retention policy that applies to you.

Trusted-device sync and remote paste

Sync, replacing the system clipboard when content arrives, syncing edits and deletions, and syncing favorites have separate settings. Current defaults enable these sync-related options, but content can reach a peer only through the relevant pairing and permissions. Disable sync when you only need local history.

Selecting a computer’s history record from another device can restore and paste it at the computer’s current focus. Paste requires clipboard read/write and remote-input permissions; access to a history summary is not arbitrary input authorization.

File clipboard history stores original paths, not a permanent backup of the files. Use Nearby transfer or Remote files when the actual file must move.

Remote files and browser file access

Manage shared directories in ArcRelay

The computer holding the files explicitly selects directories to share. Authorized peers can browse, sort, preview and download their contents. Writable shares additionally support uploading files or folders, creating directories, renaming and deleting.

Read access does not imply write access. Stopping a share or revoking permission invalidates the authority behind an old entry point.

Read files in a browser

Browser file access is a separate, default-off service. After enabling it, configure each directory as disabled, LAN-public or password-protected, and decide independently whether it is listed, previewable or downloadable.

The browser supports browsing, previews and downloads, not uploads or file-management writes. A share password and ArcRelay device pairing are different access boundaries.

The current browser file endpoint uses LAN HTTP, not the native QUIC/TLS channel. Password protection does not turn HTTP into encrypted transport. Use it only on trusted networks and do not expose it directly to the public Internet.

Quick actions, status and media control

Create reusable actions for opening apps, paths or URLs, invoking shortcuts, running Shell commands and performing system operations. macOS also supports AppleScript. Run actions on the desktop or remotely through an authorized pairing.

Common actions include locking, sleeping, capturing a screenshot, play/pause, track changes, volume and mute. System status can report CPU, memory, disk and network information. Process, window and media operations have their own platform capabilities and permissions; temperature, GPU details and application-level media controls are not universally available.

Shell and system actions can change the host. Add only commands you understand and retain local confirmation for dangerous actions.

Notifications and local tool integration

Notification settings independently cover pairing requests, file tasks, print failures, automation confirmations, input permissions and other events. Defaults notify only while the application is inactive and hide content previews. The notification center retains messages and read status rather than relying only on a transient OS alert.

The local MCP interface lets authorized tools send notifications and query messages and read status, so a local task can report completion or ask for attention. It listens only on the local machine and requires an access token. This is notification integration, not an unrestricted computer-control API exposed to the LAN.

Automate: local automations

Automations follow a linear when → only if → do model without requiring a cloud service.

• Triggers: application foreground/start/exit events; lock, unlock, sleep and resume; scheduled times; device connection changes; completed file sends or receives; hotkeys or manual runs. Available choices depend on the platform.
• Conditions: time ranges, running applications and connected devices. Multiple conditions must all match.
• Steps: quick-action references, Shell, delays and notifications. Steps run in order and stop on failure.
• Control: automatic or ask-before-run mode, activity history, per-step outcomes and cancellation. Dangerous quick actions still require confirmation on an unlocked desktop.

For example, at a weekday time and while a selected device is connected, open your chosen applications and show a start-of-work notification. A completed file receipt can also trigger an explicitly configured follow-up.

Restarting does not silently replay interrupted runs or bypass pending confirmations. The frozen legacy ArcFlow system is not the entry point for new automation features.

Privacy: presentation protection

Choose applications whose visible windows should be covered, then toggle protection from the feature page or tray. Supported systems can also activate it when screen mirroring is detected. Select a frosted or solid cover and decide whether remote toggling is allowed.

Test the actual picture received by your meeting, mirroring or recording tool before relying on it for sensitive material. Window covering is not file encryption or a system lock, and does not protect against every capture method. Linux does not currently have native window detection and protection equivalent to macOS and Windows.

Print: printer sharing

Share a printer already installed in the host operating system. Other paired LAN devices with printing permission can register it in their own system printer list, then submit jobs from normal application print dialogs.

Inspect shared printers, installed remote queues, sent and received jobs, failure details and cancellation. Paper, color, duplex and document-format options follow the printer’s advertised capabilities, driver and native backend.

Discovering a printer is not permission to print. Native print sessions require device pairing and a printing capability grant, as well as an enabled share on the host.

Keep the sharing computer running and the printer online. Installing a system queue may require OS permission; stopping a share cannot undo pages already printed.

Sniptra is included by default

The Windows and macOS 12.3+ ArcRelay desktop integrations bundle Sniptra. Bundled does not mean enabled by default. Enable enhanced screenshots in General settings, then use the screenshot actions or configured shortcut.

The embedded tool starts on demand with isolated settings and cache, without another standalone screenshot tray. Whether a copied image enters history or sync is controlled by ArcRelay’s clipboard settings.

Read the Sniptra documentation for editable annotations, local OCR, pinned images and scrolling capture. Standalone distribution remains planned.

Discovery, pairing and permissions

1. Open the applications on reachable networks and allow the requested local-network access.
2. Find the target, verify its identity and complete pairing.
3. Grant only the input, clipboard, file or action capabilities needed for the task.
4. Inspect connection, system permissions and runtime status in the relevant feature page. Disable the feature or revoke trust when it is no longer needed.

Native collaboration uses local discovery and QUIC/TLS, with distinct grants for input, clipboard, files and printing. Browser file access has a separate access model. Discovery is not authorization, and an offline device does not cause ArcRelay to create a public relay.

Platforms and prerequisites

Further validation and exploration

Mouse, Transfer and Clipboard remain standalone launch candidates; Monitor and Privacy are later validation areas; Automate and Print remain longer-term product-shape exploration. These are distribution-planning labels, not a statement that the integrated application lacks implementations.

This page does not promise seven separate installers, a cloud team console, subscription prices or a common platform release date.

Before choosing the suite

• Discovered but cannot control: check pairing, capability grants and host input permissions.
• Clipboard content is not relayed: check connectivity, sync switches and permissions. A file-path record is not a file backup.
• Browser files will not open: check the global switch, per-directory access mode, address and LAN scope.
• An operation paused or stopped: inspect its status before retrying. A submitted request is not a completed task.

Return to the product overview, or search for a capability in product documentation.