Why I Built a Screenshot Sync App for Mac and iPhone
By Roman Resenchuk,
CloudShots is the weekend project I built to fix screenshot sync between a Mac and an iPhone. Take a screenshot on the Mac and it is on your iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch a moment later, through your own private iCloud, and the other way around.
I'm Roman, an iOS and macOS developer. During the week I work on other people's apps. On weekends I build my own, and CloudShots is the one I keep coming back to. This post is the short version of why it exists and how it works, and the video is my introduction before the first demo.
Why I built a screenshot sync app
I live between a Mac and an iPhone, and screenshots are how I move small facts around: an error from a terminal, a map pin, a receipt, a boarding pass. The screenshot is always on the wrong device. AirDrop works once, then I forget to do it, and Photos is not a good place to find a screenshot six weeks later. I wanted the screenshot to simply be there, on every device, without a step.
Because I build Apple apps for a living, I used Apple's own parts: ScreenCaptureKit on the Mac, CloudKit for sync, and the on-device Vision framework to read the text. That is also why there are no CloudShots servers to run.
What this series shows
I am building CloudShots in public, one feature per episode, and each episode is a real screen recording of the real app with fictional screenshots. Episode 0 shows a screenshot travelling from the Mac to the iPhone, the iPad and the Apple Watch. The next episodes cover searching the words inside a screenshot, freeing up space once iCloud has the originals, and naming screenshots on the device. If you want to follow along, each episode has its own post here with the steps written out, so you never have to scrub through a video to find one.
How to sync screenshots from Mac to iPhone, step by step
- Install CloudShots on your Mac and your iPhone and sign in to the same iCloud account on both.
- Give the iPhone app Full Access to Photos, and choose the folder the Mac app should watch.
- Wait for the first import to finish in Settings.
- Take a screenshot on either device and open CloudShots on the other.
- Search the feed by a word inside any screenshot to find it again.
What you get
CloudShots keeps every screenshot from your Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch in one feed. The Mac has a panel that slides in at the edge of the screen, and the iPhone and iPad have a normal feed. The Apple Watch shows the newest screenshots and is read-only. Search finds the words inside a screenshot, and on devices with Apple Intelligence, names are written on the device. You can read more in the full text search guide.
What stays private
Screenshots sync only through your private iCloud, and CloudShots has no servers that hold them and no account system. I do collect crash and usage diagnostics, and you can turn them off in the app. Diagnostics never include a screenshot or the text in it. The iCloud screenshot manager page shows exactly what lives in your iCloud.
Free and Pro
Sync and search are free, and Free opens the newest 30 screenshots. Pro opens the whole history. One purchase covers iPhone, iPad and Mac, and the download page has the apps.
FAQ
How do I sync screenshots from Mac to iPhone without AirDrop?
Install CloudShots on both devices and sign in to the same iCloud account. New screenshots then travel through your private iCloud on their own, with no AirDrop step.
Who builds CloudShots?
I do. I'm Roman Resenchuk, an iOS and macOS developer, and I build CloudShots on weekends and share each step in public.
Does CloudShots need an account?
No. CloudShots has no account system. It uses the iCloud account already signed in on your devices.
Which devices does it support?
Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. The Watch is read-only, and the other three can capture or import screenshots.
Transcript
Hi, I'm Roman Res. I'm an iOS and macOS developer. On weekends, I build my own app. Let me show you CloudShots.app. Take a screenshot on your Mac and it lands in a panel right beside your work. Then it goes to your private iCloud and shows up on your iPhone, your iPad and your Apple Watch a moment later. No servers in between. It works the other way too. Take a screenshot on your iPhone and it's already on your Mac. One screenshot. One feed on every device. Go to CloudShots.app.
More guides
- How to automatically sync screenshots between Mac, iPhone and iPadOne private screenshot history that syncs both ways through iCloud: Mac to iPhone and iPad, and back.
- How to find a screenshot by the text inside itSearch by the words you remember seeing, on any of your devices.
- How to free up the space your screenshots takeClear synced originals from Photos and your Mac without losing your history.
- CloudShots is an iCloud screenshot manager for Mac, iPhone and iPadWhat lives in your own iCloud, how the library limit works, and what stays private.
- One screenshot history for your Mac, iPhone and iPadOne searchable history of every screenshot from your Mac, iPhone and iPad, synced through your own iCloud. Find any shot and free up storage.
- How to pin a screenshot on screen on MacKeep a screenshot floating above your other windows on Mac with ⌘P. Pin up to 6, move and resize them, close with Esc.
- How to redact or blur text and faces in a screenshot on MacBlur, pixelate or cover text, faces and objects in a screenshot on Mac. Redaction in CloudShots is non-destructive: your original stays untouched.
- How to add a background, padding and shadow to a screenshot on MacExport a Mac screenshot with a background, padding, rounded corners and a shadow using Export with Frame in CloudShots. Copy, save or share the result.
- All guides
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