Desktop companion
Let your computer do the listening.
A small companion app for your Mac or Windows PC. It picks up the meeting audio already playing on your computer and passes it straight to Shoulder Surf on your iPhone. Nothing to point at the screen, nothing to turn up, and nothing for the room to overhear.
Free on both. The Mac app needs macOS 15 or later, with Shoulder Surf 1.18 or later on your iPhone. The Windows app needs Windows 10 version 2004 or later, or Windows 11.
Get the companion app
You need Shoulder Surf on your iPhone first. The companion app is the other half, and it is free.
Mac
Free from the Mac App Store, for macOS 15 or later, with Shoulder Surf 1.18 or later on your iPhone. The App Store keeps it up to date.
Get it on the Mac App StoreWindows
Free from the Microsoft Store, for Windows 10 version 2004 or later and Windows 11, on both x64 and ARM64 PCs. It sits in the notification area by the clock and pairs with your iPhone by a six-digit code, with both on the same Wi-Fi.
Get it from MicrosoftYou are on a phone
The companion runs on a Mac or a Windows PC, not on the device you are holding. Send yourself this link and open it on the computer, then get it from the Mac App Store or the Microsoft Store there.
Installing it on a Mac takes about a minute
It is free. Search for Shoulder Surf Companion, or use the button above, and click Get.
It does not open at login on its own. If you want it there every time, turn that on in its menu.
Screen and System Audio Recording is how macOS lets an app hear your meeting, and the microphone picks up your own voice. It asks for neither at launch: both are rows in the menu you tap when you are ready. After you allow screen recording, macOS needs the app reopened, and there is a button for that.
Start a meeting in Shoulder Surf, and when it asks how you want it to listen, choose Mac Companion. If both devices are signed in to the same Apple Account they pair on their own. If your Mac is on a different account, the Mac shows a six-digit code and you type it once on the phone.
It lives in the menu bar at the top of your screen, with no Dock icon and no window in your way. It tells you there what it is doing and which iPhone it is talking to.
On a Windows PC
It is free. Search for Shoulder Surf Companion, or use the button above.
It lives in the notification area at the end of the taskbar. If you do not see it, Windows may have tucked it behind the little up arrow.
Windows asks for microphone permission, which is how the companion picks up your own voice.
Yes, Mac. The iPhone app uses that name for both computers right now, so it is the right choice for a PC too. Start a meeting in Shoulder Surf, choose Mac Companion when it asks how you want it to listen, and type the six-digit code the PC shows. Keep both on the same Wi-Fi. If a Mac companion is also running on that network, quit it first so your phone finds the PC.
Windows 11 treats a new Wi-Fi network as Public, which hides the PC. Set the network to Private in Settings, and click Allow if Windows asks about the firewall.
Why bother with a second app?
Because the microphone is not always an option, and this is the way around that which needs no hardware at all.
The audio is taken from your computer directly, so you can keep your headset on and keep the volume wherever you like.
The companion takes your voice from the computer's microphone and sends it to your iPhone separately from the call.
It does the same job as the hardware chain on our listening modes page, in software, for free.
Start free.
Free comes with a recurring monthly cloud-AI budget of about 5 hours a month that renews.* Plus is $9.99 a month with a 7 day free trial.
Pro is $14.99 a month.
Or skip the subscription with on-device Apple Intelligence or your own API key.
On a computer? Point your iPhone camera here to get the app.Then add Shoulder Surf Companion, free for Mac, Windows
* Based on a 1 hour meeting with typical queries and context. Actual usage may vary. Compare plans
