Device Control
The Device Control tab provides options for managing the Android device's power state, screen, and behaviour during a mirroring session.
Stay Awake
Keeps the device screen turned on for as long as NearMirror is connected. This overrides the device's own auto-lock setting.
Useful when you need the device to stay active during a long session without touching it.
Turn Screen Off
Turns the device screen off immediately when mirroring starts, while the session itself continues running normally. The device is still active and controllable — you just save the screen's battery.
You can turn the screen back on at any time using the MOD+P shortcut.
Screen Off Timeout
Automatically turns the device screen off after a set number of seconds of mirroring. Enter the duration in seconds.
For example, entering 30 turns the screen off 30 seconds after the session starts.
Show Touches
Displays a visual touch indicator on the device screen when you click through the mirror window. This makes it easier to see where your input is landing, and is helpful when demonstrating the device to others.
Power Management
Power On at Start
Turns the device on when a mirroring session begins. Useful if your device is in standby.
Power Off on Close
Turns the device screen off when the mirroring session ends. This ensures the device doesn't stay on after you disconnect.
Launch App
Start mirroring with a specific app already open. There are two ways to do this.
Using the App Picker
The quickest way is the App icon (
) button on the device card in the Devices panel.
- Click on the device card — NearMirror fetches the list of installed third-party apps from the device (a spinner appears while loading)
- Use the search box to filter by app name or package name
- Click any app in the list to start mirroring with that app in the foreground
On Android 13 and later, app names are shown alongside their package names. On older Android versions, the label is derived from the package name (e.g. com.example.myapp → myapp).
Using the Start App field
To set a fixed app that always opens when you start a session from this device, enter the app's package name in the Start App field in the Device Control tab (e.g. com.example.myapp).
To find a package name: on Android, install any "App Inspector" app, or use adb shell pm list packages -3 to list all third-party packages.
New Display (Advanced)
Creates a virtual secondary display on the device. The mirror window shows this virtual display rather than the main screen, leaving the physical device screen undisturbed.
This is an advanced feature. Leave blank unless you specifically need it.