SOFTWARE BY CTD · iPhone, iPad & Android
Available nowTurn the iPhone or iPad you already own into a tactile control surface for OBS Studio — live multiview, tap-to-preview, a real TAKE button, quick-cut to air, and stream/record control, all over obs-websocket. No account, no plugin, no capture card.
iOS 26.0 or later, iPadOS 26.0 or later — Android (Google Play) coming soon
Where you'll get it
Point it at a Mac, PC, or Linux box running OBS 28+ and drive the whole show from across the room — straight over obs-websocket 5.x, no plugin, no capture card. An OBS remote that actually feels like a switcher.
A grid of live scene thumbnails right on your phone — real OBS multiview, hardware-decoded through Metal so it stays smooth on a busy multicam show. (They're fast-refreshing stills from obs-websocket, not a video feed — plenty to see what's on each angle before you cut.)
Tap an angle to load preview, hit TAKE to send it to program with your transition. Need a fast grab? Hold-to-quick-cut punches an angle to air and pops back when you let go — a real preview-to-program switcher in your pocket.
Start/stop streaming and recording with live timecode and clear on-air status. The buttons pulse while live, so one glance tells you the show's rolling — even with the OBS machine tucked away.
Pair any MFi, Xbox, or PlayStation controller over Bluetooth or USB-C and steer an on-screen focus ring — preview, TAKE, or quick-cut with a button, eyes up on the show. The best feel is a telescopic clamp gamepad that grips your phone so the two become one switcher. Here are the two we've run Live Mobile with.
Wired USB-C · ~$80
Hall-effect sticks and triggers, two rear buttons. Grips USB-C iPhones, iPads, and Android — not Lightning.
Bluetooth 5.0 · iPhone · ~$100
MFi-certified (iOS 16+), anti-drift thumbsticks, two remappable rear paddles, up to 16h battery.
Build scene playlists that roll a sequence hands-free, and trigger rules that fire on events like going live. Start one and work the room while the show runs itself — pre-roll loops, lower-third rotations, unattended segments.
In OBS: Tools → WebSocket Server Settings → Show Connect Info, scan the QR, and host, port, and password fill in. Prefer typing? Add it over obsws://, ws://, or wss://. OBS 28+ has the server built in — nothing to install.
No account, no ads, no analytics, no trackers — the App Privacy label is Data Not Collected. It talks only to your OBS server, settings stay on-device, and passwords live in the iOS Keychain. iPhone runs landscape like a gamepad; iPad adds portrait.
An Android port is on the way to Google Play, mirroring the iOS deck over the same obs-websocket connection. In active development now; iPhone and iPad are the full-featured flagship today, with Apple Watch tally, the Dynamic Island, and controller switching.
OBS Blade is the incumbent free, open-source obs-websocket remote, and it's a solid pick — it runs on Android as well as iOS, surfaces stream stats, and is genuinely free. Where CTD Live Mobile pulls ahead is the live production experience: a true OBS multiview grid with hardware-decoded thumbnails (Metal plus VideoToolbox, zero-copy) instead of a flat scene list, a proper Studio Mode with a dedicated TAKE button and hold-to-quick-cut, and full Xbox, PlayStation, and MFi game-controller switching with an on-screen focus ring — a switcher feature Blade and most rivals lack. Both are free with no account, but if you want a native iOS control surface that feels like a real switcher, Live Mobile is the studio-first OBS Blade alternative. If you need Android today, OBS Blade still has you covered — see our full comparison for an honest, feature-by-feature table.
CTD Live Mobile is a free OBS remote control app for iPhone and iPad. It turns your device into a live control surface for OBS Studio — switching scenes, running a live multiview, hitting TAKE in Studio Mode, quick-cutting angles to air, and starting or stopping streaming and recording — all over obs-websocket on your own network. It captures nothing itself; OBS does the work and the app commands it.
Yes. CTD Live Mobile is a client only and does nothing on its own. You need a Mac, PC, or Linux machine running OBS Studio 28 or newer with the built-in obs-websocket server enabled (Tools → WebSocket Server Settings), reachable on the same local network. Without a running OBS instance to connect to, there's nothing for the app to display or control.
It's completely free with no in-app purchases, no subscription, and no account. There are no ads, no analytics, and no trackers, and the App Privacy label is Data Not Collected. That makes it a genuinely free OBS remote app, in contrast to apps like ProducerPad and Switcher Pro that gate Pro features behind a trial, subscription, or lifetime purchase.
You need OBS Studio 28 or newer, which ships with obs-websocket 5.x built in. There is no OBS-side plugin to install and no capture card required — just enable the WebSocket server under Tools → WebSocket Server Settings. The app connects straight to that built-in server over obsws://, ws://, or wss://.
Yes. In OBS, open Tools → WebSocket Server Settings → Show Connect Info and scan the QR code with your phone's camera — the host, port, and password fill in automatically. That's the only reason the app uses the camera. You can also enter host, port, and password manually if you prefer.
In the typical setup, yes — your iPhone or iPad reaches OBS over your local network, which is why the app requests Local Network permission. It can also connect to an off-LAN OBS host by IP if you've set that up, and it supports wss:// (TLS) when you enable it. The app only ever talks to the OBS server you configure; there's no cloud service in between.
Tap-to-preview loads a scene into preview so you can line it up before it airs. The dedicated TAKE button then sends preview to program with your transition — the core of Studio Mode. Hold-to-quick-cut is different: press and hold a focused angle to cut it straight to air, then release to return. Together they give you a real preview-to-program switcher rather than tap-only scene cuts.
Yes — full game-controller support is built in via Apple's GameController framework. Pair an Xbox, PlayStation, or MFi controller over Bluetooth or USB-C, steer an on-screen yellow focus ring with the d-pad or stick, and preview, TAKE, or quick-cut with a button. You get custom button bindings and an in-app controller help map, making it a true game-controller OBS switcher — a feature most OBS remote apps don't offer.
Any standard MFi, Xbox, or PlayStation controller works, but the sweet spot is a telescopic clamp-style mobile gamepad that grips the phone in the middle, so phone and controller become one handheld switcher — stick to move the focus ring, buttons to TAKE and quick-cut. We've tested and recommend two. The GameSir G8 Galileo plugs in wired over USB-C (USB-C iPhones, iPads, and Android phones — not Lightning iPhones), with Hall-effect sticks and triggers and two rear buttons, around $80. The SCUF Nomad is an iPhone clamp that pairs over Bluetooth 5.0, is MFi-certified (iOS 16+), and adds anti-drift thumbsticks, two remappable rear paddles, and up to 16 hours of battery, about $100. Both mapped into Live Mobile's existing controller bindings with no special setup.
It's built to be a studio-first OBS Blade alternative. Both are free, but CTD Live Mobile adds a true live multiview grid with hardware-decoded thumbnails, a proper Studio Mode with a dedicated TAKE button, hold-to-quick-cut, and game-controller switching — where OBS Blade leans on a flatter scene list and stream stats. See our full OBS Blade alternative comparison for a fair, side-by-side breakdown.
No. There's no account or sign-in and the app collects no personal data of any kind — no analytics, no ads, no trackers. It communicates only with your own OBS server, your settings stay on your device, and your OBS passwords are stored securely in the iOS Keychain.
CTD Live Mobile supports iPhone and iPad on iOS and iPadOS 26.0 or newer — a deliberate modern-devices-only floor. iPhone runs in landscape only for an immersive, held-sideways control-surface feel, like holding a game pad; iPad adds both portrait and landscape so you can fit more on screen at once.
CTD Live Mobile is live — grab it from the store above. More platforms are on the way; tell us what you'd run it on and we'll keep you posted. Local-first — no accounts, no cloud. Read the privacy policy.