Home screen

The Home screen is the app's idle root. It lists every computer PreviewMonitor can reach, and it is where you start a stream, open the setup wizard, or preview a local clip.

Tapping a computer connects immediately. There is no paywall at connect time — live streaming is free, and the subscription only changes the quality ceiling. See Free vs Pro.

Empty state: nothing paired, nothing found

On a fresh install — and any time no computer is discovered and none is remembered — the screen shows an illustration, the line Watch and hear your edit on the real screen your audience uses., and three buttons:

The empty state hides the navigation bar — the headline is the title. Pull down to search again; the wordmark rides out of the top of the screen as you drag.

Populated list

Once at least one computer is discovered or remembered, the screen becomes a list with a large PreviewMonitor title.

Devices on this network

Computers currently answering on Bonjour. Discovery is live, so this section fills in by itself the moment a host starts advertising — nothing to press.

Last connected

Computers you have paired with before that Bonjour is not currently seeing. They are still tappable: the app knows their last address and dials it directly.

Two sections, two meanings: the first is what is answering right now, the second is what the app remembers.

What a row shows

Each row carries the Adobe app's own icon (Premiere Pro or After Effects — the badge desaturates and dims when the computer is offline), the computer's name, and a subtitle.

The desktop plugin advertises itself as Machine — Premiere. The app strips everything from the em dash onward for the title line, because the host app is already named in the subtitle.

Tapping a row that is mid-connect cancels the attempt.

The reachability probe

Rows under Last connected are the most likely to point at a computer that is asleep, on another network, or running without the plugin — so tapping one knocks first. The app opens a TCP connection to the host's control port and waits up to 3 seconds. The row spins while it waits.

Rows under Devices on this network skip the probe: Bonjour already proved the host is up.

If nothing answers, an alert appears titled <Computer> isn't answering:

No answer from 192.168.0.100.

Make sure Premiere or After Effects is running on that computer with a sequence or composition open, that both devices are on the same Wi‑Fi network, and that the computer isn't asleep.

Set It Up opens the setup wizard — a missing or disabled plugin is the usual cause. See Can't find my device.

The manual-IP entry sheet uses different wording, because there a typo is possible: Can't find that computer, and the message tells you to check the address. That error appears inline under the field rather than as an alert, so you can fix a digit without starting over.

Forgetting a computer

Swipe a row in Last connected to the left and delete it. The pairing token, name, and last known address are dropped.

Rows in Devices on this network cannot be swiped away — they are live discovery results, not saved entries. Turn off Discoverable on network in the desktop Setup window to stop a computer appearing there.

Action rows

Below the computer list:

• Connect a Device — Scan the QR code, or connect by IP. Same scanner as the empty state.
• How to connect — opens the setup wizard.

Their shared footnote reads: Both devices need to be on the same Wi‑Fi, and Premiere or After Effects must be running with a sequence or composition open.

Then, in its own section, Preview from Photos or Files — Open a local video or photo, no Mac or PC needed. — footnoted Same tools as a live stream: pinch to zoom, step frame by frame, layouts, and save stills.

Footer links

The bottom of the scroll carries small text links. Which ones appear depends on your subscription:

Upgrade is the only route to the paywall from this screen, and the paywall is where Restore Purchases lives — so it is also how a returning customer recovers a purchase on a new phone.

Privacy & Legal opens the privacy sheet. See Privacy and data.

Where the setup wizard opens from

Four places, all landing on the same wizard:

1. Show me how to set up on the empty state.
2. The How to connect row on the populated list.
3. Set It Up in the "isn't answering" alert.
4. How to update in the plugin-update alert, which appears once per plugin version when the host is running an older build than the app prefers.

The wizard's four steps are labeled App, Plugin, Enable, and Connect. Its Enable network discovery button is the first thing in the entire app that touches the network — which is why the iOS Local Network permission prompt appears there, on top of the explanation, and not at launch.

Pull to refresh

Pull down on either the list or the empty state to force a fresh Bonjour browse. The spinner is held for about 1.2 seconds so newly-appeared computers have time to surface.