You're sitting there with two iPads. Maybe one is a shiny new M4 Pro and the other is an aging Air 2 you found in a drawer. You want the screen from one to show up on the other. It sounds simple. Apple is the king of ecosystems, right? Everything is supposed to "just work." But if you’ve spent any time digging through the Settings menu looking for a "Mirror to other iPad" button, you already know the frustrating truth.
It doesn't exist.
Apple’s native AirPlay protocol is designed to send content from a "sender" (your iPhone or iPad) to a "receiver" (an Apple TV, a Mac, or a compatible smart TV). By default, an iPad is not an AirPlay receiver. It is a greedy little screen that only wants to broadcast, not listen. This is the hurdle.
If you want to mirror iPad to iPad, you have to break the rules or, at the very least, use a middleman.
The AirPlay Wall and Why It Exists
Honestly, it’s a bit of a head-scratcher why Apple hasn't enabled this natively. Sidecar exists, but that’s for using an iPad as a second monitor for a Mac. Universal Control lets you move your mouse between an iPad and a Mac—or even two iPads—but it doesn't mirror the pixels. It just shares the input.
Why? Bandwidth is a huge factor. Mirroring a high-resolution Retina display in real-time requires a massive amount of data to be encoded, sent over Wi-Fi, and decoded without lag. Apple is notoriously picky about "latency." If it isn't perfect, they often won't ship it.
But you still need to show that keynote presentation to your colleague across the table. Or maybe you're a parent trying to show a movie to two kids on two different screens in the backseat. Whatever the reason, we have to look at third-party solutions because iPadOS isn't going to help us today.
Use ApowerMirror for a Reliable Connection
When people ask how to mirror iPad to iPad, ApowerMirror is usually the first name that pops up in tech circles. It’s been around forever. It’s essentially a bridge.
You install the app on both devices. One acts as the sender, and the other acts as the receiver. It works over your local Wi-Fi network. Because it’s a third-party app, you’re going to deal with a tiny bit of "input lag." This isn't great for playing Call of Duty: Mobile, but for showing photos, documents, or even a steady video stream, it's totally fine.
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Here is how the workflow actually looks. Open the app on both iPads. On the "sender" iPad, you’ll tap the "LocalCast" button. It’ll scan the network. Your second iPad should pop up in the list. When you tap it, you’ll be prompted to "Start Broadcasting." At that point, your iPad screen is being recorded and beamed over to the other screen. It’s basically a localized live stream.
One thing to keep in mind: if your Wi-Fi is spotty, this is going to be a miserable experience. If you’re at a coffee shop with 15 people on the same router, forget it. You need a clean, 5GHz signal for this to feel "human."
Screen Sharing via FaceTime (The "Official" Workaround)
If you don't want to download sketchy third-party apps, you’ve got SharePlay. This is Apple’s "legal" way to mirror iPad to iPad, though it has some guardrails that might annoy you.
Since the release of iPadOS 15.1, FaceTime has included SharePlay. It’s meant for watching movies together, but it has a "Share My Screen" feature.
- Start a FaceTime call between the two iPads.
- Tap the "Share" button (it looks like a little person in front of a screen).
- Select "Share My Screen."
After a three-second countdown, the other person sees your screen. Boom.
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The downside? It's not true "mirroring" in the sense that the receiver has no control. Also, because it’s going through FaceTime servers, the quality is heavily compressed. If you are trying to show off high-res photography, the pixels are going to look like digital mush. But for troubleshooting a grandparent’s iPad or showing a quick webpage? It’s the easiest method by a mile.
Using a Mac as a Middleman (The Pro Setup)
If you happen to have a MacBook sitting nearby, you can use it as a relay. This is getting complicated, but if you need high fidelity, this is the way.
Using a tool like AirServer or Reflector on your Mac, you can turn the computer into an AirPlay receiver. Then, you use a video capture card or even just a QuickTime "New Movie Recording" trick to display that feed. Then, use the Mac to Sidecar over to the second iPad.
Is it overkill? Absolutely. Does it work better than any app on the App Store? Usually.
The reality is that "Mirroring" is different from "Extending." Most people actually want a second monitor, not a mirror image. If you want to extend your workspace, you are better off looking at apps like Duet Display or Luna Display. These tools were built by former Apple engineers who got tired of waiting for Apple to fix the display limitations of the iPad.
The Web Browser Loophole: TeamViewer
TeamViewer is the "old reliable" of the IT world. Most people think of it for fixing PCs, but the TeamViewer QuickSupport app for iOS is surprisingly robust.
It works differently. You aren't just sending a video feed; you're creating a remote support session. On the iPad you want to see, you’ll get a unique ID. You enter that ID on the "main" iPad.
The cool thing about TeamViewer? It doesn't care if you're on the same Wi-Fi. You could be in New York and your second iPad could be in London. It’ll still mirror. The frame rate is low—maybe 10 to 15 frames per second—so it looks a bit "choppy," but for technical tasks or sharing a spreadsheet, it’s extremely stable.
Avoiding the "Black Screen" Trap
A huge point of frustration when you mirror iPad to iPad is the "Black Screen" issue. You get the connection working, you see your home screen, but as soon as you open Netflix or Disney+, the screen on the second iPad goes pitch black while the audio keeps playing.
That’s DRM (Digital Rights Management).
Apps like Netflix detect when the screen is being recorded or mirrored. To prevent piracy, they kill the video feed. There is no way around this using software mirroring. If your goal is to share a movie, you have to use SharePlay within the actual app (like the "Watch Together" feature in Disney+). Don't waste three hours trying to "fix" a black screen—it’s a feature, not a bug.
Practical Steps to Get Started Now
If you are ready to try this, don't start by buying an expensive app.
- First, try FaceTime. It’s free. It’s already on your iPad. If the quality is "good enough" for what you need, stop there.
- Check your iPad model. If you have an iPad from 2017 or earlier, some of these screen-sharing features will be sluggish because the processor can't handle the real-time video encoding.
- Update your software. Ensure both iPads are running at least iPadOS 15. If one is on 14 and the other is on 17, the handshake between the two devices will often fail.
- Clean your Wi-Fi. Turn off the "Personal Hotspot" on your phone if you're using it to connect the iPads. Hotspots are notoriously bad for the high-bandwidth requirements of screen mirroring.
The tech world moves fast, and while we keep hoping for a "Native Mirror" toggle in iPadOS 19 or 20, the current landscape requires a bit of creativity. Whether you use SharePlay for a quick fix or ApowerMirror for a more professional presentation, just remember that you are essentially "hacking" a system that Apple designed to be a one-way street.
Verify your connection, manage your expectations on lag, and you'll be able to bridge the gap between your two screens without much drama.
Next Steps for Success:
- Open FaceTime on your primary iPad and call your second iPad's Apple ID to test the built-in SharePlay feature.
- Download ApowerMirror if you require a local connection that doesn't rely on an active video call.
- Check for iPadOS Updates in Settings > General > Software Update to ensure both devices have the latest AirPlay and SharePlay patches.