Installation and setup for Mac, version 2.0 (3). Entertainment only.
Matching release: Companion and its bundled plugin 2.0 (3) are prepared for headset 2.0 (3), which is now available on the App Store. The 0.1.2 installer remains available for the earlier headset release. Quest uses separate apps and plugins.
The Mac connection for your XPPanelsVR cockpit. Install Companion on the computer running X-Plane to share live instruments and Outside View with the headset app. XPPanelsVR for Apple Vision Pro is available on the App Store; Companion is a separate, directly distributed Mac application.
Developer ID signed and notarized by Apple. The official installer identifies Aldo Mendes Martins (AldoApps) as its publisher and includes its notarization ticket. Gatekeeper verification has passed. A first-open confirmation is normal; keep macOS security enabled. If macOS reports malware, damage or an unverifiable publisher, contact support before proceeding. Apple explains these checks. Managed Macs may require administrator approval.
One Mac application contains Display Bridge, hardware-encoded outside video, an optional virtual ultrawide monitor, a small control preview, and the XPPanelsBridge simulator plugin. No BetterDisplay, DeskPad, WebFMC, compiler, Python, CMake or SDK is required on a customer's Mac.
You supply macOS 15 or later, X-Plane 12, a separately licensed ToLiss A320 with working detached pop-outs, XPPanelsVR on Vision Pro, and a trusted private local network. The tested configuration uses Apple silicon; Intel and X-Plane 11 have not been verified. Aircraft licensing and pop-out restrictions still apply.
Display Bridge is for use only with X-Plane running a ToLiss A320 or A321 aircraft. Other aircraft and simulators are not supported. Working detached operating-system pop-out windows are required. The current Mac setup has been tested with X-Plane 12.4.3 and ToLiss A320 v1.2.1; A321 and other aircraft versions still require separate verification.
Display Bridge is an independent AldoApps product, not affiliated with or endorsed by ToLiss or Laminar Research. Their names identify compatibility only. You must obtain the simulator and aircraft licences separately and comply with their restrictions.
Choose your physical Mac screen under Instruments > Instrument display. Allow Window Placement requests macOS Accessibility permission for Companion. Then Move Displays Here arranges identified instrument windows on that screen, never the outside-view display. Sizes are retained, so windows may overlap on a small MacBook screen. Do not minimize the source windows. With permission granted, Open Missing Displays also attempts placement.
A Please wait message and spinner remain visible in Companion during automatic opening, placement and resizing. Companion's menu-bar item also says Please wait... while X-Plane is in front. Setup can take about a minute, sometimes longer. Leave the mouse untouched until the message clears and the final result appears. The status identifies the current step; it is not a percentage or a guaranteed completion time.
Newly opened displays receive default native window sizes: PFD, ND and ECAM 600 x 628 (square content plus title bar), both MCDUs 652 x 1028, and ISIS 420 x 448. These are the same window-point units shown in the Instruments table, not Retina backing pixels. Use Default Sizes reapplies them to windows already open; Move Displays Here preserves custom sizes. Accessibility permission is required for sizing.
A full-height MCDU can extend below a shorter Mac screen. Its title bar remains accessible and independent-window capture includes the whole window, not just the on-screen portion. When native mouse resizing is needed, Companion may briefly stage a window on a taller display before returning it to the instrument screen. This can briefly cover Outside View during setup. If no display is tall enough, or X-Plane rejects the size, Companion reports an incomplete operation instead of silently shrinking the window. MCDU capture allows up to 1080 pixels on its longest side; its headset crop still contains the LCD only.
When pop-outs overlap, default sizing temporarily stacks them in a clear area of the other monitor, working from the frontmost window backwards. It returns them in reverse order so their title bars remain reachable. Outside View may be covered briefly during setup. Escape stops immediately; if windows remain on the temporary monitor, use Move Displays Here to return them. No simulator controls are clicked to uncover windows.
The aircraft must support detached native pop-outs. If a popup opens inside X-Plane instead, use the control preview to detach it. In the ToLiss ISCS, use its pop-out option where available and enable Save Popup Config On Quit. ToLiss documents closing via the native window's close button to retain detached mode; clicking the display face to close may return it to in-simulator popup mode. Companion does not force undocumented popup states or bypass licence restrictions.
If X-Plane does not expose movable windows to Accessibility, Companion temporarily uses the mouse to drag verified native title bars and resize corners instead. Leave the mouse alone until placement finishes; Escape cancels. Covered controls are skipped, not clicked through. The floating preview hides during placement and returns afterward. If placement reports an unavailable title bar or resize edge, uncover the window and retry, or resize it manually. The pointer returns to its original position afterward.
Open Companion, create the saved-resolution monitor, then launch X-Plane. Start sharing, open missing displays and approve the headset. The floating preview stays above normal windows without changing the virtual monitor's resolution. Reopen it from the PiP icon on any Companion page, the menu-bar app, or View > Show Control Preview (Command-Shift-P). Click the preview to move the pointer to that location on the virtual display; the next click operates X-Plane. Move the mouse back to the physical display as usual. Outside View > Show Mouse Pointer makes the mouse visible in the headset and defaults on. Hide the cursor for flight if desired. Hide/close the preview during flight to stop its capture workload.
Closing the main Companion window keeps its menu-bar app running. Stop Sharing immediately disconnects viewers. Quit X-Plane before disconnecting a virtual monitor or quitting Companion. Companion deliberately prevents losing a monitor while the simulator uses it. Capture and sharing are never automatically enabled at login.
Start Sharing, approve the headset address, then enable Instruments > Vision Pro ISCS sharing and input. Permission is off at launch and resets when sharing stops. Select ISCS on either tablet. Discovery opens the ToLiss menu once if needed; detach it in X-Plane if it opens inside the simulator. Select ISCS Window is the manual fallback. Repress the tablet ISCS button to retry an unavailable page.
Remote input requires Accessibility permission and an uncovered detached window. A headset selection moves the real Mac pointer and sends a click; do not use the mouse simultaneously. Only a recent picture's single-use ticket can authorize a click. Bring ISCS to the front if requested. Stop ISCS sharing to revoke input. If Companion is unreachable, reconnect first; the headset does not blindly toggle the simulator menu.
Enable Share X-Plane Audio to stream X-Plane application sound to an approved headset while sharing is on. No microphone is recorded. Stop sharing or disable the option to stop audio. This does not enable the Windows-only experimental foveated sender on Mac.
Sidesticks and steering in headset 2.0 need this package's updated simulator plugin. If video works but controls do not, check the simulator address and Custom JSON UDP port 49001 for Mac, then verify the plugin version with X-Plane restarted after installation. Do not use the Windows Vision Pro port 49002 for the Mac default. A physical joystick remains recommended; hardware-free aircraft operation is not guaranteed.
Quit X-Plane first, then quit Companion before installing a newer package. Reopen Companion and choose Setup > Install / Update Plugin before relaunching X-Plane. Installing the Mac application does not update the simulator plugin by itself. Setup compares version, build and payload hash and reports when an update is available. The bundled plugin includes rudder-trim and hand-flight commands.
Settings offers Restore Previous Plugin, Remove Plugin and Show Plugin Backups. If custom files or altered plugin binaries are found, automatic replacement/removal is refused. Backups are in ~/Library/Application Support/XPPanelsVR Companion/Plugin Backups. Switching signing identities can require fresh Screen Recording and Accessibility approval.
To uninstall: quit X-Plane, then open Settings > Open Uninstaller or Uninstall XPPanelsVR Companion in Applications. Review the listed X-Plane locations and add any others that contain this product's plugin. Keep preferences/backups for reinstalling, or select optional cleanup. Confirm Prepare and Close in Companion so sharing, login startup and the virtual monitor close safely. Selected managed files move to Trash. Finish and Remove Uninstaller also moves that app to Trash; check the results before emptying Trash.
Only this product and current Mac account are affected. Quest, aircraft, simulator preferences and unrelated plugins are preserved. Modified/unmanaged files require manual review. Finder may request authorization for installer-owned files; cancellation leaves remaining files intact. Privacy permissions and package receipts are not silently reset; review unwanted permission entries in System Settings separately.
Companion sends simulator images directly from the Mac to your headset on your local network. An AldoApps cloud streaming account is not needed. Connect both devices to a trusted home network, use a strong Wi-Fi password, and allow only devices you trust. A wired connection for the Mac can improve consistency. Avoid shared hotel or public Wi-Fi and leave router port forwarding off.
The local video and simulator protocols do not add transport encryption. They rely on your network's access controls; being on a private network does not itself encrypt this traffic. Companion's address approval controls its video viewers for the current session, but is not cryptographic pairing and does not secure X-Plane's UDP ports. See network and privacy details.
You choose when sharing starts and which simulator windows are shared. Stop Sharing disconnects viewers. The optional control preview shows the selected display locally and can include other apps on that display; keep private information away from the shared simulator view.
Export Diagnostics creates a small local text report for your review. It does not upload it, include screenshots, or copy simulator logs. Support: aldoapps@gmail.com.
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