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Make a deck appear with an app

Updated October 1, 2026

You can bind a deck to a Mac app so it offers itself automatically. Once bound, the deck becomes active as soon as that app is frontmost on the Mac — the right buttons appear for whatever you're doing, without you switching decks by hand each time.

When an app is frontmost on the Mac, its bound deck appears automatically with the right buttons.

Bind a deck to an app

  1. On the Mac, open the menu-bar popover and choose Edit decks….
  2. Select the deck you want to bind.
  3. Choose the app to bind it to.

What you see on the iPad or iPhone

  • When the bound app is frontmost on the Mac, the deck is active and you can use it.
  • When the bound app is not frontmost, the deck is greyed out and disabled.
  • When the bound app comes to the front, the panel offers to switch to its deck.

This keeps the right controls in front of you without you switching decks by hand.

When to use it

Bind a deck to an app whose controls only make sense while that app is in use, for example an editing app or a browser. For controls you always want, leave the deck unbound so it is available all the time.

A pack can be a quick way to fill an app's deck. See Use an action pack. Multiple decks are a paid feature; see What's free, what's paid.

Questions & answers

Does the deck switch on its own?
It offers itself when its app comes to the front. You stay in control of which deck is shown.
Can I unbind a deck later?
Yes. The binding is set in the Mac editor and can be removed at any time.

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