Localdock puts your dev server on your phone with one switch: the project you named dashboard answers at dashboard.local for any device on your Wi-Fi — no cable, no build, no tunnel account, and nothing installed on the phone.
One switch, then Safari
Move the project's Reach to Wi-Fi and type dashboard.local into the phone — or scan the QR code Localdock shows in the project's row. That's the whole procedure. You get real iOS Safari rendering on a real device: the actual viewport, the actual keyboard behaviour, the actual tap targets, with hot reload still live while you edit on the Mac.
Why the usual ways hurt
Every developer has a workaround here, and they all leak time. Typing the Mac's LAN IP plus a port works until DHCP hands the machine a new address or the framework bumps the port — then every note you scribbled is wrong. The USB cable and desktop dev tools drive a simulator or a tethered session, which is not how the phone behaves on its own. And standing up a public tunnel to reach a device sitting on the same desk means an account, a URL that changes, and your work crossing the internet to cross the room.
A name on the local network skips all of it: the address is stable because it's a name, and it never leaves your Wi-Fi.
What your phone can and can't reach
Sharing is per-project and off by default. Devices on your Wi-Fi can open exactly the projects you switched on; everything you didn't is refused without revealing that it exists. Nothing else on your machine becomes reachable, and nothing listens on the network at all until the first share. The name is announced over mDNS — the same mechanism macOS already uses to announce your Mac by name — so there's nothing to configure on the router either.
When the phone isn't on your Wi-Fi
Same name, one more rung: a public link anyone can open — a client, a colleague in another city, or a webhook provider — with a secret key in the URL and an expiry on the clock.
Questions
Does hot reload work on the phone?
Yes. Localdock reads the name and then forwards raw TCP without rewriting anything, so WebSockets, HMR and server-sent events reach the phone exactly as they'd reach your browser. Save a file on the Mac, watch the phone update.
Does it work on Android?
The honest answer: .local names rely on mDNS, which iOS handles natively — the iPhone is the verified, primary story. Android's mDNS support has historically been patchy, and it varies by device and browser, so treat Android as a nice surprise rather than a promise.
Do I need to install anything on the phone?
No — that's the point. The phone opens a URL in its own browser. No app, no profile, no certificate, no cable.
Localdock is a macOS menubar app, a one-time purchase — no subscription, no account. Get Localdock