Kinetra on macOS
What works when you run Kinetra on a Mac, and what isn't available on macOS yet.
Kinetra runs on macOS 11 (Big Sur) or later, on Apple silicon and Intel Macs. Most of Kinetra works the same as on Windows: templates, screens, Control, Studio mode, data sources, media, flows and automation, live polls, AI templates, OSC, sign-in and licensing, and updates.
Browser sources for OBS and vMix work on a Mac exactly as on Windows. That’s the way to get Kinetra graphics into your production from a Mac today.
Not available on macOS yet
Section titled “Not available on macOS yet”| Feature | On a Mac today | More |
|---|---|---|
| Display outputs | Kinetra doesn’t list your displays, so you can’t show a screen fullscreen on a connected display. Preferences › Outputs says Display outputs: not available on macOS yet. Use browser sources instead. | Outputs |
| MIDI | MIDI controllers don’t control Kinetra, their lights don’t change, and the MIDI in flow trigger doesn’t fire. Preferences › Network & API › MIDI & OSC says MIDI: not available on macOS yet. OSC works and can run the same actions. | MIDI and OSC |
| Output sound device | You can’t choose which audio device a display output plays on. Browser sources play their sound in OBS or vMix as usual. | Outputs |
| Output crash recovery | If an output window’s page crashes, Kinetra doesn’t reopen it by itself. | Outputs |
| Plugging in during a show | Kinetra doesn’t notice displays or MIDI devices you connect while it’s running. |
Both notices in Preferences have a What works on macOS link to this page.
Different on macOS
Section titled “Different on macOS”- Licensing: sign in and plans work as on Windows. A Mac counts as one computer on your plan, recognized by its hardware, and is listed by its name from System Settings › General › Sharing. See Computers.
- Secret header values in API sources are kept in the macOS Keychain (on Windows: Credential Manager). They stay on the Mac they were entered on. See API sources.
- Video files: some files play differently on a Mac, for example WebM with transparency. The media library warns about each file that won’t play somewhere, with a way to convert it. See Media.
- Menus: the Kinetra menu has About Kinetra, Preferences… (Cmd+,) and Quit. Kinetra says Show in Finder where Windows says Show in Explorer.
Projects move between Windows and Mac
Section titled “Projects move between Windows and Mac”A project made on Windows opens on a Mac and the other way round. A project’s MIDI mappings are kept on a Mac and work again when you open the project on Windows. Display outputs are set up per computer, so they don’t move with the project.
If you need these features
Section titled “If you need these features”Use a Windows computer for display outputs and MIDI controllers. You can run Kinetra on Windows and still view its outputs from a Mac on the same network: see Use outputs from another computer.
This page changes as Mac support improves. Check the release notes in Help › Check for updates….