I’m surprised just how easy it is to use an iPad or an Android tablet as an external monitor with Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and above.

And I don’t mean simply mirror your desktop to your mobile device, but use your mobile device screen to extend your laptop or PC desktop, just like a physically connected external monitor lets you.

I only recently found out this was functionality is available (albeit hidden) in Ubuntu thanks to a casual comment I saw on Reddit.

Naturally, I had to try it out for myself.

I’ve wanted to use my tablet as a second screen with my Ubuntu laptop for ages. Not out of any major need (though it sure is handy), but more the satisfaction of knowing that “anything Apple can do…” Linux can as well.

Good news: this feature works well, and is easy to set up in Ubuntu. If you’re curious about it works in action you can hit play on the (hastily recorded) video embed below:

A short demo (filmed in a hurry)

Pretty cool, right?

And we’ve GNOME developers to thank for it.

Hidden amongst the (many) new features in GNOME 42 were some backend tweaks to the what remote desktop protocol (RDP) and screen sharing support work, including the ability to extend the GNOME desktop to virtual monitors.

Latency is a big ask in all this, of course. Using a tablet as an external monitor over RDP is an entirely different use case to simply accessing a desktop over RDP, which is notoriously laggy.

To offset that, GNOME devs added frame-tracking and enhanced hardware acceleration. Together, these offer a smooth experience — as the feature is network dependant don’t expect flawless fluidity on poor/slow connections, mind.

In a nutshell, any Linux distro with GNOME 42 (or later) can use a RDP-supported device (e.g., Android tablet, iPad, or even another computer) as an external monitor, similar to Apple’s SideCar feature (which lets macOS lets users extend their desktop to an iPad screen wirelessly).

Virtual monitors behave exactly like a real monitor connected by a cable to your laptop or PC. Reposition virtual monitors from the Settings > Display panel just like physical one, and set the virtual monitor screen resolution independent of your main display.

Although this kind of feature is not new new (it’s been possible to use a tablet as an external monitors for a while, even on Linux), what is new is that all of relevant pieces to make this work are now baked into GNOME desktop.

Meaning it’s deliciously easy to set-up — so let’s look at how.

How to Enable Virtual Monitors in GNOME

You can connect multiple virtual displays

To follow along you need to be using Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or above, or a Linux distribution based on GNOME 42 or later. The backend pieces to support virtual monitors in GNOME are not present in earlier versions of the desktop.

Note: I tested this in an Ubuntu Wayland session but it will work with legacy X11/Xorg too.

Step 1: Open a Terminal window and run this command: –

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.remote-desktop.rdp screen-share-mode extend

This command is needed to enable extendable virtual monitors over RDP. For now, there’s no GUI toggle as the is not considered polished enough for the masses to make use of yet. That said, I’ve used it for a while and it works well enough for daily usage.

Step 2: Enable Remote Desktop sharing in GNOME, in the following way:

  • On Ubuntu 22.04 LTS go to Settings > Sharing and turn on Sharing. Then, when the option appears, turn on Remote Desktop. Set a username and password to enable you to securely connect from your tablet/phone.
  • On Ubuntu 24.04 LTS go to Settings > System and click on the Remote Desktop entry. On the page that slides in (make sure Desktop Sharing tab is selected) turn on Desktop Sharing. Set up a username and password.

Step 3: Install an RDP client app on your tablet or smartphone and connect to your Ubuntu desktop through it.

I use Microsoft’s free Remote Desktop Mobile (available for Android and iOS) to connect to Ubuntu from my iPad. I simply enter my IP1 address, the login credentials I set above, and click ‘connect’. A second or so later, I’m connected.

Other RDP apps may need/ask for other information too, like a computer hostname or port number. In Ubuntu 24.04 LTS both of those details are shown in the Remote Desktop sharing page in the Settings app, so note them down if needed.

Step 4: Once you’re connected to your desktop through an RDP app you can go back to your Ubuntu machine and open Settings > Display. Reposition your virtual monitor, set a screen resolution, and apply any other adjustments (if possible) to perfect your setup.

Any multi-monitor behaviours you’ve tweaked elsewhere (e.g., ‘show dock on all monitors’) will also be respected by your virtual monitors, which is handy.

That’s it; you can now use your tablet or iPad as an external monitor!

A few caveats

While this feature is cool — no, it is — keep in mind that RDP is a slow protocol.

Even with the world’s fastest internet connection the resulting experience won’t be fast enough to let you to use your iPad as, say, a virtual playback monitor for video editing, watching movies, or gaming as frame rate/lag will rear its head.

Also, this is just a virtual monitor, not a new input device. You can’t use touch on your tablet to interact with Ubuntu apps or the desktop UI, or use another input, like an Apple Pencil or stylus, to interact with apps.

Finally, when you’re not using RDP to connect I recommend turning off remote desktop in the Settings app. It’s unlikely anyone nearby would be able to access your computer without your knowledge, but a bit of risk reduction never hurts.

Let me know what you think of this!

  1. To find your IP in Ubuntu go to Settings > Network, click the cog icon next to the active network, and find your IP in the ‘Details’ pane. ↩︎