# Edit together in apps that have no collaboration feature

> Your favorite writing, editing or design app has no real-time collaboration. Here is how two people can still work in the same file at the same time, on one Mac screen.

Published November 5, 2026

Watch the 30-second demo: [Edit a document together in any Mac app](https://youtu.be/mb6QWl6tI_o).

**Short answer:** open the file on one Mac, share the screen in Pairio and let the other person type and click in it with their own mouse and keyboard. It works with any app, also the ones that were built for one person: writing apps, script editors, desktop publishing, music notation, older professional software. You get real-time collaboration without switching tools.

## The problem

Google Docs made real-time editing normal. But a lot of serious work happens in apps without it: a novel in a dedicated writing app, a screenplay in a script editor, a thesis in a LaTeX editor, a brochure in a layout program, a score in notation software. Working together there usually means emailing files back and forth, comments in the margin and long calls where one person reads aloud.

## How to do it with Pairio

1. **Agree whose Mac holds the file.** That person calls the other with one click.
2. **Share your screen** with the file open.
3. **Read and point.** The other person marks a passage with the pen: "this paragraph".
4. **Let them type.** They make the change with their own keyboard, directly in your file.
5. **Talk while you work.** Voice is built into the call, no separate phone call needed.
6. **Send extra material**, such as a reference image or a source file, during the call.

## Why this works

- **Any app, no plugin.** Pairio shares the screen, so the app does not need to support collaboration.
- **One file, one version.** No more file_final_v3_edit.
- **Sharp text**, so you can read a manuscript at its normal size.
- **Hide the rest.** App Mask keeps Mail and Messages out of view.

## When Pairio is not the right choice

- You want to work on the same text at different times. Then use track changes or a shared document.
- You want to write in the same file at the same moment in two different places of the document. Pairio shares one screen, so you work on one spot together.

## Questions people ask

**Does my co-author need the same app?** No. They work in the app on your Mac.

**Does my co-author need a Mac?** No. They can join from their browser and type in the file on your Mac.

**Which apps does it work with?** All of them. Pairio shares your whole screen.

**What does it cost?** Each person gets 10 hours per month for free, with every feature. Pro is $15 per month.