Devices and passcode
Seeing which screens are connected, and keeping other people's out with a passcode.
Downstage 0.9.0 · updated 13 Oct 2026Passcode
On your own router, in your own rehearsal room, you do not need one. On a venue's Wi-Fi, anybody who finds the address could open the controller and press Stop. A passcode prevents that.
Set it
Open Backstage › Devices & passcode on the Mac that runs Downstage, type a passcode of at least four characters and press Set.
It can only be set, changed or turned off on that Mac — never from an iPad or a phone. Otherwise a stranger on the network could set one and lock you out of your own show.
What happens next
- Every other device is shown a This show is locked screen until the passcode is typed in. That includes band view devices.
- A device that has unlocked is remembered, and is not asked again.
- The Mac itself is never asked. Whoever is sitting at the laptop already has Ableton in front of them.
Change it or turn it off
Set a new one in the same place, or press Turn off. Changing the passcode asks every other device for the new one.
The passcode decides who can connect. To stop your own hand tapping the wrong thing on your own iPad, use Lock.
Connected now
The same tab lists every screen that has the show open at this moment:
| This computer | The Downstage window on the Mac. |
| iPad, iPhone, Android… | What kind of device it appears to be, and its address on the network. |
| Stage or Band view · read only | Whether it can control the show. |
An iPad often describes itself to websites as a Mac, so it may be listed as Mac or iPad. The list is there to answer "is the drummer's phone connected?" — it is for looking at, and nothing in it can be changed from here.
The address of the read-only band view is shown under the list, ready to read out.