OS - macOS
Getting Started with macOSWelcome to using Phidgets with macOS! If you are ready to go, the first step in creating macOS applications with Phidgets is installing our libraries. |
Install
To install our libraries, download the installer for your system:
- OS X 10.9+: Installer Download
- Mac OS X 10.5 - OS X 10.8: Legacy Installer Download
Before installing our libraries, be sure to read our Software License.
Next, open up the installer, and double click on Phidgets.pkg to install the libraries:
When prompted, continue with the installation:
If you are using OS X 10.13 or newer you will also need to give explicit permission for the driver to function. You can read about this here[1].
The Phidgets libraries are now installed on your machine. Next, let's verify that the Phidget libraries are working properly.
Verify
The best way to verify that your libraries are working properly is to use the Phidget Control Panel. The Phidget Control Panel is a powerful tool that will help you develop your Phidgets applications. Get started by following the instructions below:
Open Finder and navigate to the Phidget Control Panel in the Applications list:
Double click on the Phidgets icon to bring up the Phidget Control Panel. You can now see all the Phidgets that are plugged into your machine, as well as any Phidgets that are on the network:
Click on the arrow beside a device to expand it so that you can see all available channels. Double click on one of these channels to open up a window that lets you interact with it.
The Phidget Control Panel can be used for testing devices, updating firmware, enabling a network server, and more! Visit the Phidget Control Panel page if you want to delve a little deeper.
Your Phidget is now able to communicate with your development machine. The next step is selecting a programming language so you can start to write some code!
Programming
Ready to write some code? Select one of the programming languages below:
| Core Languages | Mobile Languages | Other Languages |
 C# |
 Objective C |
 LabVIEW
|
 C/C++ |
 Swift |
 Max/MSP
|
 Python
|
 Android Java
| |
 Java
| ||
 Visual Basic .NET
| ||
 JavaScript
|
Phidget Network Server
The Phidget Network Server is an extremely useful feature of Phidgets that allows you to remotely control Phidgets over your network. If you haven't already, check out the Phidget Network Server page for a complete overview.
Try it out!
In order to try the Phidget Network Server out, you will need a host computer, and a client computer:
- Host computer: the computer that is physically connected to the Phidgets via USB and is running the Phidget Network Server.
- Client computer: a computer running a Phidgets application that accesses Phidgets connected to the host computer.
If you only have one computer, don't worry, your machine can act as both a host and a client.
Next, open the Phidget Control Panel on your host computer. Do this by double-clicking on the 
icon in your applications folder. Navigate to the Network Server tab, you will see the following:
From here, you can start or stop the Network Server. You can also decide when the Network Server will start.
Check the automatic start box and enter a server name. By enabling automatic startup, the Network Server will run immediately after macOS boots, so you won't have to manually start it again. You can verify the Network Server is running by looking at the label beside the start/stop button.
Now that you have the Network Server running on your host computer, the next step will be accessing the Phidgets connected to your host computer from your client computer. Follow the steps below:
Open the Phidget Control Panel on your client computer. You will see something like this:
As you can see from the image above, Phidget servers are listed under the following heading:
- Remote Server: Servername
You now have access to the Phidgets that are connected to your host computer. Try double-clicking one of them to bring up an example:
Note the label in the example indicating a remote connection. This means the example is using the Network Server in order to communicate with the Phidget.
What's next?
Now that you have seen the Network Server in action, you may be interested in implementing an application that takes advantage of all it's features. Luckily, every programming language we support comes with example code on how to do this! Jump to programming languages above.
For more information about the Network Server tab on the Phidget Control Panel, visit the Visit the Phidget Control Panel page.
Advanced Information
Installed Files
These files were placed onto your system as part of the installation process:
| File | Description | Location |
| Phidget22.framework | contains our library, which is used at run-time. | /Library/Frameworks |
| Phidget.kext | kernel extension. | /System/Library/Extensions |
| phidgetnetworkserver22 | Phidget Network Server | /usr/local/bin |
Older Versions
If you need older versions of the macOS libraries, click here.
