How to Run a Whatnot Show From an iPad: Phone for the Camera, iPad for Everything Else

Whatnot lets you host from two devices: your phone is the camera, your iPad runs the show. The setup step by step, plus bins, labels and a manifest on the iPad.

You can run a Whatnot show from an iPad with Backstage Live for Whatnot. Whatnot lets you host a show with two devices: one is the camera, the other runs the show. Many sellers already do the first half with a phone on a stand. The question is what the second device should be. If it is an iPad running Backstage, it is not just a controller; it is the whole backstage, and there is no laptop anywhere on the table.

Here is the setup, start to finish.

What Whatnot supports

Whatnot’s two-device hosting works like this (from Whatnot’s help center as of October 21, 2026): you start the show on your first device, which becomes the camera for the whole stream, then you open the same live show on a second device, which becomes the controller. Whatnot’s guidance is to create listings, run auctions, pin items and start giveaways from the controller so you never touch the camera. The second device can be any device that runs the Whatnot app or whatnot.com, and Whatnot’s own tip is to turn its volume all the way down so it does not echo into your microphone.

An iPad is the natural controller. With Backstage on it, the controller also does the packing-room work while you sell.

Before the show

Prep your listings on the iPad. Backstage Prep lives inside the same app. Draft a whole batch of listings with photos, categories, conditions and shipping profiles, and push them to Whatnot in a single CSV that matches Whatnot’s own template. Sellers who list on the fly with random pulls can skip this.

Run the Quick check. Open Backstage and look at the card headed “Before you go live.” It shows four lines: printer connected, Backstage signed in, Whatnot signed in, and bins ready. The last two wait for your tap rather than guessing. Clear all four and you are ready.

Practice once, if it’s new to you. Whatnot’s Rehearsal Mode runs a pretend show with demo products and test buyers, so you can learn pinning and auctions with nobody watching. It’s in the Whatnot app under Seller Hub, the menu in the top right, Settings, then Rehearsal Mode; brand-new sellers may not see it until after their first show. To rehearse the two-device setup itself, Whatnot suggests a private show. Just know that purchases in a private show are real and buyers are charged, and anyone with the link can join.

Set up bins. A bin is wherever a buyer’s things go while you sell: a numbered tote, a slot on the rack, a shelf, a sticky note on a pile. Backstage gives each buyer a number on their first win and every later win lands in the same bin. The bin system guide has the details.

Going live

1. Start the show on your phone. Open Whatnot on the phone, go to Seller Hub, open the show and start it. The phone is now the camera. Put it on the stand.
2. Open the show on the iPad. In Backstage, tap Open Whatnot. Whatnot runs inside the app. Go to your profile, open the Shows tab and tap the show that’s live. You’re joined as the second device, controlling the show from the tablet.
3. Tap Start show in Backstage, then Start my show on the card that opens. You can set tonight’s goal on that card too. From here Backstage rides along and catches every sale, giveaway and raid the second it happens.
4. Turn the iPad’s volume down. Whatnot’s own tip for two devices, so the tablet’s audio does not feed back into your phone’s microphone.

During the show

• Every sale lands on the iPad with the buyer’s name, the item, the price and, on most sales, a screenshot. The sales tracker guide lists everything recorded on each one.
• Each buyer gets a bin number on their first win and keeps it. First-time buyers get a star so you can welcome them. Pending payments are flagged so nothing ships early.
• Labels print from the tablet if you set up a printer, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Set Auto-print labels to Bin only for one label as each buyer’s bin opens, or Every sale for that plus a label per item. No helper app, no laptop. If the printer drops mid-show, the app keeps reconnecting, and labels that didn’t print wait and print by themselves when it’s back.
• Giveaway winners, raids and tips each become a card, so you thank the right person by name while they are still in the chat. The giveaway and raid tracker guide covers what happens to each.
• A packer can follow along on the live board you share by link, on any device, with no login.

Ending the show

Tap End Show and Save Manifest. Backstage confirms, warns that it will clear the bins and items for the next show, and saves the manifest: every buyer, every bin, every item, with totals. You also get your Show wrapped scorecard, with your goal, your best hour and any new records, and a Share my show picture for your socials that shows counts only, never dollars or buyer names. The show lands in your portal recap with real net after Whatnot’s fees, gross, and item counts. Then raid out from the phone as usual, and go to Seller Hub for your shipping labels when you pack. If shipping on Whatnot is new to you, Whatnot shipping for sellers covers who pays and what it costs.

If you sell for other people, the consignment tools on Pro split each sale to the right consignor from that same show, on the same iPad.

What you need

• An iPhone on a stand, for the camera.
• An iPad on iPadOS 16 or newer, or an iPhone, for Backstage. Older A-series iPads from the 8th generation up run it comfortably.
• Backstage Live for Whatnot from the App Store, on the Plus plan, with a 7-day free trial.
• Optional: a Bluetooth thermal label printer and labels: 2 by 1 is the classic bin sticker, and 3 by 2, 4 by 6 and five other sizes are available. Backstage has printed from the iPad on the Jadens JD-268BT, Nelko PL70E and Rongta RP425. (Affiliate links: as an Amazon Associate, Backstage earns from qualifying purchases.) Or a Wi-Fi label printer: since version 1.42 the app can print to Brother QL printers, like the QL-820NWB, and to Rollo and other AirPrint label printers on the same Wi-Fi.

Next steps

• Every job in one place: Whatnot seller tools, from sales capture and bins to labels and packing.
• What to buy, by job: the Whatnot seller toolkit, from label printers and bins to mailers and lights.
• Labels without a computer: the Whatnot auto label printer and bin sorter.
• The two-minute first show: iPad quickstart.
• Get the app: Backstage Live for Whatnot.