Nearby devices

What is remotepairingd?

Q: Why is CoreDeviceService shown as CoreDeviceServi?

nettop and Kilobat show at most 15 characters of a process name.

remotepairingd, remoted and CoreDeviceService connect the Mac to devices you paired with it, such as an iPhone for Xcode. Their traffic goes to those devices on your network.

Process: remotepairingdAlso seen as: remoted, CoreDeviceService, usbmuxdMade by AppleApplies to: macOS 14 Sonoma and later. CoreDeviceService comes with Xcode's device support. Checked on macOS 27.2.Checked: 1 November 2026

Short answer

Part of macOS and Xcode's device support. They find and talk to paired iPhones and iPads, mostly on the local network.

Block with care

Blocking them doesn't save internet data. Xcode's wireless installs and debugging, and other paired-device features, stop.

Path: /Library/Apple/System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/RemotePairing.framework/Versions/A/XPCServices/remotepairingd.xpc/Contents/MacOS/remotepairingd /usr/libexec/remoted /Library/Developer/PrivateFrameworks/CoreDevice.framework/Versions/A/XPCServices/CoreDeviceService.xpc/Contents/MacOS/CoreDeviceService /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/MobileDevice.framework/Versions/A/Resources/usbmuxd
launchd label: com.apple.remoted
Signing identifier: com.apple.CoreDevice.remotepairingd com.apple.remoted com.apple.CoreDevice.CoreDeviceService com.apple.usbmuxd

What it is

The man page calls remoted the “Remote Service Discovery daemon”. It “discovers remote devices and services”. It has no options, and users should not run it manually.

Apple publishes no man page for remotepairingd. Its path shows that it is part of the RemotePairing framework.

CoreDeviceService is in /Library/Developer/PrivateFrameworks/CoreDevice.framework. That folder holds the developer device support that Xcode uses.

The usbmuxd man page says that it manages communication with iOS devices over USB and Wi-Fi.

Apple's Xcode documentation says that Xcode can pair an iPhone or iPad wirelessly when it is on the same network as the Mac.

Why it uses the network

A paired device on the network. On a test Mac, lsof showed remotepairingd connected to an iPhone on the local network.
Xcode work with devices. Installing and debugging apps on a paired device moves the app and debug data to it.
Finding devices. remoted discovers remote devices and services. Its launchd services include CoreDevice and virtualization.

How much is normal

If you use Xcode with a device, or another feature that pairs devices, traffic to that device is expected.

On a developer's Mac with a paired iPhone, Kilobat recorded several gigabytes for each of these processes in one week. That traffic stayed on the local network.

Apple doesn't document what else uses these daemons. Treat large traffic as the work of the device that you paired.

When it uses a lot, and why

Installing a build on a device. Each run from Xcode sends the app to the device. Large apps, run often, add up.
Debugging and device logs. A debug session streams data between the Mac and the device for as long as it runs.

Is it safe to block?

Block with care

Blocking them doesn't save internet data. Xcode's wireless installs and debugging, and other paired-device features, stop.

What breaks if you block it

Xcode can't find, install to or debug a device over the network.
Other features that discover paired devices may stop. Apple doesn't document them all.

Blocking means a firewall rule that refuses its connections. Don’t quit or disable a macOS process to save data: macOS starts it again, and other features depend on it.

Reduce its use

Connect the device with a cable when you install or debug apps.
In Xcode, open Device Hub. Remove devices that you don't use any more.
Don't quit these processes in Activity Monitor. macOS starts them again.

See how much it uses

Open Activity Monitor from Applications › Utilities. Click Network, then search for remote and for CoreDevice.
In Terminal, list the connections of remotepairingd. The addresses show which device it talks to.
```
lsof -nP -i -a -c remotepairing
```

With Kilobat

In the Kilobat app list, search for remotepairingd. Its row shows the live rate and what it moved today.
In Connections, click the ⓘ button on one of its rows. The popover shows this page’s short answer, without going online.
In Terminal, ask the same question. Add --json for scripts and agents.
```
kilobat explain 'remotepairingd'
```
Show its traffic over one day.
```
kilobat bandwidth 'remotepairingd' day
```
Through MCP, an AI agent asks explain_connection with the process name. It gets the same facts.

The live view and the explanations are free. History in the app needs Kilobat Pro. Blocking needs Pro and the network filter: see the network filter, Protection and the hotspot data saver.

What isn’t documented

Apple publishes no man page for remotepairingd or CoreDeviceService. This page describes their paths, the remoted and usbmuxd man pages and what was observed on a test Mac.

Questions

Does remotepairingd use my internet data?

On the test Mac, its connections went to a device on the local network. Apple doesn't document all its connections.

Why is CoreDeviceService shown as CoreDeviceServi?

nettop and Kilobat show at most 15 characters of a process name.

Sources

remoted(8) and usbmuxd(8), man pages installed with macOS 27.2
launchd property list com.apple.remoted, macOS 27.2
lsof(8), man page installed with macOS 27.2
Apple Developer: Managing your simulated and physical devices in Device Hub

Checked on 1 November 2026.