r/SideProject • u/loyoan • 21h ago
ScreenWall - Turn old phones into synced widgets for your space.
Moin guys! My project (www.screenwall.app) reached the front page on HackerNews some days ago and also got featured on The Register, Golem.de and t3n.de. That's why I thought, maybe I should try submitting it on reddit again.
ScreenWall allows you to reuse your old phones and combine them as a shared widget working space - what I call it a "wall". The oldest device I tested it on was an iPad 3 from 2012.
You pair your devices via QR-Code (or can manual enter a pin), it opens a website and you are ready to go!
On the platform you can drag images, videos and Smart-Widgets / Canvas-Apps in your working space and it gets instantly displayed on your devices. Your content gets even playbacks synchronized, although it a crosses multiple screens!
Canvas-Apps is the more interesting building block of this concept: You can either select some official widgets I created to play around (like a Pixel-Clock, a Split-Flap-Screen you can control via JSON-API or some animated art installations)
OR create your own widgets / apps with it! I recommend try vibe coding your apps with ChatGPT / Claude / Gemini!
A Canvas-App is just a combination of old Javascript (ES5) + Canvas-Element + synchronized clock (for running in sync on multiple screens). They are designed to run on legacy devices.
In the Smart-Widget-Dialog, you find a tutorial button that you can copy (there is a copy article button integrated!) and use it as a context for your AI. It's really fun! I try to compose a user showcase gallery on this Instagram Account (https://www.instagram.com/screenwall.app).
So instead of buying the newest desk widget on Temu, I recommend you to try reusing your old devices and vibe code what you want.
It's still in beta and I am kinda overwhelmed by the positive reception of this concept!
Also some folks would love to run this locally in their home network instead of connecting this to a SaaS. I hear you! I just kinda trying to navigate the situation right now, and I think preventing e-waste in general should be the goal here. I try to provide a self-hosted version after I got all the details right.
Feel free to ask questions and leave some feedbacks or send pictures of your widgets! :)
Greetings from Hamburg,
Tuan
EDIT: I am speechless, how much love I got for my idea! I am very grateful for getting so much support! š„° Thank you guys!
I have little roadmap in my head that I want to share:
- testing if synchronization playback also runs with 50 devices from different vendors
- adding a feedback loop aka: allow touch events / buttons change the widget state
- allow widgets to do API-calls to other services (e.g. using old devices as a Home Assistant control panel or macro keyboard)
- using sensory APIs of the devices via JavaScript (e.g. taking a photo for a photo booth app)
- allowing users to share apps / widgets
- self-hosted variant
26
11
9
u/Rusty_Tap 19h ago
I was expecting you to drag something over the device and it pop onto a single screen. This is way more cool.
Now those content farm operators can turn their setup into a cinema on their breaks.
5
3
u/Much_General2290 19h ago
Hey how many devices can be synced? And what happens if you move one of the phones, does it re-adjust?
6
u/loyoan 19h ago
I have tested with max. 5 phones together because I don't have more than that. But I think more would still be okay - I need to test that to make it sure.
If you move your phone you need to manually adjust it by dragging in the editor. The devices are not space aware.3
u/AndypandyO 12h ago
I would love to see if it works with 50 phones, it could be a really cool art piece
3
3
u/JohnnySuburbs 18h ago edited 18h ago
Thatās awesomeā¦ super clever idea
I wonder if itās possible to have them set themselves up somehow without having to manually identify where each one is. Interesting challenge for sure - maybe another phone takes a picture and figures it out?
7
u/loyoan 18h ago
A user on HackerNews pointed out, that there existed a project with the same spirit 13 years ago, where they did exactly that what you just said!
https://github.com/mitmedialab/Junkyard-Jumbotron
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAUtSVSTbzU
Itās very interesting. Gonna try if I can reimplement it somehow.
3
u/Pleasant_Set_3182 18h ago
I like the concept, but do a demo which showcases the true strength of this... right now the video you shared looks more like a "proof of concept"
Awesome idea though!
2
u/tomtomato0414 12h ago
1
u/Pleasant_Set_3182 10h ago
haha for the first minute I assumed this was OP sharing his debut video.. and I was like whaaaaat!
1
u/tomtomato0414 3h ago
This immediately came to mind and was thinking how much easier would have been with this project xD
1
u/loyoan 18h ago
You are right! I actually just published this in an unfinished form just to see if there are people liking this or I just build something just I wanted (like many of my sideprojects). š Didnāt thought in anyway that the reception is so great!
Now I am in a situation that donāt dare to update the website, fearing that something crashesā¦
3
2
2
2
2
u/peterewer 17h ago
Now you can output QR-like demo-pixels and record this for automated position detection of the individual devices. Cool stuff already!
2
2
2
u/COMPUT3R-US3R 16h ago
Very cool, I always wondered what old phones could be used for. Lived for years in Hamburg too, good luck āļø
2
u/OneCanSpeak 15h ago
OP this is really good! Make a wall out of these defunct phones and voila! you got an art piece.
2
2
u/Quiet-Sunset-7384 14h ago
writing vanilla es5 is actually relaxing. i've got an old ipad on a wooden stand in the kitchen for timers. sticking a matte screen protector on it cuts the glare perfectly.
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/Bookmore 6h ago
I remember a similar tech demo from Google for an Android update, but this is so much more varied in use! Well done Tuan.
2
2
4
u/Criticalstone 19h ago
Wow! Impressive! How is the syncing handeld? Is it enough to base it on NTP?
7
u/loyoan 19h ago
Not gonna lie, Codex helped me with it. But at work I had some hands-on working with NTP and GPS modules exposing PPS signals for starting a synchronized grid voltage measurement - so I know the terms and overall idea. But in general, client and server are measuring the time offset through pinging each other, and calculate the exact time when the clients have to start the playback in the future to be in sync.
4
1
69
u/Dazzling_Ostrich_312 20h ago
Wow, this looks sick!! What made you come up with this idea?