IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

ScreenWall – Turn old phones into synced widgets for your space

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

1. Repurposing old devices as wall‑mounted displays

“I found an iPad 3 (2012) that works with ScreenWall as a widget display.” – buibuibui
“I like the wall position detection feature via markers!” – buibuibui

2. Why people replace their phones

“I replace a smartphone because it has some hardware fault that makes it unusable and it is hard to repair or the cost of repair vs capability is not very favorable.” – prmoustache
“I will upgrade when my device is many generations out of date… I have a heap of phones over the years that no one wants.” – NeuroWinter
“I replace my phone when the battery is almost dead and a full charge doesn’t last more than a few hours.” – gonzalohm

3. Safety and power concerns for always‑on phones

“The safest option is probably to remove the battery and run the phone from an external power source.” – cydodon
“I have had phones on a charging dock for long periods. No issues.” – khurs
“Auth is implemented via Better‑Auth. I stopped Codex immediately when he tried to implement the login stuff from scratch.” – buibuibui

🚀 Project Ideas

OldDash: Self-hosted Dashboard for Legacy Devices

Summary

  • Turn any old phone/tablet browser into a customizable dashboard/widget display without installing apps, works offline and LAN-only.
  • Core value: Zero‑install, ES5‑compatible web app with drag‑drop widgets (clock, weather, calendar, traffic, custom JSON) that runs on ancient browsers.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Hobbyists, home automation enthusiasts, owners of outdated smartphones/tablets
Core Feature Browser‑based dashboard with plug‑in widgets, configurable via simple JSON or UI, works offline on LAN
Tech Stack Vanilla ES5 JavaScript, HTML5/CSS3, optional WebSocket for live updates, Dockerized Node.js/Express backend
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • HN users expressed desire to reuse old phones as widgets (buibuibui: “I wanted to reuse my old phones and tablets as displays in my home… finding the right apps for these old platforms is a challenge”).
  • Enables offline, self‑hosted operation addressing concerns about login/account and data mining (davsti4: “why create an account mechanism… who's data are you mining?”).

KioskMate: Android Kiosk & Power‑Management Toolkit for Repurposed Phones

Summary

  • Provides a lightweight Android app that locks the device into a single‑app kiosk mode, disables battery charging, and enables remote ADB‑over‑Wi‑Fi management for safe, long‑term use as dedicated hardware (e.g., bike navigator, emergency backup, media player).
  • Core value: Extend the useful life of old phones by making them reliable, single‑purpose devices without risk of overcharging or unwanted background processes.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience DIYers, cyclists, emergency prep enthusiasts, anyone wanting to turn old Android phones into dedicated devices
Core Feature One‑tap kiosk launcher, optional charging‑control service (via sysfs), and a companion web UI for pushing URLs, files, or commands to the phone over LAN
Tech Stack Android Java/Kotlin (min SDK 16), Android AccessibilityService/Kiosk mode, optional Node.js server for ADB‑over‑TCP, Docker for server
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • Comments highlighted concerns about leaving phones plugged in (JackMorgan: “risky to leave a phone plugged in all the time”) and desire to use old phones for navigation/biking (mannykannot: “take my previous phone kayaking… use it for navigation”).
  • KioskMate addresses safety by allowing battery removal or charge‑limit, and offers offline LAN control, matching the wish for self‑hosted, no‑account solutions.

CanvasWall: Collaborative LAN‑First Shared Screen Widget Platform

Summary

  • A self‑hosted server that lets multiple old screens join a shared “wall” via a simple browser client, pushing images, video, GIFs, or a synced canvas; works entirely on LAN with optional internet‑free mode and QR‑code pairing.
  • Core value: Enables collaborative visual displays (art installations, home dashboards, flight‑sim cockpits) without accounts, data harvesting, or complex setup.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Makers, artists, home‑automation tinkerers, flight‑sim communities, educators
Core Feature LAN‑only WebSocket‑based canvas sharing with per‑widget JSON API, device pairing via QR code, optional persistence
Tech Stack Node.js/Express + Socket.io server, client ES5 vanilla JS/HTML5 canvas, Docker‑compose for deployment
Difficulty High
Monetization Hobby

Notes

  • buibuibui’s ScreenWall already shows enthusiasm (“Very cool… I’ve wanted to build this myself for a long time” – JackMorgan) and request for offline/self‑hosted version (TheJCDenton: “is it possible to make it work offline?”).
  • HN commenters also mentioned interest in art installations, home dashboards, train departure screens (buibuibui: “art installations, home dashboards and train departure info screens in mind”). CanvasWall directly serves those use‑cases while eliminating login/account concerns (davsti4, buibuibui: “account mechanism just used to scope the devices to walls… should maybe a self‑hostable tool”).

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