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ScreenWall – Turn old phones into synced widgets for your space

screenwall.app

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Re: ScreenWall – Turn old phones into synced widgets for your space

#21

Post by prmoustache »

gonzalohm wrote: post #16
prmoustache wrote: post #4

Usually 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. Even if I was replacing smartphone before they died, I would probably sell them anyway. Do people really have various phones in working order waiting in a drawer?

Usually I replace my phone when the battery is almost dead and a full charge doesn't last more than a few hours. At that point the phone is usable but not good enough to sell. I usually keep it as an emergency backup phone

For some reason I tend to break screens way before the battery dies usually. I am not afraid to replace a battery or even a screen if phone is not totally out of date. Having said that there seems to always be a point when they start acting semi eratically or stop booting.

I had a totally outdated and probably insecure Samsung S6 edge 2 years ago that started rebooting randomly. I think that prior to that it was so old I could only install stuff from f-droid and aurora because roots certs installed on that old android version were too old for playstore to work. Too bad as you can't easily find smartphones in similar sizes anymore.

Knocking on wood my pixel 6a still going strong after 2 years.

Re: ScreenWall – Turn old phones into synced widgets for your space

#22

Post by pmontra »

prmoustache wrote: post #4

Usually 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. Even if I was replacing smartphone before they died, I would probably sell them anyway. Do people really have various phones in working order waiting in a drawer?

I never sell anything, everything finds a new life.

I got a Sony Xperia Compact from maybe 2016. I use it as a bicycle navigator / recorder. Recently it stopped reading SIMs, probably rusty contacts, but all I need is wifi to update OSMAnd and send me the tracks I recorded.

I also have a very old tablet, maybe 2014. My SO uses it to view movies with VLC and TV via TVHeadend.

Re: ScreenWall – Turn old phones into synced widgets for your space

#24

Post by inigyou »

khurs wrote: post #17
JackMorgan wrote: post #10

I've wanted to build this myself for a long time but couldn't figure out how to overcome the spicy pillow problem. Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree, but I thought it was risky to leave a phone plugged in all the time. Does it need to be a modern version of Android OS that has the smart charging that stops at like 85%?

>I thought it was risky to leave a phone plugged in all the time I have had phones on a charging dock for long periods. No issues. Unless you have some budget small brand phone that was too cheap to be true, most phones are fine plugged in.

It's a statistical thing. Most phones don't explode their batteries. When you have a hundred or a thousand together, the chance that at least one has a battery explosion starts to reach concerning levels and you ask what you can do to avoid it.

Re: ScreenWall – Turn old phones into synced widgets for your space

#25

Post by jolmg »

NordStreamYacht wrote: post #15
cydodon wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The safest option is probably to remove the battery and run the phone from a (well defined/build) external power source, e.g. like this: https://yaky.dev/2022-09-06-smartphone-without-battery/

Not all phones work without a battery in the case.

The link provided by cydodon is about emulating a battery.

Re: ScreenWall – Turn old phones into synced widgets for your space

#26

Post by t-3 »

khurs wrote: post #17
JackMorgan wrote: post #10

I've wanted to build this myself for a long time but couldn't figure out how to overcome the spicy pillow problem. Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree, but I thought it was risky to leave a phone plugged in all the time. Does it need to be a modern version of Android OS that has the smart charging that stops at like 85%?

>I thought it was risky to leave a phone plugged in all the time I have had phones on a charging dock for long periods. No issues. Unless you have some budget small brand phone that was too cheap to be true, most phones are fine plugged in.

I left my ~$1k OnePlus phone on the wireless charger for after ATT told me I couldn't use it and forced their spyware Samsung phone on me, The battery puffed up after about a year.

Re: ScreenWall – Turn old phones into synced widgets for your space

#27

Post by mannykannot »

prmoustache wrote: post #4

Usually 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. Even if I was replacing smartphone before they died, I would probably sell them anyway. Do people really have various phones in working order waiting in a drawer?

I take my previous phone kayaking. Once I have downloaded the appropriate maps over wifi, I can use it for navigation, logging and photography without being worried by the prospect of dropping it in the water.

Re: ScreenWall – Turn old phones into synced widgets for your space

#29

Post by buibuibui »

TheJCDenton wrote: post #20

Congrats, this looks very cool! I haven't tested it yet, but is it possible to make it work offline? I'd prefer devices running unsupported or unmaintained operating systems to avoid Internet access altogether.

I see you. I am thinking about providing a self-hosted version.

Re: ScreenWall – Turn old phones into synced widgets for your space

#30

Post by darkwater »

buibuibui wrote: post #6

Oh wow, although I submitted it some days ago, I somehow got on the front page! Thanks for that! Also as a note: this platform is nowhere near finished! I had this idea in my mind for a long time that I wanted to reuse my old phones and tablets as displays in my home. I also know that finding the right apps for these old platforms is a challenge in itself, that's why I went the route of creating an ES5 (that nobody w…

Gotta get a lot of downvotes here but I don't care, I stand by my opinions: this is the best example that not all vibe-coded apps are "slop". If you have enough experience (or are smart enough to speed-run experience), good ideas, good attention to details and decent taste you can totally vibe-code cool things that are worth sharing. This true/false dichotomic attitude towards apps you see here from many HNers where "written by hand: good/vibe-coded: bad no matter what" really rubs me the wrong way.
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