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Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCloud photo album

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Re: Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCloud photo album

#31

Post by afavour »

acdha wrote: post #7

I’m mildly surprised that this isn’t an official product. I have half a dozen relatives I’d give “AirFrames” to if Apple made them or let a third party do it, especially if they had decent handling of Live Photos.

I wish Apple would let you do it with old iPads. I know there are apps you can use but it’s a notably inferior experience to a dedicated frame.

I have a second generation (I think) iPad mini that can barely run most web sites and has an OS version too old for most apps. Would be a great boost to Apple’s claims for caring about the environment.

Re: Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCloud photo album

#32

Post by FirmwareBurner »

rahimnathwani wrote: post #19

The device is running an Android app, rather than an OS and app optimized for an always-on device. I wonder whether the power consumption is much lower than that of a regular tablet?

Come on, Isn't Android, the mobile OS, optimized for always on devices?

Re: Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCloud photo album

#33

Post by afhfah834 »

To me the interesting part of an e-ink frame is that it wouldn't require any battery/cables (otherwise you might as well just get a regular digital frame)

I would love if there were a product where you just program the frame with a picture once by plugging it into your phone and using an app

Then you never worry about batteries/cables and you can always change the image later

To me that is the killer app

Re: Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCloud photo album

#36

Post by apwell23 »

paxys wrote: post #34

While I'm sure this is great as a nerd project, I can't imagine giving someone this as a gift over, say, a $30 digital picture frame which is better and more functional in basically every way.

what about battery life, picture that looks like a printed photo, a thin frame and something thats not yet another screen to look at.

Re: Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCloud photo album

#37

Post by k8svet »

Random memory/story, when I was a junior in highschool (so 2007), my friend and I coverted two old laptops to picture frames, using shallow shadow boxes.

I took Dillo? Linux, and customized the squashfs (or whatever it was at the time) to run a wifi setup script from outside the squashfs that configured wifi, connected as a samba to their desktop computer with photos in folders, and then would loop through photos with, feh, I think? Definitely my first real use of Linux and probably another pivotal moment in setting me up for the 16 years since then.

Thing ran up until a few years ago when the home wifi got replaced with Unifi and the house got re-decorated. I think I even took the CF drive (because yes, I even got CF->IDE adapters) out and imaged it about 6 months ago, for nostalgia's sake. Anyway, this is a super neat project - re-used hardware, eink, and I'm getting to start to really appreciate glancing around and thinking of friends/memories. And though I know I'd end up giving it away if I built one, I am regretting giving away my old Kindle now!

Re: Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCloud photo album

#38

Post by CharlesW »

afavour wrote: post #31
acdha wrote: post #7

I’m mildly surprised that this isn’t an official product. I have half a dozen relatives I’d give “AirFrames” to if Apple made them or let a third party do it, especially if they had decent handling of Live Photos.

I wish Apple would let you do it with old iPads. I know there are apps you can use but it’s a notably inferior experience to a dedicated frame. I have a second generation (I think) iPad mini that can barely run most web sites and has an OS version too old for most apps. Would be a great boost to Apple’s claims for caring about the environment.

> I know there are apps you can use but it’s a notably inferior experience to a dedicated frame.

Can you elaborate on how it's inferior? I was thinking of doing this and imagined it'd be straightforward with Single App Mode.

Re: Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCloud photo album

#39

Post by robluxus »

> iCloud photo albums have no API. However, if you share an iCloud photo album to a public link [...]

How do folks feel about the security vs. convenience aspect of this? I almost talked myself into doing this for our shared family albums, but I know I really shouldn't do it.

Some of our older family members run Windows and iCloud sharing is just horrible there. Basically, the photos keep disappearing from their computer. It looks like we're not the only one with the issue: https://www.reddit.com/r/iCloud/comments/150nq4i/icloud_wind...

Re: Building an e-ink picture frame that displays an iCloud photo album

#40

Post by fnordpiglet »

paxys wrote: post #34

While I'm sure this is great as a nerd project, I can't imagine giving someone this as a gift over, say, a $30 digital picture frame which is better and more functional in basically every way.

As a parent your perception of value changes. I would much rather have a pile of garbage my daughter spent hours creating than something drop shipped from China at any price point or functionality. I can imagine the authors parents showing all their friends and family the frame their nerd child made for them and explaining that while it’s not as functional as the $30 frame from China their child made it from a used nook and was so excited about how it uses e-something that uses less battery or something.

The $30 frame would go in the corner until the plug unseated and then a few years later into a drawer.

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