An old tablet becomes a Stream Deck for Windows

TabbyDeck turns any phone or tablet on your Wi-Fi into a grid of PC macro keys: music, volume, meetings, apps and shortcuts, with no app to install on the phone.

Can I build this?Beginner · AI 5/5 · $0

Difficulty: Beginner
AI-buildability: 5/5
Time: A weekend
Cost: $0

Tools

Windows PCPhone or tablet with a browser

Starter prompt

Based on "An old tablet becomes a Stream Deck for Windows" on Afterware: https://afterware.xyz/p/an-old-tablet-becomes-a-stream-deck-for-windows

Build a Stream Deck-style web controller that runs on a tablet browser and talks to a Windows PC over the local Wi-Fi network. Use Node.js for the PC host and a responsive grid of touch buttons served as a web page. Each button should send a configurable action such as play/pause, volume, or launching an app, and the first connection should require a six-digit pairing code approved on the PC.

Estimates based on the original write-up. How AI-buildability is scored. Building with an AI assistant? Connect it to Afterware (free MCP server).

Story

Pair a phone or tablet with a Windows PC and it becomes a Stream Deck. TabbyDeck serves a button grid to Chrome on Android or Safari on iPhone and iPad, so there is nothing to install on the phone and no account to make. Each key drives something on the PC: play or pause, a per-app volume mixer, mic mute, a brightness slider for each screen, or a whole set of apps opened at once.

The pairing is simple. The PC shows a code, the phone shows six digits, and you approve them on the PC. The editor on the computer lets you drag, resize and recolour keys, and the phone updates the moment you change something. Keys can be grouped into profiles that you swipe between, and a profile can switch on its own when a given app comes to the front.

Worth stealing for your own build: the whole thing is a web page on the phone, so an old tablet on a desk stand is enough. The source is Apache 2.0 and the release is a zip with an exe, so you can run it or read how the action engine talks to Windows.

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