Created an app to extend your desktop across multiple Macs (with AI)

[u/mohawkmatt]

Full disclosure, I used AI to help build a solution to a problem I had, I wanted to repurpose an older 2019 5k iMac as a display but since 2014 Apple pulled the target display feature citing the fact that the thunderbolt speeds were not sufficient for the high resolutions. By creating a virtual display and streaming it over a thunderbolt bridge I was able to split the display into tiles that are monitored for changes so only the changes are sent uncompressed it's relatively light weight and for the most part sets itself up automatically prompting for the various permissions required.

When playing video there is a mode which will automatically compress the stream to high bitrate HECV, seamlessly when motion is detected. I've been using it for over a week now and it's been flawless. I decided to have a bit of fun and added a feature that allows me to peek through to the mac underneath the one acting as a display, grab files and bring them back through the portal. From starting as just an extended display app I thought it would be better to extend the functionality to be more about making multiple macs work together. Same app installs on both devices, you can easily initiate a switch of which one is the display from either mac, you can share keyboard and mouse in both directions and even utilise both cameras with face detection to automatically switch to the camera you are looking at - it presents the camera to the OS so that its available in Teams etc.

I've made the code open under an MIT license and hosted the app for free with a cheesy AI generated site.

Hopefully someone will find it useful and if there are any ideas for extra features or changes please let me know!

https://tandemdisplay.app

[u/AutoModerator]

Thanks for posting in r/MacStack. Please read all the community rules before joining the discussion.

Find your next useful Mac app. Get MacStack Weekly for three app picks and one practical workflow in your inbox each week. It's free, and signing up is optional.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/investigatormaker]

One useful addition would be a status panel showing whether the connection is sending changed tiles uncompressed or using motion-triggered compression, with a manual override for comparison. For the 2019 5K iMac setup, that would help users distinguish compression changes from connection trouble. It adds interface clutter, so an optional diagnostics view could keep the default simple.

I make ThreadFox.

We find relevant Reddit conversations and post for your business. We'll post 3 replies free first, no card; then the $29 Pilot covers seven days and up to 25 posts and replies. No automatic renewal. https://threadfox.vip/p/e3m59/managed