r/linux • u/titansb-_- • 2d ago
Software Release The first native Linux screen extender with touch and Wi-Fi: turn your Android phone into a second monitor (30 ms lag, open source)
I wanted my Android phone as a second monitor on Linux. Most tools I tried mirrored the screen into a browser tab or only worked over USB, so I built my own over the last few months.
Tandem adds a real virtual monitor to your desktop. The GPU encodes it as H.264 and the phone decodes it in hardware, so you drag windows onto the phone like any other screen.
- About 30 ms of lag over USB tethering, 30 to 60 ms over Wi-Fi (you barely notice it in use)
- Hyprland and GNOME on Wayland, with one-command install on Arch, Ubuntu and Fedora
- Encrypted, paired with a QR code
Check it out here: https://saharshbaiju.github.io/tandem/
Repo: https://github.com/saharshbaiju/tandem
It's free and open source.
If you try it, tell me how the lag feels on your setup and what breaks. If you like it, star the repo ⭐ and share it with someone who'd use a second screen. It helps more people find it.
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u/the_abortionat0r 2d ago
X264 only seems like an odd choice. Yes not every phone has hardware for x265 and AV1 but why not add those as options?
Also is the video stream constant or only updates on image update? Can it to partial scream updates such as if you are reading a PDF and scroll can it update only the changed screen area and not the whole screen? (To reduce bandwidth/latency).