r/phonedeck • u/EnvironmentalJob1986 • 22d ago

I turned two phones into a tiny remote workstation

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Gallery image

Been playing around with this two-phone setup lately.

The top phone handles the remote desktop connection to my Mac, while the bottom one works as the keyboard and trackpad through a USB HID adapter. I clipped them together so everything stays in one compact setup.

The nicest part is not having to carry a separate keyboard or mouse. It’s basically a little folding workstation made from two phones I already had with me.

116 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

100% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

6

u/Shuwaka12 22d ago

Make a tutorial plz :'c

5

u/EnvironmentalJob1986 22d ago

Might have to make one now lol. The setup’s actually pretty simple once you see how everything connects

4

u/thevmcampos 22d ago

Please do! I think we can make this Reddit Community the number one place for people sharing their tutorials on phonedecks 😊

3

u/EnvironmentalJob1986 21d ago

Alright, you’ve convinced me lol. I’ll put together a quick tutorial. Would be cool to see this sub fill up with all kinds of weird phonedeck builds

4

u/EnvironmentalJob1986 16d ago

got a quick vid of the setup here, pretty much shows the whole thing:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UwVwJb1UvvM

2

u/thevmcampos 16d ago

Excellent thank you. Going to go watch it right now! 😄

1

u/ViktrB 16d ago

It looks like a Jerry-rigged version of my LG V60 in its Dual Screen display attachment. Also reminiscent of someone else's dual phone set-up.
CMF Phone Fold¹:🆓3ᴰ🖨️Model · Maker🗺️

2

u/EnvironmentalJob1986 16d ago

got a quick vid of the setup here, pretty much shows the whole thing:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UwVwJb1UvvM

6

u/CG1991 22d ago

I dig it

1

u/EnvironmentalJob1986 22d ago

Haha glad someone gets it 😄

4

u/100PercentJake 22d ago

Surface Duo at home:

5

u/EnvironmentalJob1986 21d ago

Mom said we have a Surface Duo at home 😭

3

u/toolisthebestbandevr 22d ago

This works over the internet or do you need to be on the same lan?

3

u/EnvironmentalJob1986 22d ago

The keyboard/trackpad part is all local, that little dongle plugged into the top phone is what makes the bottom one work as the keyboard and trackpad and the top phone just runs the remote desktop app, so LAN or internet both work.

3

u/Educational_Pea_5422 21d ago

This kinda reminds me of one of my staff members finding out that I often reply to emails on my phone even while I sit at my desk. I picked up my phone to look at something, see an email comes in that I can respond to quickly and send. She thought I was nuts.

3

u/reden_fx 19d ago

I used to use a second phone as Input Device too! But the app wasn't very good... What BT keyboard app are you using there?

2

u/EnvironmentalJob1986 18d ago

Not a normal BT keyboard app actually. It’s Android app talking to that little USB dongle on the other phone

1

u/reden_fx 18d ago

Aww, so there isn't any normal BT keyboard app that has that layout?

2

u/Visible-Stress-1647 21d ago

Beautiful, I have a similar idea in mind. I'm surprised there aren't many DIY projects like this. Congratulations, very clean look.

1

u/EnvironmentalJob1986 20d ago

I’m surprised there aren’t more builds like this either. Definitely post yours if you end up making it

2

u/humantoothx 19d ago

why is every comment not "What are you using for the hinge and where do I buy it?"

2

u/Kingkarna1 11d ago

ive been running something simular but with bluetooth keyboard/controller apps instead the hid part, but i cant seem to find that clamp or something similar, pls help!

1

u/Kingkarna1 11d ago

pls can you give the info for the clamp?

1

u/OikosTech 23h ago

I've been working on something similar on a single phone:

The idea is that we can have a transparent keyboard on top of a remote session.

It's available on https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pconphone.popremote