Farpane
A second monitor
you already own.
Farpane turns your tablet or phone into a real extra monitor for your computer. Plug in the cable and your desktop carries on across it: drag windows over, draw with the pen, even play the sound there.
Plugged in. Connecting over USB
Not a window.
A monitor.
Farpane doesn't mirror a picture into an app. It asks GNOME for a new screen, and GNOME treats it like one you plugged in: windows move onto it, maximise on it and remember it.
Arranged like any screen
Put it on either side, pick its scale and orientation in Settings › Displays. Farpane chooses a sensible scale from the device's screen and remembers the side you put it on.
Sharp, at the device's own resolution
All 2560 × 1600 pixels on a tablet with that screen. A phone whose video chip can't take its whole screen in one go gets it in side-by-side pieces, so nothing is scaled down.
Smooth
Up to the device's refresh rate, with the video made by your computer's graphics chip. When the screen stands still, it sends almost nothing.
Its own speaker
Each device appears in GNOME's volume menu as a sound output. Pick it to hear the computer there; the volume slider and mute work on it.
Will it work for me?
Farpane works on Linux with GNOME today, which is the standard desktop on Fedora and Ubuntu. Pick what you have.
Set up once.
Then just plug in.
The first time takes a few minutes. After that, plugging the cable in opens Farpane on the device and connects it by itself.
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Install Farpane on your computer
One file for every Linux distribution with Flatpak. Open it in your software centre, or install it with one command.
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Install the app on your phone or tablet
Download it on the device itself. Android asks once whether your browser may install apps: allow it.
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Turn on USB debugging and plug in
It's a switch Android keeps hidden; Farpane needs it to reach the device over the cable.
- Settings › About phone › tap Build number seven times
- Settings › Developer options › turn on USB debugging
- Plug in and tap Allow on the device
No cable handy? Once a device has connected over USB, it's paired and can connect over Wi-Fi with no PIN. Without a cable at all, pair over Wi-Fi with the PIN on the computer's screen, then check that the code shown on both screens matches. Wi-Fi connections are always encrypted.
Touch it.
Draw on it.
The device isn't only a screen. Its touchscreen, pen and keyboard work on the computer, and you can switch how mid-stream from the menu behind the Back button.
Touch screen
Real multi-touch: tap, scroll, pinch and long-press work wherever the app on the computer supports them.
Trackpad
Or use the screen as a touchpad that follows your computer's own touchpad settings: tap to click, two fingers to scroll, gestures.
A pen with pressure
A drawing tablet for Krita, Xournal++ and other drawing apps, with pressure, tilt and the eraser. The side button right-clicks. Or let the pen work as a mouse.
Keyboard
The on-screen keyboard or a keyboard paired with the device types on the computer.
And the rest you'd want
from a second screen
- Several devices at once
- Connect a tablet and a phone, up to four devices, and each becomes its own monitor with its own touch and pen.
- Mirror mode
- Show the computer's own screen on the device instead, for presenting or for showing someone across the table.
- Turns with the device
- Landscape, portrait, or auto: the monitor rotates when you turn the device, and your windows stay where they were.
- One clipboard
- Copy text or an image on either side and paste it on the other. There's a switch for it on both, per device.
- Battery saver
- When the device isn't charging, Farpane drops to 30 frames a second to make its battery last.
- Picks itself back up
- If the connection drops or GNOME's Stop sharing button ends it, Farpane reconnects by itself.
On the computer,
out of the way
Lives in the top bar
An icon to turn USB and Wi-Fi on and off, disconnect a device or open the window. Close the window and Farpane keeps running.
Says when a device connects
A notification for each device, with a Disconnect button right in it.
Starts with your computer
If you like: then plugging a device in is all it ever takes.
Stays on your desk
Your screen goes from your computer to your device and nowhere else. There's no account, no cloud and nothing to sign up for.
The internet, any cloud, or us: never on the way
- USB stays on the cable
- Over USB nothing touches the network. And only a device on the cable counts: other programs on the computer can't pretend to be one.
- Wi-Fi is encrypted
- Every Wi-Fi connection is encrypted, and only devices you've paired, or that know the PIN on your screen, get in.
- Your networks only
- Pairing with the PIN works only on Wi-Fi networks you've allowed. At a café or on campus, only paired devices can connect, or none at all.
- You decide who's paired
- Forget a device any time on the computer. A pairing left unused for 90 days expires by itself.
The details are in the privacy policy: Farpane collects nothing.
Get Farpane
Free. You need both halves: the app on your phone or tablet, and Farpane on your computer.
Android app
For phones and tablets. Open this page on the device and download it there.
- Version0.1.0
- Size2.4 MB
- NeedsAndroid 9 or newer
SHA-256 7a2a345adb07f9fdfd3d25ad6b28ea1213cf3af63ded167933c0a3c290fa27f5Linux app
One file for every distribution with Flatpak. Open it in your software centre to install it, or run the command below in the folder you saved it to. For a new version, download it again.
- Version0.1.1
- Size6.2 MB
- NeedsGNOME 45 or newer, on Wayland
flatpak install --user farpane-0.1.1.flatpakSHA-256 82131c0a084f70528d6ceb366b5d3a4555a92fcce2739bc2301f69e8bc55a06bSome charging cables only carry power. If nothing happens when you plug in, try another cable.
The computer and the device on the same network. A 5 GHz network near the router works best.
HyperOS may warn about apps from outside its store. Choose to install anyway; the app is signed by Farpane.
Coming next
Farpane is meant for every computer and every screen, including another laptop. These are planned; none of them are available yet.
- KDE PlasmaPlanned
The second-biggest Linux desktop.
- Hyprland and SwayPlanned
Tiling desktops.
- X11 desktopsPlanned
Older and lighter Linux desktops.
- WindowsPlanned
Windows 10 and 11.
- MacPlanned
A Mac as the computer.
- iPad and iPhonePlanned
Including the Apple Pencil.
- A laptop as the screenPlanned
A Windows, Mac or Linux laptop as the second screen, over Wi-Fi, and maybe USB.
Questions
Is it a real monitor, or screen mirroring?
A real monitor. GNOME creates a new screen for it, so it appears in Settings › Displays and windows move onto it like any plugged-in screen. Mirroring is there too, as a mode you can switch to.
Is it free?
Yes, free to download and use, at home or at work. It isn't open source; the license says what you can and can't do with it.
Is there a delay?
Over USB it feels close to a plugged-in screen for writing, browsing, reading and drawing. Over Wi-Fi it depends on your network. Fast-paced games aren't what it's made for.
Does it need the internet?
No. USB works with no network at all, and Wi-Fi only needs your own network. Nothing goes through the internet.
Why does it need USB debugging?
It's the switch Android uses to let a computer talk to an app over the cable. Farpane uses it to open the app when you plug in and to carry the picture over the cable. You can turn it off again whenever you like; then use Wi-Fi.
Which phones and tablets work?
Any with Android 9 or newer. Farpane checks what the device's video chip can show and picks the sharpest picture it can play smoothly.
Which pens work?
It should work with any active stylus your device treats as a pen, with pressure and tilt when the pen reports them. It's been tested with the Redmi Smart Pen on a Redmi Pad 2.
Why does GNOME show a sharing indicator?
GNOME shows its orange sharing indicator whenever an app creates or shows a screen, and that's what Farpane does. If you press its Stop button, Farpane starts again by itself; you can turn that off.
Will it drain my battery?
A device showing a screen all day uses power like playing a video. Over USB it charges at the same time. On battery, Farpane drops to 30 frames a second to save power.
Can I use two devices at once?
Yes, up to four, each as its own monitor with its own touch, pen and sound.
I use KDE, Windows or a Mac, or want a laptop as the screen. When?
They're planned, with no dates yet. Join Spidey's Web on Discord to follow along and say which you'd like first.
Where do I get help?
On Spidey's Web, the Discord server for all of Spidey's projects, or by email at support@spidey.in.
Questions, ideas, a bug?
Come say hello on Spidey's Web, the Discord server for all of Spidey's projects. That's where help, news and new versions of Farpane turn up first.