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Wanted to share this as I’ve been using it. This app is my first dip in the world of “stream deck” like functionality, and while I find it very useful, I’m not sure it will remain my primary interface. On the plus side it IS open source.
Tablet Specs:
I’ve been running this on a Galaxy Tab A (8.0″, 2019) for about 2 months now. There are issues, that may, or may not be the tablet as it was never really “top of the line” and is certainly showing it’s age. Though being available for around $100 on amazon right now is definitely a point in its favor.
Setup:
Getting the app working is pretty straight forward, grab it from the app store and run it.
On the OBS side you need to turn on the websocket server, which is under Tools, websocket server settings.
The checkbox “enable websocket server” needs to be checked, and if a password isn’t generated, you can type one in yourself, or hit that generate button. It’s recommended to generate as it creates a rather long password, and you can save it in the app anyway. Though that gets weird when taking your streaming on the road. More on that later though.
Comparisons:
As to comparisons, well, I have none. This is the first “dock” type app I have used. I do intend to get my hands on an apple tablet to try out the Elgato streamdeck app (update, it appears that the Android version has been brought to feature parity with the iOS version, so I will be trying it out at a later date. After getting the Linux app installed).
Issues:
I would list only a couple major issues and one minor one. First and foremost is just the fact that it crashes, almost on cue at the 2ish hour mark the timer will freeze and the buttons stop working. Luckily it crashing doesn’t effect the stream at all, just close it, or if it goes full “CTD” reopen it and reconnect. Not a HUGE deal, but stability falls under major.
Second is the layout, it’s pretty set in stone, I’d really like to move some of the controls around so I can see my volumes and a preview next to the scene selections. I would argue that this is a bit of a group “issue” as it’s a part of how somewhat simplistic the app is. Don’t get me wrong, it’s really nice to extend the OBS controls to a tablet, but that’s pretty much all it does. Your functionality has to be built and maintained in OBS, OBS Blade exposes it on another screen.
Finally the minor issue, I alluded to this earlier in that you are connecting via wifi to your computer. You need to be on the same network, and that network has to allow communication across devices. This created a need for me to have a travel router to take care of this and my other hardware selections for streaming, (I use an old phone as my primary camera with OBS droid). Because of this, when your device has a different IP, all of the login info is “lost” you need to make a new connection, or edit the connection with the new IP address. Managing your own network both on the road and at home allows you to static all of this, but it’s one more step. It would be nice if you could create a connection profile and the discovery would just allow you to use that instead of creating new ones. Minor, like I said.
Final Thoughts:
At the end of the day, would I recommend this over a dedicated stream deck? It depends. If you have an old tablet laying around and don’t want to deal with any hoops or extra hardware purchases of a dedicated stream deck. Sure, it’s worth a shot. If you want to decide if you are going to even utilize the functionality of a stream deck. Also yes. If you are a power user fully prepared to enter the world of “decks”, probably not.
I made sure to use the “paid unlock” option in the app to kick the dev a little, I mean, they did create something cool that I am using.. So they deserve it for my use case. Maybe check it out if you are new to it all like me.