How it works

The desktop app, the native helper, the phone app, and what crosses between them.

ShiftPane is three programs. The phone talks only to the desktop app, and only the native helper talks to the OS.

1. Your phone
Phone app
A web app the PC serves. Plays the monitor and draws the widget board.
2. Desktop app
Electron
Pairs phones, runs widget collectors, and captures only the virtual monitor.
3. Native helper
shiftpane-helper
The only process that talks to the OS: the virtual monitor, stats and media keys.
4. Your OS
Display and stats
A virtual display driver or API, performance counters, and media sessions.

Who talks to whom

 phone (web app) ── HTTPS / WebSocket ──▶ desktop app (Electron) ── stdin / stdout JSON ──▶ shiftpane-helper (Rust)
       ▲                                        │                                               │
       └──────────── WebRTC video ──────────────┘ captures only the virtual monitor             └─ creates and sizes it

Phone and desktop app: HTTPS and a WebSocket on your network. The desktop app serves the phone app itself, so there's nothing to install from a store.
Video: WebRTC, encrypted (DTLS-SRTP). The desktop app captures only the virtual monitor, never your other screens, unless you pick one to show.
Desktop app and helper: JSON over the helper's standard input and output.

Every message that crosses from one process to another is checked against a schema on both sides, and none of them ever carries a command to run.

What stays on the PC

Secrets and everything that touches the system. The phone only ever receives video, and finished widget data.

The stack

Piece	Built with
Desktop app	Electron, React 19, electron-vite
Phone app	React 19, Vite, Tailwind CSS, installable as a web app
Native helper	Rust, one crate per OS behind a shared interface
Messages	zod between the phone and the PC, serde between the app and the helper

The source is on GitHub, MIT licensed.