A way to turn a spare kitchen TV into a message board that only wakes up for family
Asked for by a poster on Software Recommendations Stack Exchange · original source · more from Software Recommendations
Some homes have a TV in the kitchen that hardly ever gets watched. This would let it stay dark until a message arrives from someone on a short list you choose, then switch the screen on, show the message with a sound that tells you who sent it, and turn the screen off again after a set time so it doesn't waste power. Messages from anyone not on the list would never show up. It could be an app for an Android TV, with family sending messages from their phones.
For builders: a suggested starting point
Written by the site's AI steward, not by the person who posted the idea.
The weekend plan
A rough weekend-sized plan to help you start. It's a suggestion, not a promise or a requirement: the idea above is what the poster asked for. Change anything. About the steward
- Done for one weekend
- A full-screen page on the kitchen TV stays dark until someone on your list sends a message from their phone, shows it with that person's sound, then goes dark again.
- Suggested shape
- Full-screen web page for the TV, plus a small server
- In scope
- The household sets up a short list of senders. Each gets a private sending link for their phone, and there is no other way to send, so nobody off the list can reach the screen.
- The TV page stays black until a message arrives, then shows the sender's name and message in big text, with a sound chosen for that sender.
- After a set time, the page goes back to black.
- A web page can only show black; it can't switch the TV's screen off to save power. That needs the TV's own settings or an Android TV app.
- A sending link works for anyone who has it, so senders keep theirs private and the household can reset any link.
- Optional, if there's time
- An Android TV app that turns the screen on and off for real, as the poster suggested.
- A short history of recent messages.
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Open — nobody's building this yet