4 ms·

Collaborative screen sharing (formerly PowWow)

50 points by tesmar2 14y ago

electic 14y ago
Tried it and crashed my entire Finder. Simply put. I uninstalled it.
terhechte 14y ago
I love this app. I'm currently in NY, and my GF is in Hamburg. She's currently doing a lot of data processing in PostgreSQL and terminal, and with this app it is really easy for me to help her in case she is stuck by simply grabbing her terminal window or SQL console and working there it. It is close to magic. Also I'll probably use this a lot in another project where me and the other guy doing it are really rarely in the same country. Utilizing this, it is much easier to discuss code, layouts, or even point out a weird behaviour of code by sharing the iOS simulator and going through the process that leads to the bug. Thanks for this fantastic app, I love it.
- jsherwani 14y ago
  Thanks for the love :) We (the co-founders) are on Olark on the Screenhero website right now, if anyone has any live questions! :)
  - eps 14y ago
    What makes you think that you can beat established players on the same market instead of just hanging in a long tail? I mean I appreciate the drive to scratch the itch, but what's your definitive innovation that gives you the edge? First, there was VNC, but it didn't let take over the screen. So there came UltraVNC, but it didn't let connect to the target box easily. So there came GoToMyPC, but it relayed everything through its servers. So there came LogMeIn, who used servers to bootstrap sessions and did the rest in p2p fashion. But it was still too generic, so there came something like CrossLoop and made a tech-support oriented screen sharing service. GTMPC further simplified the UX and so did the LMI, but that more of an incremental improvement rather something that would've a new player to bite a part of a market. So what do you bring?
- rogerbinns 14y ago
  BTW for one on one sharing Chrome's Remote Desktop works very well. Sharing/access works for Windows, Linux and Mac (screenhero appears to be Mac only at the moment). When you share a screen a long numeric code is provided which you give to the other party. They also have a mode where you can export your own systems and access them when no one is at the console. That only works for Mac and Windows. Hopefully competition will start heating up. I want to see my desktops on mobile devices and my mobile devices on desktops. I want sound, clipboards and storage. I want a better solutions to screen size disparities.
  - terhechte 14y ago
    I'm currently on a MBA 11" and my girlfriend does her big data analysis on a 24" Cinema display, so sharing a full screen is no option. The idea of being able to only share a certain window is fantastic. But you're right, this is a space with lots of potential. X11 could do all this and more already in 1996 one can even connect multiple mice / keyboards; it is sad that this function never really made it into other operating systems, although on the other hand X11 had lots of other issues due to the complex architecture to allow for network sharing of invididual screens.
    - rogerbinns 14y ago
      > so sharing a full screen is no option CRD and VNC viewers I use all support scaling so that solves things when the resolutions aren't too disparate. I can imagine a solution involving scaling and (automatic) panning would work quite well. > The idea of being able to only share a certain window is fantastic For that I use Skype which lets you share an arbitrary rectangle. Unfortunately the viewer has no control.
- eps 14y ago
  > close to magic You are easily impressed. There's a metric ton of other products and services that has been doing the exact same thing for over 10 years. From VNC and RemoteDesktop to Citrix and LogMeIn. In fact, LogMeIn's http://join.me http://join.me is probably the best execution of the idea to date. Still doesn't quite qualify as magic :)
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
aioprisan 14y ago
can you give a high level overview of how this is accomplished from a technical perspective? and any chance of open sourcing this?
- Wump 14y ago
  Answered a similar question in the previous HN thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4925633 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4925633 We don't have plans to open source it, but we might be open sourcing components in the future.
aren55555 14y ago
Just tried this out... pretty freaking awesome.
thejosh 14y ago
Much better name... please add Windows / Linux support :-).
- frk1206 14y ago
  Windows support is being actively worked on! Please sign up to our mailing list (from the website) if you haven't already and we should be able to give you good news in a few weeks time!
gcr 14y ago
Hey Linux users, if you plug in a second mouse, you can turn it into a second mouse pointer pretty easily: xinput create-master "Second" xinput list xinput reattach [device id] "Second pointer" where [device id] is the mouse hardware device listed in `xinput list`. See https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Multi-pointer_X https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Multi-pointer_X for more information. (You can also get a second keyboard focus this way if you plug in a second keyboard; see the link for details.) This is only tangentially related since it doesn't do the "screen sharing over a network" thing, but it can be handy for pair programming on a huge monitor.
jedireza 14y ago
Much better name guys!
codemac 14y ago
For those of you using emacs, I've been using imp-mode with some great success for sharing buffers: https://github.com/skeeto/impatient-mode https://github.com/skeeto/impatient-mode I have found collaboratively typing/editing does not go that well for most coding I seem to want to collaborate on. The guy I work closest with uses vim in a very specific way (one window per buffer, many many MacVim windows with keybindings to search titles, etc) and I use Emacs a very specific way (helm buffer search, compilation modes, eshell, etc) So now I just share my buffer, and (kbd "C-x n d") `narrow-to-defun` to hide everything down to just the definition I'm working on (generally a C/C++ class/function). It also lets him go off and update bugs, read some email, whatever if I go off on a tight edit/compile/test loop to get a few things right that he doesn't have input on.
wamatt 14y ago
Well crafted demo and UX. Nicely done folks. On a side note: I found the submit to mailing list input to be non-functioning on mobile Safari (but possibly other browsers)
DouweM 14y ago
Very, very cool idea. The app works really well, but it feels a bit rough around the edges. I just spent about half an hour chatting with one of the cofounders though, J, and he seems very eager to improve the app, so I have all the faith in the world those edges will be straightened out. Keep up the good work!
gnufied 14y ago
I am loving this app and would definitely buy it (when you decide to charge for it). One small gripe though (of which you are probably already aware), your reset password functionality is rather poorly done. It emails the password in plain text and also I didn't find any place where I could change the password which was emailed to me.
- jsherwani 14y ago
  You can change the password by clicking on your name in the app — it brings up a profile page that lets you change your name, password, or profile photo.
laggyluke 14y ago
I love this email example :) http://screenhero.com/img/email.png http://screenhero.com/img/email.png

50 points by tesmar2 14y ago

Tried it and crashed my entire Finder. Simply put. I uninstalled it.

I love this app. I'm currently in NY, and my GF is in Hamburg. She's currently doing a lot of data processing in PostgreSQL and terminal, and with this app it is really easy for me to help her in case she is stuck by simply grabbing her terminal window or SQL console and working there it. It is close to magic. Also I'll probably use this a lot in another project where me and the other guy doing it are really rarely in the same country. Utilizing this, it is much easier to discuss code, layouts, or even point out a weird behaviour of code by sharing the iOS simulator and going through the process that leads to the bug. Thanks for this fantastic app, I love it.

jsherwani 14y ago
Thanks for the love :) We (the co-founders) are on Olark on the Screenhero website right now, if anyone has any live questions! :)
- eps 14y ago
  What makes you think that you can beat established players on the same market instead of just hanging in a long tail? I mean I appreciate the drive to scratch the itch, but what's your definitive innovation that gives you the edge? First, there was VNC, but it didn't let take over the screen. So there came UltraVNC, but it didn't let connect to the target box easily. So there came GoToMyPC, but it relayed everything through its servers. So there came LogMeIn, who used servers to bootstrap sessions and did the rest in p2p fashion. But it was still too generic, so there came something like CrossLoop and made a tech-support oriented screen sharing service. GTMPC further simplified the UX and so did the LMI, but that more of an incremental improvement rather something that would've a new player to bite a part of a market. So what do you bring?
rogerbinns 14y ago
BTW for one on one sharing Chrome's Remote Desktop works very well. Sharing/access works for Windows, Linux and Mac (screenhero appears to be Mac only at the moment). When you share a screen a long numeric code is provided which you give to the other party. They also have a mode where you can export your own systems and access them when no one is at the console. That only works for Mac and Windows. Hopefully competition will start heating up. I want to see my desktops on mobile devices and my mobile devices on desktops. I want sound, clipboards and storage. I want a better solutions to screen size disparities.
- terhechte 14y ago
  I'm currently on a MBA 11" and my girlfriend does her big data analysis on a 24" Cinema display, so sharing a full screen is no option. The idea of being able to only share a certain window is fantastic. But you're right, this is a space with lots of potential. X11 could do all this and more already in 1996 one can even connect multiple mice / keyboards; it is sad that this function never really made it into other operating systems, although on the other hand X11 had lots of other issues due to the complex architecture to allow for network sharing of invididual screens.
  - rogerbinns 14y ago
    > so sharing a full screen is no option CRD and VNC viewers I use all support scaling so that solves things when the resolutions aren't too disparate. I can imagine a solution involving scaling and (automatic) panning would work quite well. > The idea of being able to only share a certain window is fantastic For that I use Skype which lets you share an arbitrary rectangle. Unfortunately the viewer has no control.
eps 14y ago
> close to magic You are easily impressed. There's a metric ton of other products and services that has been doing the exact same thing for over 10 years. From VNC and RemoteDesktop to Citrix and LogMeIn. In fact, LogMeIn's http://join.me http://join.me is probably the best execution of the idea to date. Still doesn't quite qualify as magic :)

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

aioprisan 14y ago

can you give a high level overview of how this is accomplished from a technical perspective? and any chance of open sourcing this?

Wump 14y ago
Answered a similar question in the previous HN thread: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4925633 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4925633 We don't have plans to open source it, but we might be open sourcing components in the future.

aren55555 14y ago

Just tried this out... pretty freaking awesome.

thejosh 14y ago

Much better name... please add Windows / Linux support :-).

frk1206 14y ago
Windows support is being actively worked on! Please sign up to our mailing list (from the website) if you haven't already and we should be able to give you good news in a few weeks time!

gcr 14y ago

Hey Linux users, if you plug in a second mouse, you can turn it into a second mouse pointer pretty easily: xinput create-master "Second" xinput list xinput reattach [device id] "Second pointer" where [device id] is the mouse hardware device listed in `xinput list`. See https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Multi-pointer_X https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Multi-pointer_X for more information. (You can also get a second keyboard focus this way if you plug in a second keyboard; see the link for details.) This is only tangentially related since it doesn't do the "screen sharing over a network" thing, but it can be handy for pair programming on a huge monitor.

jedireza 14y ago

Much better name guys!

codemac 14y ago

For those of you using emacs, I've been using imp-mode with some great success for sharing buffers: https://github.com/skeeto/impatient-mode https://github.com/skeeto/impatient-mode I have found collaboratively typing/editing does not go that well for most coding I seem to want to collaborate on. The guy I work closest with uses vim in a very specific way (one window per buffer, many many MacVim windows with keybindings to search titles, etc) and I use Emacs a very specific way (helm buffer search, compilation modes, eshell, etc) So now I just share my buffer, and (kbd "C-x n d") `narrow-to-defun` to hide everything down to just the definition I'm working on (generally a C/C++ class/function). It also lets him go off and update bugs, read some email, whatever if I go off on a tight edit/compile/test loop to get a few things right that he doesn't have input on.

wamatt 14y ago

Well crafted demo and UX. Nicely done folks. On a side note: I found the submit to mailing list input to be non-functioning on mobile Safari (but possibly other browsers)

DouweM 14y ago

Very, very cool idea. The app works really well, but it feels a bit rough around the edges. I just spent about half an hour chatting with one of the cofounders though, J, and he seems very eager to improve the app, so I have all the faith in the world those edges will be straightened out. Keep up the good work!

gnufied 14y ago

I am loving this app and would definitely buy it (when you decide to charge for it). One small gripe though (of which you are probably already aware), your reset password functionality is rather poorly done. It emails the password in plain text and also I didn't find any place where I could change the password which was emailed to me.

jsherwani 14y ago
You can change the password by clicking on your name in the app — it brings up a profile page that lets you change your name, password, or profile photo.

laggyluke 14y ago

I love this email example :) http://screenhero.com/img/email.png http://screenhero.com/img/email.png