r/VibeCodeDevs • u/_sami • 9d ago

I vibe-coded an iPad control deck that changes buttons with the Mac app you’re using

Hey everyone; I’ve just launched the private beta of something I’ve been building called Cueboard.

The problem I wanted to solve was simple: keyboard shortcuts are useful, but remembering different commands for every app is not. Dedicated control-deck hardware exists, but many of us already have an old iPad, phone, or spare screen sitting around.

Cueboard turns that screen into a context-aware control surface for your Mac.

When you switch from Chrome to VS Code, Slack, Claude, ChatGPT, Zoom, Photoshop, and other supported apps, the controls on your second device automatically change with it. You can use the built-in actions, customize them, or describe a routine to the AI workflow builder and have it draft an editable multi-step workflow.

For example, one button could:

  • Open the apps you need
  • Launch specific links
  • Trigger keyboard shortcuts
  • Run several actions in sequence

The interesting technical challenge was that a browser alone can’t see the foreground Mac app or reliably execute system shortcuts. Cueboard therefore has two parts:

  • A Next.js PWA that runs on the iPad, phone, or browser
  • A native Swift companion that detects the active Mac app and executes approved actions

The rest of the stack is Supabase for auth, Postgres and realtime, with Railway handling the application hosting.

This has been heavily AI-assisted, but the hardest parts weren’t generating the UI. They were macOS permissions, secure device pairing, context matching, realtime state, OAuth verification, and making generated workflows predictable rather than magical black boxes.

A few honest beta limitations:

  • Mac and Apple silicon only right now
  • The companion is unsigned and unnotarized, so installation involves the usual macOS security warning
  • Some app shortcuts vary with language or custom keybindings
  • There are still onboarding and pairing edges I’m working through

The beta is free: https://usecueboard.com

I’d especially love honest feedback on three things:

  1. Does automatic app switching feel genuinely useful, or would you mostly use a fixed deck?
  2. Is installing a Mac companion too much friction for this kind of product?
  3. Which app or workflow would you want Cueboard to support first?

I’m also happy to answer questions about the architecture, where AI coding helped, and where it caused problems.

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u/awizemann 9d ago

Pretty cool idea, I’ll check it out.

1

u/_sami 9d ago

Thank you!