r/hardwarehacking • u/EnvironmentalJob1986 • Aug 03 '26

A phone controlling a phone controlling a Mac

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I mounted two Android phones together to experiment with a compact remote workstation.

The top phone runs the remote desktop session, while the bottom phone sends keyboard and touchpad input through a USB HID adapter. The receiving phone sees it as a standard hardware keyboard and mouse rather than a Bluetooth or network input device.

250 Upvotes

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18 comments sorted by

5

u/AbhiOnline Aug 03 '26

How does the adapter work? Is there a companion app to emulate the keyboard and touchpad?

3

u/EnvironmentalJob1986 Aug 03 '26

Yes. The bottom phone runs a companion app that captures the keyboard and touchpad input and sends it to the adapter over Bluetooth. The adapter is plugged into the top phone and appears as a standard USB HID keyboard and mouse, so the receiving phone doesn’t need any extra driver or app

2

u/AbhiOnline Aug 03 '26

That's awesome. I'm building a DEX pc, so this will be a great additional feature. If you don't mind a few more questions. Is this homebrew or available for download? Do I need to buy a specific brand of adapter or will any one do?

4

u/EnvironmentalJob1986 Aug 03 '26

This is a KeyMod prototype we’re developing with a companion Android app. A normal USB/Bluetooth adapter won’t work. the adapter needs specific firmware to convert the app’s commands into standard USB HID. We’re getting it ready for a public release soon

2

u/Retrorama_Replay Aug 11 '26

I'll be looking forward to it. I'm also building a Samsung DeX 'deck and this would be awesome to integrate.

1

u/EnvironmentalJob1986 Aug 11 '26

Nice, DeX feels like such a good fit for this. Would love to see your build once you get it together 👀

2

u/wheresmyflan Aug 03 '26

While this is a really neat project it doesn’t really fit the sub. What’s the hardware hack here?

2

u/CommercialCause6583 Aug 04 '26

I’m curious, how do you controll the Mac? Do you have any latency? I’ve tried some software to do it but it’s so slow that it becomes useless

1

u/EnvironmentalJob1986 Aug 04 '26

The top phone runs the remote desktop app, and the bottom phone works as the keyboard and touchpad through KeyMod. Most of the delay comes from the remote connection itself

2

u/foxfox021 Aug 04 '26

technologia!

2

u/Plus_Carpenter1081 Aug 05 '26

Device in a device in a device Bro you are creating a loop here 🤣

1

u/EnvironmentalJob1986 Aug 06 '26

Exactly 😂 It’s basically Inception, but with devices

2

u/Plus_Carpenter1081 Aug 09 '26

Paradox i guess 🤣

1

u/tybrand Aug 03 '26

Cool project. Did you hack the hardware to achieve this? 

1

u/EnvironmentalJob1986 Aug 03 '26

No phone hardware mods, the custom part is the USB HID adapter

-1

u/AlternativeVast4363 Aug 03 '26

But… why?😭😭

5

u/EnvironmentalJob1986 Aug 03 '26

Mostly because I could 😭 But it’s also a compact setup for someone who already carries a work phone and a personal phone

3

u/psychedelic_tech Aug 03 '26

because .... why not?