DuoDesk: Connect Computers and Phones as One Desk

Overview

DuoDesk is an Electron desktop app, paired with an Android app, for making Mac, Windows and Linux computers and Android phones work together as one desk. It addresses the gap between devices by sharing screens, apps, files, clipboard, mouse and keyboard, while also bringing phone calls, texts, photos and camera features to a computer.

Devices communicate directly over a local network, USB, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi Direct, with no account or cloud relay. The project is a GPL-3.0 fork of TwinDesk and includes native helpers for operating-system features that Electron does not provide by itself.

Key Features

• Move one mouse and keyboard across paired computers and Android devices.
• View or extend screens, and open another computer's apps in separate windows.
• Share files, folders and text or image clipboard contents across devices.
• Use a phone's camera as a webcam, and access phone calls, texts, photos and files from a computer.
• Connect through local Wi-Fi, USB, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct or a phone hotspot, with links selected or switched as needed.
• Connect multiple computers at once with DuoDesk Mesh. The README notes that Mesh does not yet support clipboard pictures or sending files to multiple devices at once.

Use Cases

• A person working across a Mac and Windows PC can use one keyboard and mouse and open selected apps from either machine without switching to a full remote desktop.
• Someone with an Android phone can answer calls, reply to texts, browse photos or use the phone camera from a computer.
• A user with an old laptop or Android tablet can use it as an additional screen for a computer.
• People with several computers can arrange their screens into a shared workspace using Mesh, when its current feature limits are acceptable.

Getting Started

Download the app for each computer and Android device from the DuoDesk releases page, open it on both devices, pair them, then enable the features you need. See the README for platform-specific installation, permissions and build instructions.

Alternatives

• localsend: LocalSend handles nearby file and message transfers, while DuoDesk also shares screens, apps, clipboard, input, and phone features.
• 1Remote: 1Remote manages remote sessions such as RDP, SSH, and VNC, rather than sharing a broader set of device features over direct local connections.

Considerations

The project is new and changing quickly, with recent commits and releases, but most measured contribution activity comes from one person. The measured data also reports no recent issue closures or merged pull requests, so users should not assume that reported problems will be handled quickly. No automated tests are listed in the repository data.

Some Android capabilities require wireless debugging, and notifications, texts and Accessibility features use a separate full app build. On Linux, behavior and setup vary by display server and feature, with some functions requiring extra system components or permissions. Mesh has the feature gaps described above. The GPL-3.0 license also carries obligations for redistribution and derivative works; review the license before incorporating DuoDesk into a product.