
Power-touch – Shortcut touch keys on mobile - rokyed
https://github.com/rokyed/power-touch
======
maaaats
Not too much info, but I can see the first commit was yesterday. Looks like it
opens a web server on your PC, which you then open in the browser on your
phone. The buttons there make requests that triggers stuff through robotjs.

Cool idea, but doesn't look secured at the moment. And impossible for me to
use on my work network, a pairing with the computer would work (bluetooth or
USB), but probably not be as easy to implement.

~~~
rokyed
I know is not yet secured , but this was a prototype, because i had the idea
yesterday when i woked up. I will be working on securing the whole with maybe
a password or something.

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jajern
Sounds cool. I'm probably not going to install it without an idea of what it's
capable of. Maybe a better README with some examples and screenshots would be
helpful.

~~~
pmontra
You go to [http://your.pc.ip:3000](http://your.pc.ip:3000) with your phone's
browser. You get some keys on the screen. You touch the keys and it plays some
other keys on the pc. What worked for me were volume up, down and mute, Alt-
Tab. There were other less interesting combinations like CTRL-numbers but the
shortcuts can be configured in a json file. It eventually core dumped and I
had to close every terminal before being able to type again (Ubuntu 16.04).

~~~
rokyed
thank you for the guide, I will add it to the repo

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alistproducer2
Why would anyone upvote this? the README is worthless, the repo was started
yesterday and it has absolutely no authentication before allowing control of
your computer via a publicly available webpage.

Common' HN, smh.

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jdbernard
> has absolutely no authentication before allowing control of your computer
> via a publicly available webpage.

It's less than 100 lines of code, not hard to see exactly what it is doing. It
doesn't dial out to a remote server, it starts a local server. And unless
you're running a computer that is exposed to the public web, that won't be
"publicly available."

I'm not saying it's secure, but let's not immediately jump to conclusions. It
is what it is a little useful utility, albeit small and immature.

~~~
alistproducer2
>let's not immediately jump to conclusions.

I did no such thing. Everything I pointed out is the truth. The README is
incomplete (being diplomatic) and lots of people have port forwarding turned
on for various reasons making boxes publicly available.

I question the dev's priorities and judgement if authentication wasn't the
first thing on the list before putting it out there.

>It is what it is

you're correct, it's a poorly thought out application that allows for remote
control of people's computers.

~~~
jdbernard
> I question the dev's priorities and judgement if authentication wasn't the
> first thing on the list before putting it out there.

Come on, this is the kind of thing I meant. You question his priorities and
judgement? Seriously? Because he shared a little project he put together? He
made a thing. He shared it. That's it. It's not like he is selling this, or
promoting it as some great thing. I imagine he thought other people on HN
would find it interesting given all the discussion of Apple's touch bar, so he
shared it. No need to be so antagonistically critical of what is obviously not
a finished product. A little kindness and consideration goes a long way.

~~~
rokyed
Thank you. I want to add that, my priorities are to make this project
available for everybody, my intent is to make it functional, on the prototype
I didn't see the need of security because, my own network is private so
testing it was a breeze, but now i did implement an authentication because
many people requested it. My main goal of building something that's like
apple's touch bar , is kinda finished but that doesn't mean i won't evolve the
project , all i need is just some ideas and I will happly implement them
because I love programming

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makecheck
I always thought it made a lot more sense to pair an existing touch device
with a computer instead of embedding touch in the keyboard. It’s less limited
(e.g. larger horizontal or vertical or grid layouts as needed) and it uses
something that most people already have.

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nilkn
Isn't the advantage of embedding it in the keyboard that it's ideally
positioned just a short finger reach away from the default touch typing
stance? Also embedding it in the keyboard means it doesn't require any extra
desk space, so it's available in bed, on the couch, etc.

~~~
pmontra
Sometimes you are close to the keyboard and sometimes you're walking around
giving a presentation or other activities. There is space for both approaches.

~~~
rokyed
i can see that, thanks for the idea

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50CNT
This sounds kinda similar to Unified Remote.

~~~
pmontra
I tried Unified Remote and obviously it is much better having been under
developement for so much more time.

Unfortunately it keeps disconnecting from my phone, both WiFi and Bluetooth.
The app is very bad at signaling if you're connected or not and at managing
the connection parameters, and that doesn't help. They could copy JuiceSSH,
which is not supereasy but better, or Syncthing.

Still, it doesn't work so I uninstalled it. Power-touch seems potentially
better because it does so little that there is no danger of misconfigurations.
It's much more hackable too.

~~~
vaqm
Did you try Quadro ([http://quadro.me](http://quadro.me)) instead? You need an
iOs device tho, Android support is not yet available

~~~
pmontra
I would if I were into iPhones. I'm on Android. Thanks anyway.

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pmontra
Still much work to do but it's an interesting idea and a good demo for one day
of work.

It core dumped after a few minutes and I had to close every terminal instance
before being able to type again but it's OK for what it is.

When it won't crash and kill the keyboard I could use it as a clicker for PDF
presentations on my Ubuntu laptop. There is already a wonderful remote for
LibreOffice Impress
([https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.libreoffic...](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.libreoffice.impressremote&hl=en))
but I didn't have anything for the other presentation formats.

But we'll need at least some kind of authentication over an encrypted channel.

~~~
rokyed
i will be working on the authentification

------
rokyed
Please leave sugestions under github, it makes easier to keep track and make
them tasks.

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agumonkey
Did Apple never try using ipods or iphones as alternative controllers before ?

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rokyed
I really don't know, but my point was actually to build something that's like
TouchBar from Apple, but i didn't wanted to pay the premium price of a mac
book pro .

~~~
vaqm
You don't need to create one yourself [http://quadro.me](http://quadro.me)

~~~
rokyed
I see, but I prefer mine, plus I want to let all the people have the source
code, I am not interested in closed source apps.

