Max Leibman has moved!
I have finally found a use for the useless, god-awful Amazon Fire tablets: install Duet (or a similar app), and use it as a small second display with a laptop. I’ve been using a current-gen Fire 7 for the last week, and it works great as a second screen where I can post up a document I need to reference, or keep a chat window or to-do list persistently in view.


#Android #AmazonFire #Duet
Sep 1, 2023 at 4:21pmIvory for iOS
Show threadMax Leibman has moved!Sep 1, 2023

To install Duet on the Fire, you’ll need to side-load or install the Play Store and Google services first.

Also, pro tip: on the web, Duet’s subscriptions (at least the ones you would want) are annual-pricing only, but if you subscribe from the iOS app, monthly plans are available. The iOS purchase screen is worded to imply that it will only work with the iPhone, but you are are actually purchasing a plan that will work with any device.


#DuetDisplay #PlayStore #AmazonFire

Show threadMax Leibman has moved!Sep 9, 2023

So, less than two weeks into my mobile second-display experiment, I am already ditching Duet Display. Yesterday, following an app update in the Google Play store, the icon for wired connections disappeared, and although the companion app on the PC could still see the tablet when plugged in, the mobile app did not.

#Duet #PlayStore #SecondDisplay

Show threadMax Leibman has moved!Sep 9, 2023
Worse, after the update, I tried deleting and re-installing the app on the tablet I had been using, and installed it on a second to troubleshoot, and in both cases the app wouldn't advance past the subscription screen. I was signed into my account and according to the website and the iOS app, I have an active subscription, but in order to use it at all on Android I had to activate a trial for a second subscription that would charge me $48 in seven days.

#DuetDisplay #subscription #Android
Show threadMax Leibman has moved!Sep 9, 2023
Even after double-subscribing, though, I could not get the wired connection to work in Duet Display, so I've now deleted it off of both tablets, my laptop, and my iPhone, and canceled both the iOS App Store subscription and the Play Store trial. The wireless performance of Duet is impressive, but not perfect, and I prefer wired (AND I was already paying for the higher-tier subscription that included the wireless I didn't want to use, because it was the only option to get monthly pricing on iOS).
Show threadMax Leibman has moved!Sep 9, 2023

I have now moved on to Splashtop's Wired XDisplay. It does not do wireless and is slightly more fiddly to set up, but it also does not require an account or sign-in of any kind and is a ONE-TIME purchase on the Play Store, and only $6.99 (there is also a free version but it can be used only ten minutes at a time).

I am normally a proponent of subscription pricing in software, but I'll take the better deal when I can.

#Splashtop #WireXDisplay #DuetDisplay #SeconDisplay

Show threadMax Leibman has moved!Sep 9, 2023

A major reason I am comfortable with subscription pricing in software is that continuing development has a cost. Do you want new features, bug fixes, security patches, or even just continued compatibility as OS vendors change the underlying system? A subscription pays the developer to do that ongoing work.

But Duet's continuing development removed the feature I bought it for, and also seemed to be asking me to buy a second subscription.


#DuetDisplay #SubscriptionPricing #WiredXDisplay

Show threadMax Leibman has moved!Sep 9, 2023
Anyhow, I'm on my first day with Spashtop Wired XDisplay, so I don't feel super-confident recommending it—there may be gotchas I haven't encountered yet. But I will say, two weeks in, this whole portable-second-display-for-a-laptop thing has made a big difference. I know there are lightweight displays that are sold for this very purpose, but if you have even an 8-inch Android tablet kicking around, it's worth looking into.


#SecondDisplay #WiredXDisplay
Show threadMax Leibman has moved!Sep 1, 2023
If Amazon’s tablets are priced appropriately, then every iPad on the market is a BARGAIN. (Ditto the high-end Samsung Galaxy tabs.)