Deckboard turns a phone into a macro pad for your desktop

Two apps, and the pair is the product

Deckboard is described as a way to control your PC with your phone in the easiest way possible, and the implementation is a two-part arrangement.

There is a server application for Windows and Linux, linked from the GitHub releases, and there is an Android app on the Play Store. The Android app also has a Pro version with more layouts, listed as a separate Play Store entry under a different package name.

The pairing model is local. You connect your computer to your device through a local WiFi connection, either by entering the IP address or by scanning a QR code. So the phone talks to the computer over your own network, with no cloud component in the path.

That is the whole point of the design and it is what makes the tool feel immediate. There is no server to sign into, no account to create and no round trip to a data centre, so a button press is a local network call and the macro fires.

The repository itself is thin, and the top-level entries explain why. There is a .github/ directory, a README.md, an image file called 01.PNG, a media/ directory and a static/ directory. So the code is not in this repository; what is published here is the documentation and the assets, and the actual application is distributed as the downloadable server app and the Play Store build.

The project is MIT licensed by the look of the badge set, with the last push on 2026-06-06 and releases v3.2.0 from 2026-06-06, v3.1.4 from 2025-09-26 and v3.1.3 from 2025-08-22.

A grid of buttons, and the layout limit is the pricing

The macro button is the unit of the interface, and the feature list describes it as a custom macro button with an image and a label. So each button on the grid carries its own artwork and its own text, which is what makes the phone usable as a control surface rather than just a list of commands.

The layout constraint is where the free and pro versions diverge. The free version gives unlimited macros with 4 by 3 buttons per board, and the pro version has 15 by 15 buttons on a board.

That is a large difference. Twelve buttons per board is enough for the handful of things you press constantly, and 225 is enough to build a full control surface for a streaming setup. Since macros are unlimited in both cases, the limit is not on how many actions you can define but on how many you can see at once, which is a display constraint rather than a capability one.

For a streaming companion, the larger grid is the difference between a quick mute and a full scene switcher, notification and audio mixer panel in your hand.

The rest of the feature list is short and the items are the ones that define the product. Custom macro buttons with image and label, unlimited macros with the layout limits above, OBS Studio and Streamlabs OBS control for streaming with the OBS Websocket plugin required, and the easy connect through local WiFi by IP address or QR code.

The macro list is where the utility actually is

The available macros list is longer than the headline feature suggests, and it is worth reading as a catalogue of what a phone can usefully drive on a desktop.

There is the keyboard macro, which is the obvious one. Then open website and open folder, which are the two the description calls out as the pain point, since the pitch is no more windows switching to open the folder or website.

Multimedia controls cover play, next track and prev track and similar. Run executable launches a program. And there is a set of streaming-specific ones: Twitch chat controls, and Spotify playlist control for liking a track and adding it to a playlist.

Then the OBS group, which is the largest block. Switch scenes for both OBS Studio and Streamlabs OBS, toggle resources for both, and toggle streaming and recording for both. There is also control of the audio device in OBS Studio.

Two things stand out about that list. The first is that the streaming actions are not a bolt-on; roughly half the macros are streaming oriented, and the project description says as much, framing Deckboard as your personal streaming companion tool.

The second is that a broadcast tool running on the same computer as the broadcast is a genuinely good idea. Switching a scene in OBS from your phone, or toggling the stream, is a case where the phone is in your hand and the desktop is not, which is exactly the gap a macro pad fills.

Connection by IP or QR, and the camera permission explained

The connection method is deliberately two ways, and the privacy policy explains the one that needs a permission.

The privacy section states that the Android application, defined as the app, requests the following potentially sensitive data, and lists exactly one entry, the android.permission.CAMERA permission.

And then the paragraph that matters. This potentially sensitive data is not transmitted over the internet, and is not stored by the app. It is not handled by any system other than the device the app is installed on.

So the camera exists for the QR code scan and nothing else. The IP address route needs no permission at all, which means the privacy question can be side-stepped entirely if you prefer, and the camera path is offered as the convenience rather than the requirement.

That is a reasonable design, and the specificity of the claim is worth noting. A permission request with a statement about what is not done with it is more useful to a reader than a generic privacy policy, because it tells you the scope of the data flow. In this case the answer is that the frame you scan is never transmitted, so the QR code is resolved on the phone.

The other end of the connection is the server application on the desktop, which listens for the commands. There is nothing in the documentation about the server's own network exposure, which is worth thinking about if you run it on a shared or office network, since a local service that accepts commands is something to be aware of on a network you do not fully control.

How the project pays for itself, and where the docs live

The support section is short and it explains the relationship between the free and paid halves.

The server app and the Android app are free downloads, the former from GitHub releases and the latter from the Play Store. Then there is a third download, the Android Pro Version with more layouts. The support section says that if you love the app you can support the development by purchasing the PRO version or by donating, and the ko-fi link is right there under it.

So the model is a free desktop server, a free phone app with a small grid, and a paid phone app with a large grid. The pro version is a layout upgrade rather than a feature unlock, which is a clean way to keep the whole thing usable for free while letting the people who want a control surface pay for it.

The documentation is thin, and that is a real limitation to weigh. There is a homepage at rivafarabi.github.io/deckboard/ and the README covers the features, the macro list, the download links and the privacy statement, and there is a Discord presence advertised through the description, which points at the DeckboardApp account for news and updates.

The GitHub repository itself is not the application. It holds the README, the images and the static assets, and the CI directory, and the releases are where the server binaries live. So if you want to see how the macros are implemented, you are looking at the binary, not at the source in this repository, and the repository is best understood as the project's public face rather than its codebase.

For anyone deciding whether to try it, the practical test is quick. The server app is a single download, the phone app is on the Play Store, and the connection is a local WiFi address. You can have a working macro button in a few minutes, and if the pair suits you the pro upgrade is a separate decision.

Editorial conclusion

Adopt Deckboard if you want a physical grid of macro buttons on your phone to drive a desktop across the room, since that is exactly what it does and the connection is local WiFi rather than a cloud service. Skip it if you need the same shortcuts on two machines at once, since the pairing is between one phone and one computer, and if you need more than the free layout, since the pro version is what carries the larger grid. Verify first that your desktop runs Windows or Linux, since the server app is not offered for macOS, that your streaming setup uses OBS Studio or Streamlabs OBS with the websocket plugin, and that you are comfortable granting the camera permission for the QR code scan given that the privacy policy states the data never leaves the device.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. Issues
2. Project website
3. README
4. Releases
5. rivafarabi/deckboard on GitHub