SideDisplay
Your Tesla screen is now a wireless second display
57 followers
Your Tesla screen is now a wireless second display
57 followers
Working from your Tesla but stuck on one laptop screen? SideDisplay turns your Tesla's touchscreen into a wireless extended monitor — not mirroring, a true second display. Drag windows across, run Slack on one screen and your IDE on the other. It runs over WebRTC through the built-in browser — zero hardware needed. Just USB tether your phone for internet and you're set. Mac and Windows. And it's not just Tesla — any device with a browser and Wi-Fi works too. Up to 3 displays. Try it free.
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Hey Product Hunt! 👋 I'm S.Lee, the solo developer behind SideDisplay.
I built this because I kept wishing for a second monitor while working from my Tesla. I wanted a real extended display where I could drag windows across and actually multitask.
SideDisplay uses WebRTC to turn your Tesla's touchscreen into a true wireless extended monitor for your Mac or Windows PC. No dongles, no cables, no hardware mods. It runs right through the built-in browser.
And here's the thing — it's not limited to Tesla. Any device with a browser and Wi-Fi works: tablets, smart TVs, even other cars. Tesla is just the flagship use case.
A few highlights:
🖥️ True extended display, not mirroring — drag windows across screens
📡 Wireless via WebRTC, ~100ms latency
🔗 Connect up to 3 screens simultaneously
💻 Mac (Apple Silicon, macOS 15+) and Windows 11
🆓 Free trial: 60 min/week, no credit card needed
I daily-drive this myself — my Tesla's touchscreen is always my second monitor. It's the setup I always wanted.
Would love to hear your thoughts — especially if you've tried working from a car or wished you had a portable second screen on the go. What use cases would you try first?
As a remote software engineer who works from the car fairly often — laptop on a wheel holder, phone hotspot, parked by the ocean or a forest trail — I actually thought about building something like this myself. My first blocker was exactly what the founder hit too: both my Mac and the Tesla connect to the same local network, but Tesla's browser blocks access to private IP addresses. That killed my initial approach, and I shelved it.
Found SideDisplay before launch and it's been reliably solid. The private IP problem is solved by reconfiguring macOS Internet Sharing to assign public IPs instead — genuinely clever. The touch control is a nice detail too — tap, scroll, drag all work — though practically speaking I mostly just use it as an extended screen and leave it there.
A couple of friction points, and one feature request:
The repeated osascript permission prompts on Mac when starting/stopping screen sharing get old fast. I get that it's an OS security constraint, but it disrupts the flow.
Mac Internet Sharing as a prerequisite can occasionally be finicky. Usually it just works, but I've twice hit the same two issues: the car couldn't find the shared network before connecting, and once connected, iPhone lost internet access while the hotspot itself stayed live. Edge cases, but worth knowing about.
The font on the car screen is quite small and hard to read comfortably — sitting in the driver's seat puts real distance between you and the display, more than a typical desk setup. Would it be possible to add a default screen zoom option in a future release?
The first two are really platform-level friction, not the product's fault. The scaling one feels like something worth prioritizing. Overall, this is exactly the product for anyone working from their car — well executed, and the backstory behind it is genuinely worth reading. Solid launch.
@shuaibird_dev This means so much to me. Honestly, as a solo developer, this kind of genuine feedback is what makes it all worth it.
You nailed exactly the pain points I've been feeling myself as a daily user. The osascript permission prompts are something I've been actively working on. Removing them entirely isn't possible due to platform constraints, but I believe I can reduce the number of times they appear. Still working through it.
The Mac Internet Sharing friction is something I feel too. I really wish Apple would let developers configure Wi-Fi AP mode directly without going through System Settings. If anyone knows a way to do this already, please let me know! :)
For the font size issue, I'm looking into adding a scaling option in settings. I'm also exploring a way to switch the shared screen to full screen mode in the browser, so you can use every pixel of the display instead of losing space to the browser window frame.
Feedback like this is incredibly valuable and I genuinely appreciate you taking the time. Thank you again.
@shuaibird_dev Quick update: v1.9.0 (macOS) is out and it covers both things you flagged!
The admin prompt is now down to just one per Start. No more repeated password popups breaking your flow.
And the scale option is in. Each display has its own scale setting now, so you can bump it up for comfortable
reading from the driver's seat.
Windows version is coming with similar improvements within the next two weeks.
Let me know how it feels with the new version!
Really cool! You say it works on other electric vehicle models, all models? Even non-electric cars? In any case, great project! Congratulations!
@edgedawn Thanks Edgedawn! Yes, SideDisplay works with any device that has a browser and Wi-Fi. So if a car has a built-in browser that supports WebRTC, it can work as an extended monitor. Electric or not doesn't matter. Same goes for tablets, smart TVs, or really anything with a browser. Thanks for the kind words!
Is there a limit on resolution or screen size it can handle?
@simon_choi Great question Simon! SideDisplay adapts to whatever screen you connect. The resolution adjusts automatically to match the target device. You can also connect up to 3 screens simultaneously if you want a full multi-monitor setup on the go.
What’s the setup process like? Do I need to install anything on the Tesla?
@hj_lee3 Nothing to install on the Tesla side at all! Just install the SideDisplay app on your Mac or Windows PC, open the Tesla's built-in browser, go to the connection URL, and you're good to go. The whole setup takes under a minute. No jailbreaking, no hardware mods, no dongles.
Can I use this during Supercharging? Seems like a great way to kill time.
@joybro That's actually one of the best use cases. Plug in, open SideDisplay, and you've got a dual-monitor workspace while you charge. Beats scrolling your phone for 20 minutes.