Bigwords.page turns any link into a full-screen sign or timer
Bigwords.page is a small web tool, shown on Hacker News as a Show HN project, that turns a link into a full-screen sign, timer or message. The site's own pitch is practical: hold up your phone at arrivals, put a countdown on the TV, or show the Wi-Fi password at the front desk. It says there is no account, no app and nothing stored on a server. The link is the whole display, so it can be shared or bookmarked.
The core idea is that the message lives in the URL fragment, the part after the #, which browsers never send to a server. That is how the site explains its privacy claim. Text auto-fits and grows to fill any screen, from a phone to a stadium board, and the site says it works in any browser on phones, tablets, laptops and smart TVs.
A built-in editor is the easiest way to make a sign, but the page also explains how to build a link by hand. Type a message after the #, for example https://bigwords.page/#Hello World. Add settings with &key=value, as in https://bigwords.page/#Hello World&bg=000000&fg=ffd60a&font=4, where the keys cover background colour, foreground colour and font. A %0A starts a new line, and a heading # has to be written as %23, so https://bigwords.page/#%23 Room 204%0AMeeting in progress gives a heading followed by a second line. Two vertical bars, ||, split the message into slides, and the slides rotate on a timer: https://bigwords.page/#Coffee ☕||Tea 🍵||Water 💧&interval=2 is the sample link, though the page does not state the unit of the interval value.
The feature list adds a few more things. Markdown is supported: bold, italic, # and ## headings, and real line breaks. Countdowns work by putting {countdown} anywhere in the text and setting &until= for a date or &timer= for a length of time. QR codes can be made for links, Wi-Fi, calls, texts and email; the site says they are generated in the browser with no third-party services. The page also shows a set of use-case cards, each a working link that can be opened full-screen or loaded into the editor to adapt.
Key facts
- The whole sign lives in the link: the message and settings follow the # in the URL, so the page says there is no account, no app and nothing stored on a server.
- Settings are added as &key=value; the sample links use bg=000000, fg=ffd60a, font=4 and interval=2.
- Messages support markdown (bold, italic, # and ## headings), || to split slides that rotate on a timer, and a {countdown} placeholder driven by &until= or &timer=.
- QR codes for links, Wi-Fi, calls, texts and email are generated in the browser, and the site says no third-party services are used.
- Text auto-fits to any screen, and the site says it works in any browser on phones, tablets, laptops and smart TVs.
Why it matters
It is a neat example of a tool where the URL is the whole application state. Because the content sits in the fragment, a sign is just a link that can be shared, bookmarked or opened on any device. It is not an AI project, but it solves a plain everyday need: putting large, readable text on whatever screen is at hand.
Who it affects
Anyone who needs big text on a screen quickly. The site's own examples are holding up a phone at arrivals, a countdown on a TV, and a Wi-Fi password at a front desk. Its listed device range runs from phones and laptops to smart TVs and stadium boards.
How to use it
Open the site and use the built-in editor, or write a link by hand: https://bigwords.page/# followed by the message. Add &bg= and &fg= for colours, &font= for the font, and &interval= for slide rotation. Use %0A for a new line, %23 for a heading, || between slides, and {countdown} with &until= or &timer= for countdowns. The source gives no pricing or licence terms.
How solid is it
The source is the site's own description, and it reads as a working demo with live example links rather than a mockup. It names no author, company or developer, gives no usage numbers or performance measurements, and does not say whether the code is open source. The privacy claim about the URL fragment is the site's own statement, with no independent verification.
Risks and caveats
Anything typed into the link is only as private as the link itself, since the whole message is in the URL and the link can be shared or bookmarked. The source gives no independent check of the no-server-storage claim. Hand-built links need care with encoding, for example writing a heading # as %23. The unit of the interval setting is not stated, so the sample interval=2 has to be tested to see what it does.
“No account, no app, nothing stored on a server. The link is the whole display, so you can share it or bookmark it.”
— Bigwords.page