Petal launches screensharing app with remote control on LiveKit
Petal is a screensharing and remote-control app, presented on its landing page and shared in a Show HN post. The post's title pitches it as an open-source, free alternative to CoScreen and ScreenHero.
The page leads with a claim of low latency, high resolution screensharing and remote control. Its main design idea is that shared windows appear as windows on your own desktop: movable, resizable and sharp, not tiles in a grid. Every shared window shows labeled cursors for each user, and remote mouse and keyboard input is described as instant. Several users can share their windows at the same time.
Joining is meant to be quick. You create rooms with names like eng-sync, click once and you are in, with no links to send and nothing to schedule.
There are two ways to run it. You can download the app and join your meeting on the vendor's LiveKit video infrastructure. Or you can point the same app at a LiveKit server you run yourself. The page says only the video backend changes between the two. The self-run route is pitched as full control: you can change the app and bring your own stack.
Key facts
- Petal is a screensharing and remote-control app; the Show HN title positions it as an open-source, free alternative to CoScreen and ScreenHero.
- Shared windows appear as movable, resizable windows on each user's desktop, not as tiles in a grid, with labeled cursors for every user.
- Several users can share windows at the same time, and remote mouse and keyboard input is described as instant.
- Named rooms such as eng-sync are joined with one click, with no links to send and nothing to schedule.
- The app runs on the vendor's LiveKit video infrastructure or can be pointed at a LiveKit server you run; only the video backend changes.
Why it matters
Most video-call tools show a shared screen as one tile among many. Petal's pitch is a different model: each shared window lands on your desktop as a real window you can move and resize, with remote control and labeled cursors built in. The Show HN title frames it as an open-source, free take on the CoScreen and ScreenHero style of collaboration. The option to point the app at your own LiveKit server is the other notable part of the pitch.
Who it affects
The landing page's own example room, eng-sync, points at small engineering teams that work through shared windows and remote control, such as pairing sessions and quick syncs. Teams that want to run the video backend themselves rather than depend on the vendor's hosting are the audience for the self-run LiveKit option.
How to use it
Download the app, create a named room such as eng-sync and join with one click. By default the meeting runs on the vendor's LiveKit video infrastructure. To run it yourself, point the same app at a LiveKit server you operate; the page says you can then change the app and bring your own stack.
How solid is it
The only source is the product's landing page, so every capability above is the vendor's own description. The page itself says low latency, high resolution and instant remote input, but no latency, resolution or participant-count figures are given. The open-source and free framing comes from the Show HN title; the source text does not say the app is open source or name a license, and it does not mention price.
Risks and caveats
Supported operating systems and platforms are not stated. No details of security, encryption or permissions for remote control are given, which matters for any tool that lets another person drive your mouse and keyboard. The authors, company or team behind Petal are not named, and no repository link, release date or version is given.
“Shared windows appear as windows on your desktop. Movable, resizable, sharp, not tiles in a grid.”
— Petal landing page