Brolly
Guide

Turn a photo frame into a Brolly screen

A high-level guide. The details live in the community's per-device instructions.

A cheap smart photo frame can become a dedicated Brolly display: full screen, no subscription app, starting by itself when it's plugged in. These frames are small Android tablets underneath, and a community of owners has worked out how to take them over.

What's possible

  • Remove the manufacturer's app and updater, which otherwise give a remote server control of the frame.
  • Upgrade the frame's built-in browser engine so it can show modern web pages.
  • Install a small kiosk app that shows one page, such as brolly.day/display, full screen, and returns to it after a power cut or Wi-Fi drop.
  • Read the frame's light sensor, for example to dim the screen at night.

What you'll need

  • A frame the community has already unlocked. Check the device index. If you're buying one, get a PF1007L: Brolly is built and tested on it. Many unbranded 10.1" frames sold on Amazon are one, so check the model before you buy.
  • A computer, and a USB-A to USB-C cable that carries data. USB-C to USB-C cables and the cable in the box usually won't work.
  • An hour or two, and some comfort with the command line.

How to go about it

  1. Identify your frame from its About screen, then find its guide in Wes Bos's photo-frame-dashboard project.
  2. Get access to the frame from your computer. Many frames allow it out of the box; others need a workaround the guides describe. Try the gentlest option first.
  3. Back up the frame's software before changing anything.
  4. Lock it down by disabling the manufacturer's apps, and only then connect it to Wi-Fi.
  5. Upgrade the browser engine, then install the kiosk app and point it at brolly.day/display. Scan the pairing code from your phone, as you would for any screen.

The repository is written so that an AI coding agent can follow it step by step, which is how Wes Bos did it. Giving one the repository and your frame's model is a reasonable way to start.

Good to know

  • Everything can be undone if you keep your backups, but you do it at your own risk.
  • The upgraded browser is still several years old (Chrome 106), and it's the newest these frames can run. Brolly's display is built to work within that.

Sources