Split-Flap

A departure board for the screen you already have.

Split-Flap turns a spare monitor into a mechanical style message board. Boards take turns showing your own messages, the time, departures, the weather, markets and more, each letter flipping into place like a railway board.

It is free and needs no account. Everything you set up stays in this browser, and a board link carries it to another screen. If you want your boards on every device, you can sign in with Google.

A look changes what the board is made of. Classic is the hardware as it was, and there is glass, paper and light round the frame if you want something else. The editor has Help with a short guide to all of it.

Put it on a monitor

01

Raspberry Pi

  1. Install Raspberry Pi OS with desktop and connect the monitor.
  2. Compose your board on your phone, then open the board link on the Pi.
  3. Add ?kiosk=1 to the link and set Chromium to open it at start up.
02

Casting a tab

  1. Open the board in Chrome on a computer on the same network as the television.
  2. Choose Cast from the browser menu and pick the tab.
  3. Press Fullscreen. Keep the computer awake while it casts.
03

An old laptop

  1. Turn off sleep and the screen saver in the power settings.
  2. Open the board link and press F for fullscreen.
  3. Set quiet hours so the screen dims overnight.

Questions

Is it really free?
Yes. There are no adverts and nothing to install, and you do not need an account.
What does an account do?
It keeps your boards with you, so they come back on any phone or computer you sign in on. It is optional, and the privacy page says what it stores.
How is this different from a Vestaboard?
A Vestaboard is a real mechanical board and costs thousands. This draws the same kind of board on a screen you already own, with the flaps, the fold and the clatter, for nothing.
Where is my board stored?
In this browser, and with your account if you sign in. Without an account, clearing site data removes it, so export a copy if it matters to you.
How do I move a board to the wall screen?
Press Share and open the link, or scan the QR (Quick Response) code, on the other screen. The link holds the whole board.
Which departures can it show?
Stops in most of Europe and many cities elsewhere, through Transitous. In Stockholm it reads Storstockholms Lokaltrafik (SL) directly, and a home station starred on the Stockholm SL map can be followed by a board.
Why did a character turn blank?
The flaps carry capital letters, Å Ä Ö and a few more Nordic letters, numbers and common punctuation. Greek and Cyrillic are written out in Latin letters. Anything else shows as a blank flap, like on a real board.
Where is the help?
In the editor, or Help in the bar under the board. On a keyboard, press ?. It has a short guide to every part, with a list to jump to the one you want.
What happens when the internet drops?
Messages and the clock keep running. Departures and weather hold their last values and a small note in the corner says how old they are.
Can I run my own copy?
Yes. The code is open source on GitHub, with no build step: any static host will do.