21 comments

  • frankthecobbler 0 minutes ago
    how to hide or change the gigantic preview when sharing on apple messages? id prefer to change it, the default is obtrusive
  • SpeakingOfBrad 2 hours ago
    I had the idea for BIGWORDS.PAGE when I wanted to display a message on a tablet that I had remote management control over, but no physical access. Configuring it to be a kiosk browser is easy, but how do I get the browser to show my message? So I made the URL be the message.

    It uses a URL fragment to configure the message. Browsers don't send URL fragments to the server, so I never see your message. There's no backend, and no storage.

    All parameters are documented, so generating a message link is easy. There's also a built-in editor to make it extra easy.

    https://bigwords.page/#Hello,%20HN!&bg=ff6600&fg=000000&font...

    There are a few extra features like slides, animations, and countdowns and timers. QR codes too. Not too fancy, but hopefully enough to be useful.

    I know the uses for this are pretty niche. But it may be one of those things that you keep as a nugget in your brain, a tool in your back pocket. Not something you use often, but when you do it makes things just a little bit easier.

    It's open source (MIT), and self-hostable if that's your thing.

    Let me know what you think.

    • idw 1 hour ago
      Really nicely done
  • paulsmith 37 minutes ago
  • frankthecobbler 1 minute ago
    how to hide the Preview when sharing on messages? id prefer something more neutral.
  • ceejayoz 51 minutes ago
    Hook it up to voice control so I can put an iPad in the back window of the car and tell other drivers… things.
    • GoRudy 50 minutes ago
      I had this idea ten years ago. Told my parents it’d be nice to say “have a good day” and my moms initial reaction was she’d say “** you”. End of that idea.
    • a3w 50 minutes ago
      Won't it say

      > You are a poo-emoji bomb-emoji #!! driver

      ?

      • ceejayoz 48 minutes ago
        I am exercising my Fifth Amendment right to silence at this time.
    • trallnag 28 minutes ago
      I considered something similar with LED lights but I deemed it illegal in Germany
  • T0mSIlver 7 minutes ago
    I like that the fragment is basically argv for a static web app.
  • darkstar999 34 minutes ago
    "Nothing else: no lists, tables, links, quotes, images or rules."

    Claudish needs to be cleaned up.

  • PBnFlash 37 minutes ago
    I use to try and coordinate game nights across the world, and a url with the Unix timestamp of the event and a countdown showing how many days and hours worked quite well.
  • simlevesque 43 minutes ago
    Suggestion: make it a GoogleTV / AppleTV app so users can set it up in a few clicks and transform any screen laying around into a sign.
    • SpeakingOfBrad 4 minutes ago
      I think BIGWORDS.PAGE would be a great companion to a web browser app on those TV devices. I haven't found any good web browser for AppleTV, but if somebody has a browser/kiosk app that let's you send a URL from your phone, that would be really great!
  • pimlottc 51 minutes ago
    The URL is the state but clearly there is an actual app here
  • whycome 37 minutes ago
    I love solutions like this. Make the URL the entirety of the data needed. Awesome
  • moecables 29 minutes ago
    Love this and I already have a use for this
  • libertyit 1 hour ago
    Brilliant
  • sandymcmurray 25 minutes ago
    Nice work! This is great.
  • iJohnDoe 58 minutes ago
    Really clever! Definitely feels like positive hacker creativity. Thanks for making it open source.
  • adzm 57 minutes ago
    this is actually awesome, i've had something similar on my todo list forever. thanks!!! https://bigwords.page/#%E2%9D%A4%EF%B8%8F
  • paul7986 41 minutes ago
    Site is blocked - getting an SSL warning on Firefox.
  • jonotime 40 minutes ago
    Love this. Simple idea. Nice execution.
  • totallygeeky 55 minutes ago
    Really well done, can think of a few times this would have been useful in the recent past. Would be great for conferences in particular!
  • chrisra 51 minutes ago
    I've used something like this on a phone to tell another car something was wrong with their vehicle.
  • Retr0id 1 hour ago
    > The URL is the app

    We used to call them websites