Who needs a fancy Stream Deck when you have your phone?
· pcworld.com · popularity 19/100 · 0 similar stories today · Consumer Electronics & Hardware (Technology & Consumer Electronics)
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Summary
You know those fancy Elgato’s Stream Decks? Those sweet looking, handy gadgets that all of your favorite streamers use to juggle different apps. They’re pretty cool, but they’re also pretty expensive—more expensive than most mechanical keyboards or gaming mice in fact. But if you’ve got a phone or tablet lying around, you can get pretty much the same functionality for free. All you need is your device and the Touch Portal app. It’s basically a freemium alternative to the Stream Deck and it turns your phone or tablet into a customizable control panel for your PC or Mac. And, just like the Stream Deck, it gives you a grid of buttons to customize for launching programs and triggering shortcuts. Personally, I’ve been using it on an old phone that I had just sitting around. I’ve set my hotkeys to the things I use most like an audio switcher between speakers and headphones, a microphone mute button, and controlling video calls. If you want, you can even combine several actions into a single button press. I made one of the buttons automatically open all of the apps I use when I start my day all at once. I’m not a streamer, but if you are, you’ll find plenty to like here, too. Touch Portal works with OBS and Twitch, allowing you to manage different parts of your stream without constantly switching windows. To set up the app you just need to install Touch Portal on your Windows PC or Mac, grab the companion app for Android or iOS, and connect the two over your local network. Once they’re paired, you’re off to the races. The free version gives you two pages with eight buttons each, which should be enough to get a feel for what the app can do. If you need more, there is a paid Pro upgrade that removes those limits and adds advanced features. I find that the free version is more than enough though. For more fun and helpful tips, tricks, website and app recommendations, be sure to subscribe to our PCWorld Try This newsletter .
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