Petal
Dev tools
pair programming
SHOW HN2026
228points
41comments
#227of 4,366 in 2026
Top 6%of 2026 by points
How HN took it
MixedNo clear lean
13 positive, 9 neutral or asking, 0 mixed, 4 critical, out of 26 comments about the project. Thread score +0.24.
Idea: 4 for, 2 againstDocs: 0 for, 1 againstExecution: 0 for, 1 against
The thread, comment by comment
Each row is a top-level comment and its replies, in HN's order. Select a cell to open that comment on HN.
positive neutral or mixed critical about another commenter or something else the maker
What HN said
What people liked
Recreates the Screenhero and CoScreen experience people miss
From 3 comments
Screenhero co-founder/CEO here — this is really great! It looks like we had similar feelings after leaving our acquiring companies with our products being sunset. Since leaving…
jsherwani on HNJust want to say thank you!! Screenhero was invaluable. Pop is pretty good, but open source is a game changer!
smw on HNThank you for your work, looking forward to the Linux version!
therealbithead on HN
Open source and free means it cannot be sunset
From 2 comments
Just want to say thank you!! Screenhero was invaluable. Pop is pretty good, but open source is a game changer!
smw on HNTill here, another co-founder of CoScreen. Like Jason wrote, our launches on HN and the feedback by many of you in 2019 were really important all the way back to the earliest…
coscreen on HN
Persistent rooms and shared windows improve remote debugging
From 2 comments
This is just what we need in our small startup. It solves problems we have when working remotely and joint debugging along with walking our customers through tricky issues. Can't…
citizenfishy on HNJust being able to ping a location on screen is super helpful, otherwise: "Can you open the debug panel please. It's the bug icon in the lower left. No, three icons above that.…
klauserc on HN
Objections
Lacks Japanese/CJK IME input support
From 2 comments
As is common with lots of software like this, unfortunately, it looks like this product doesn't support Japanese/CJK text entry (with an IME popup and multiple input sources).…
morikyouko on HNI'm not totally sure, but my recollection is that CoScreen also had broken Japanese input.
morikyouko on HN
Linux support not yet available
From 2 comments
Thank you for your work, looking forward to the Linux version!
therealbithead on HNFingers crossed this time. Leave an issue on the repo if you have any specific wishes/distros to support or also want to contribute. Most of Petal is OS agnostic so it would be…
coscreen on HN
Self-hosting requires rebuilding the desktop app
From 1 comment
The self-hosting guide currently calls for running the token backend as well as LiveKit, then rebuilding the desktop app with the backend URL baked in. Is there a way to switch…
compounding-err on HN
Unclear use case compared with ordinary screen sharing
From 1 comment
This is super cool and thanks for open sourcing. I remember seeing CoScreen & Screen Hero here on HN years ago and thinking it was absolutely the cat's pajamas. Unfortunately, I…
dvt on HN
Requests
Linux support
From 2 comments
Amazing to see you here. Folks looking for Linux support, check out J's work!
coscreen on HNThank you for your work, looking forward to the Linux version!
therealbithead on HN
Full international text entry support
From 1 comment
As is common with lots of software like this, unfortunately, it looks like this product doesn't support Japanese/CJK text entry (with an IME popup and multiple input sources).…
morikyouko on HN
Switch to self-hosted backend without rebuilding
From 1 comment
The self-hosting guide currently calls for running the token backend as well as LiveKit, then rebuilding the desktop app with the backend URL baked in. Is there a way to switch…
compounding-err on HN
Lower input-to-video latency
From 1 comment
Will give it a try! How is LiveKit working for you in terms of achieving low input2video latency? Did it lend itself to getting tuned for this application?
yokto on HN
Questions
How latency is tuned with LiveKit
From 1 comment
Will give it a try! How is LiveKit working for you in terms of achieving low input2video latency? Did it lend itself to getting tuned for this application?
yokto on HN
How it compares to Gather, Tuple, and Delta
From 3 comments
How does the virtual office compare with something like Gather (https://www.gather.town/) ?
claydiffrient on HNReminds me of Tuple (https://tuple.app/), which was also billed as a Screenhero replacement
joshuat on HNInteresting. Was sad to see so many products in this area sunset (most after acquihires). I wonder if tools built around multiplayer LLM work won't win out though? Any thoughts…
e12e on HN
Where it beats normal screen sharing
From 1 comment
This is super cool and thanks for open sourcing. I remember seeing CoScreen & Screen Hero here on HN years ago and thinking it was absolutely the cat's pajamas. Unfortunately, I…
dvt on HN
Alternatives named
Tuple
From 1 comment
Reminds me of Tuple (https://tuple.app/), which was also billed as a Screenhero replacement
joshuat on HN
Pop
From 1 comment
Screenhero co-founder/CEO here — this is really great! It looks like we had similar feelings after leaving our acquiring companies with our products being sunset. Since leaving…
jsherwani on HN
Gather
From 1 comment
How does the virtual office compare with something like Gather (https://www.gather.town/) ?
claydiffrient on HN
Hopp
From 1 comment
Feel free to try Hopp[1], which supports self hosted backends without having to rebuild the client. Selfhosting takes literally less than 5 minutes. [1]…
iparaskev on HN
Delta
From 1 comment
Interesting. Was sad to see so many products in this area sunset (most after acquihires). I wonder if tools built around multiplayer LLM work won't win out though? Any thoughts…
e12e on HN