Share Your Screen, Not Your Hassle: Meet Bananas
Screen sharing is one of those things that should just work. You need to show a colleague some code, help a friend with a setup, or present during a meeting. But between platform restrictions, account requirements, and clunky interfaces, what should be simple often isn't.
That's where Bananas comes in. It's a new open-source, cross-platform tool that strips screen sharing back to its essentials. No sign-ups, no downloads for the person viewing, and it works wherever you are.
What It Does
Bananas is a straightforward screen sharing application. You run it on your machine, and it gives you a private URL. Anyone you share that URL with can see your screen in their web browser. That's it. No need for them to install anything or create an account. It's peer-to-peer screen sharing through a web interface.
Why It's Cool
The beauty of Bananas is in its simplicity and its architecture.
- Truly Cross-Platform: It's built with Go, so it compiles to a single binary for Windows, macOS, and Linux. The same simple command works everywhere.
- Viewer-Side Simplicity: The person you're sharing with only needs a modern web browser. There's zero friction for them, which is often the biggest hurdle in ad-hoc help sessions.
- Open Source: Being fully open source means you can see exactly how it works, trust that there's no funny business, and even contribute to its development. It's a community-driven solution to a common problem.
- Self-Hostable: Because you're running the binary yourself, you're in control. It's great for environments where using external, cloud-based screen sharing tools isn't allowed or desired.
How to Try It
Getting started is as simple as it gets.
- Head over to the Bananas GitHub repository.
- Grab the latest release for your operating system from the "Releases" section.
- Run the binary from your terminal.
- Open the local URL it provides (usually something like
http://localhost:8080) in your browser to configure the share. - Share the generated public link with anyone you want to see your screen.
The README has all the details and pre-built binaries, so you can be up and running in under a minute.
Final Thoughts
As developers, we often need to quickly share context—a tricky bug, a UI glitch, or a cool prototype. Bananas feels like it was built specifically for those moments. It removes the ceremony from screen sharing and just lets you get on with it. For quick, peer-to-peer collaboration or remote support, it's a tool that deserves a spot in your utility belt.
What would you use it for?
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