Remote WebView Client

Demo video

This is a client that connects to Remote WebView Server — a headless browser that renders target web pages (e.g., Home Assistant dashboards) and streams them as image tiles over WebSocket to lightweight clients (ESP32 displays).

ESPHome component

The latest version of the client is implemented as an ESPHome external component, which greatly simplifies installation and configuration for end users. It leverages the display and touchscreen components to render images and handle touch input.

Configuration example (Guition-ESP32-S3-4848S040)

esphome:
  name: esp32-4848s040-t1
  friendly_name: ESP32-4848S040-T1
  platformio_options:
    board_build.flash_mode: dio

esp32:
  board: esp32-s3-devkitc-1
  variant: esp32s3
  flash_size: 16MB
  framework:
    type: esp-idf
    sdkconfig_options:
      CONFIG_ESP32S3_DEFAULT_CPU_FREQ_240: "y"
      CONFIG_ESP32S3_DATA_CACHE_64KB: "y"
      CONFIG_ESP32S3_DATA_CACHE_LINE_64B: "y"
      CONFIG_SPIRAM_FETCH_INSTRUCTIONS: y
      CONFIG_SPIRAM_RODATA: y
    components:
      - name: "espressif/esp_websocket_client"
        ref: 1.5.0
      - name: "bitbank2/jpegdec"
        source: https://github.com/strange-v/jpegdec-esphome

psram:
  mode: octal
  speed: 80MHz

external_components:
  - source: github://strange-v/RemoteWebViewClient@main
    refresh: 0s
    components: [ remote_webview ]

logger:
  hardware_uart: UART0

api:
  encryption:
    key: "XXXXXXXXX"

ota:
  - platform: esphome
    password: "XXXXXXXXX"

wifi:
  ssid: !secret wifi_ssid
  password: !secret wifi_password

captive_portal:
    
spi:
  clk_pin: GPIO48
  mosi_pin: GPIO47

i2c:
  - id: bus_a
    sda: GPIO19
    scl: GPIO45

display:
  - platform: st7701s
    show_test_card: False
    update_interval: never
    auto_clear_enabled: False
    spi_mode: MODE3
    data_rate: 2MHz
    color_order: RGB
    invert_colors: False
    dimensions:
      width: 480
      height: 480
    cs_pin: 39
    de_pin: 18
    hsync_pin: 16
    vsync_pin: 17
    pclk_pin: 21
    pclk_frequency: 12MHz
    pclk_inverted: False
    hsync_pulse_width: 8
    hsync_front_porch: 10
    hsync_back_porch: 20
    vsync_pulse_width: 8
    vsync_front_porch: 10
    vsync_back_porch: 10
    init_sequence:
      - 1
      - [0xFF, 0x77, 0x01, 0x00, 0x00, 0x10]
      - [0xCD, 0x00]
    data_pins:
      red:
        - GPIO11
        - GPIO12
        - GPIO13
        - GPIO14
        - GPIO0
      green:
        - GPIO8
        - GPIO20
        - GPIO3
        - GPIO46
        - GPIO9
        - GPIO10
      blue:
        - GPIO4
        - GPIO5
        - GPIO6
        - GPIO7
        - GPIO15

touchscreen:
  platform: gt911
  transform:
    mirror_x: false
    mirror_y: false
  i2c_id: bus_a

output:
  - platform: ledc
    pin: GPIO38
    id: backlight_pwm

light:
  - platform: monochromatic
    output: backlight_pwm
    name: "Display Backlight"
    id: back_light
    restore_mode: ALWAYS_ON

remote_webview:
  id: rwv
  server: 172.16.0.252:8081
  url: http://172.16.0.252:8123/dashboard-mobile/0  # set url: "self-test" to initiate the self-test
  full_frame_tile_count: 1
  max_bytes_per_msg: 61440
  jpeg_quality: 85
  # ESP32-P4 only; both options are ignored on other targets.
  hw_decode: true
  hw_decode_timeout_ms: 200
  
  on_frame_update:
    - logger.log: "The display just received a frame update!"
  current_url_sensor:
    name: "Remote Display Current URL"

text:
  - platform: template
    id: rwv_url
    name: "URL"
    optimistic: true
    restore_value: false
    mode: TEXT
    min_length: 1
    set_action:
      - lambda: |-
          if (!id(rwv).open_url(std::string(x.c_str()))) {
            id(rwv).set_url(std::string(x.c_str()));
            ESP_LOGI("remote_webview", "URL queued (not connected): %s", x.c_str());
          }

Supported Parameters

YAML key	Type	Required	Example	Description
display_id	id	❌	panel	Display to draw on. Optional, if only one display is defined in the YAML.
touchscreen_id	id	❌	touch	Touch input source. Optional, if only one touchscreen is defined in the YAML.
server	string	✅	172.16.0.252:8081	WebSocket server address. Must be hostname_or_IP:port.
url	string	✅	http://…/dashboard	Page to open on connect.
device_id	string	❌	"my-device" or auto (esp32-<mac>)	Identifier used by the server. If not set, the component derives esp32-<mac> from the chip MAC and still sends it.
tile_size	int	❌	32	Tile edge size in pixels. Helps the server choose tile packing; it’s best to keep it a multiple of 16.
full_frame_tile_count	int	❌	4	Number of tiles the server should use for full-frame updates.
full_frame_area_threshold	float	❌	0.50	Area delta (fraction of screen) above which the server should send a full frame.
full_frame_every	int	❌	50	Force a full-frame update every N frames (0 disables).
every_nth_frame	int	❌	1	Frame-rate divider. Server should send only every Nth frame.
min_frame_interval	int (ms)	❌	80	Minimum time between frames on the wire, in milliseconds.
jpeg_quality	int	❌	85	JPEG quality hint for the server’s encoder.
max_bytes_per_msg	int (B)	❌	14336 or 61440	Upper bound for a single WS binary message.
big_endian	bool	❌	true or false	Use big-endian RGB565 pixel order for JPEG output (set false for little-endian panels). Default is true.
rotation	int	❌	0, 90, 180, 270	Enables software rotation for both the display and touchscreen.
scale	float	❌	1.5	Page zoom (0.5–4). The page is laid out at the display size divided by the scale and rendered at that device scale factor, so text and controls get bigger. For sharp output the server needs MAX_DEVICE_SCALE_FACTOR at least this value.
on_frame_update	action	❌	- logger.log: "The display just received a frame update!"	Action that gets triggered each time the display updates (maximum of 1 trigger per second)
stats_interval	time	❌	10s	Logs performance stats (fps, per-frame rx/queue/decode/draw time, queue depth, drops, touch-to-frame latency) at INFO level every interval. Disabled by default.
current_url_sensor	text_sensor	❌	name: "Current URL"	Exposes the URL currently loaded in the server's headless browser as an ESPHome Text Sensor. Supports on_value automations.

Recommendations

• full_frame_tile_count set to 1 is the most efficient way to do a full-screen update; use it if your network/device memory allows it.
• every_nth_frame must be 1 if you don’t want to miss changes (though increasing it may reduce server load). I recommend keeping it set to 1.
• wifi power_save_mode — for maximum responsiveness, set power_save_mode: none in the wifi: section. ESPHome's default power saving lets the radio sleep between packets, which lowers power draw but adds latency: in testing on an ESP32-S3 it added ~30 ms to every update, cut throughput from ~1.6 MB/s to ~330 KB/s and made a full-screen change take 154 ms instead of 88 ms. Keep the default if power draw or Wi-Fi coexistence matters more than speed. The self-test shows the effect ("Wi-Fi: … ms per update").
• min_frame_interval caps how often the server sends frames. It protects the device from frames arriving faster than it can decode them (e.g. while scrolling), so it should be at least the device's decode time for a full-screen frame. Run the self-test (url: "self-test"): it measures that time and recommends a value.
• max_bytes_per_msg should be larger than your maximum tile size (full-frame or partial).
• jpeg_quality — lower values encode faster and reduce bandwidth (but increase artifacts). Start at 85, drop toward 70–75 if you need speed.
• big_endian — defaults to true. If colors look wrong (swapped/tinted), set big_endian: false for panels that require little-endian RGB565.
• hw_decode — ESP32-P4 only; defaults to true. Set to false to use the software JPEG decoder.
• hw_decode_timeout_ms — ESP32-P4 only; defaults to 200. Timeout passed to the hardware JPEG decoder engine.
• Display ownership — remote_webview draws from its own task, so nothing else may draw to the same display: use update_interval: never, no lambda/pages, auto_clear_enabled: false, show_test_card: false, and don't call component.update on it. Prefer a touchscreen on a separate bus (e.g. I2C) rather than sharing the display's SPI bus.
• Red tile / red screen — this indicates a tile payload exceeded max_bytes_per_msg. Increase max_bytes_per_msg or reduce tile size/JPEG quality so each tile fits.

On-screen keyboard

The device does not provide a native on-screen keyboard.

You can enable and use a server-side keyboard in Remote WebView Server. You can also use Chrome DevTools when input is needed.