e-waste wallclock

A way to reuse old iPads/tablets as a wall dash or clock, first built for an old 11" iPad, salvaged from e-waste.

Features & Integrations

• Home Assistant - integration for button shortcuts (replace icons in /buttons as desired)

• Notion - database integration for tasks, calendar events, and date countdowns

• Weather - from BoM (Australia)

• Alarm/Timer - quick alarm / timer with custom audio & graphic overlay

• Vibes - Subtle golden-sun bg gradient fades in/out with time, just looks nice cmon look at it

Quick start

npm install
cp .env.example .env
# fill in the NOTION_* values
npm start

Open http://<server-ip>:3000 on the iPad. Share → Add to Home Screen. Launching from that icon runs fullscreen (no Safari chrome).

Notion

There are three databases configured: tasks, calendar events, and upcoming date countdowns.

Database - To Do

• This the main database set by NOTION_DATABASE_ID and appears under the clock
• I use a by column for Dates, this is for Slack automations that remind me on a cadance set by the freq column
  • i.e: the task 'Finish Tom Mixes' has a by date of 9 June; if it still exists in that db by the date, it will remind me based on the frequency set by Freq (see server.js for more info on that)

Database - Work

• This database displays events based on the date column in the NOTION_WORK_ID database.
  • This does not need to be a 'work' database per say, it was just built out to be my work calendar

• This will display events for the day only in the modal when opened via the calendar button.

Database - Key Dates

• Set this database as NOTION_DATES_ID.
• Add a title property and a date property. Upcoming entries appear below the clock, ordered soonest first.
• An entry disappears when its date arrives in Melbourne.

How to setup Notion

1. Go to https://www.notion.so/profile/integrations → + New integration → internal. Copy the secret into NOTION_TOKEN.
2. Open the todo database in Notion → … → Connections → add your integration.
3. Copy the DB ID from the URL: notion.so/<workspace>/<32-hex-id>?v=… → the 32-hex chunk is NOTION_DATABASE_ID.
4. The server reads the page's title property automatically. If your DB has a Done or Complete checkbox, those items are hidden.
5. Add a separate work/calendar database ID as NOTION_WORK_ID. Share that database with the same integration. The calendar modal reads only items dated today from this database.
6. Add a key dates database ID as NOTION_DATES_ID and share it with the integration.

Weather (BoM)

Default set to BoM Melbourne, no key required:

• Observations: IDV60901.95936 (Melbourne Olympic Park)
• Forecast: IDV10450.xml (VIC precis, Melbourne area)

Change via https://www.bom.gov.au/catalogue/data-feeds.shtml

Cached 10 min server-side; served stale on upstream failure. Error / logging may say Melbourne even when changed.

Auto-start the server

macOS (launchd)

Save as ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.local.ipad-dashboard.plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
  <key>Label</key><string>com.local.ipad-dashboard</string>
  <key>WorkingDirectory</key><string>/Users/you/git/ipad</string>
  <key>ProgramArguments</key>
  <array>
    <string>/usr/local/bin/node</string>
    <string>server.js</string>
  </array>
  <key>RunAtLoad</key><true/>
  <key>KeepAlive</key><true/>
  <key>StandardOutPath</key><string>/tmp/ipad-dashboard.log</string>
  <key>StandardErrorPath</key><string>/tmp/ipad-dashboard.err.log</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Then: launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.local.ipad-dashboard.plist

Linux (systemd)

[Unit]
Description=iPad Dashboard
After=network.target

[Service]
WorkingDirectory=/home/you/git/ipad
ExecStart=/usr/bin/node server.js
Restart=always
EnvironmentFile=/home/you/git/ipad/.env

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Alarm tone

Drop any short MP3 at public/alarm.mp3. First tap on the dashboard unlocks iOS Safari audio for the session.

Layout notes

Targeted at 1194×834 (iPad 11" landscape). Grid is fluid — desktop browsers render fine at similar ratios.

Notion calendar

The calendar button opens the modal and loads today's items from the Notion database configured as NOTION_WORK_ID.

Add to .env:

NOTION_TOKEN=your-notion-integration-secret
NOTION_DATABASE_ID=your-task-database-id
NOTION_WORK_ID=your-notion-database2-id
NOTION_DATES_ID=your-key-dates-database-id

The work database needs at least one date property. The server prefers date-like property names such as Date, Day, When, Time, Calendar, or Start, then falls back to the first date property it finds. Items are filtered to the current Melbourne day. Date-only items appear as all-day rows; items with times appear with their start/end times.