Synergy roadmap - Upcoming features

Re-introduce Raspberry Pi OS support

3.3

Synergy 3 introduced many new great features, but unfortunately we had to temporarily take out support for Raspberry Pi OS. This was due to the different build requirements needed for Raspberry Pi OS. We believe it will be possible to re-introduce Raspberry Pi OS support, and we plan to do this soon. For the meantime, customers are still able to use Synergy 1.

Portable version for user-only environments

3.3

Synergy 3 currently depends on components that need system-level access. We intend to make these components optional so that customers without admin access can use Synergy.

3.3

Easier layout editing for large setups

Synergy 3 introduces a grid-free screen layout, but still limits you to a relatively small number of screens due to the size of the window.

There are two ways that we plan to solve this. Simply by allowing you to resize the window to give yourself more real estate to edit the screen layout. The second way is that we're improving our screen editor to add a pan and zoom feature, for people who are trying to edit their layout on a smaller screen. Being able to zoom in and out, would allow you to potentially manage an infinite number of screens.

Screen positioning and complex screen layouts

3.4

Right now, Synergy treats each computer's monitors as one big screen. For example, if you have two computers, each with two screens for a total of four screens, only two screens will be shown in the screen layout editor (one for each computer). This is a vestigial artefact from before multi-screen support was common.

Showing multiple monitors as one big screen causes issues when they're in complex configurations relative to each other. It means that, for instance, if you had one large screen and one small screen of different dimensions, it won't appear to make sense on the screen layout editor.

Our solution to this will be to show all screens for each computer on the config screen, meaning that for each computer you'll see multiple screens (if you have multiple screens). This will allow you to accurately represent your real life screen layout on the screen layout editor.

Auto-update and one-click update all

3.5

A major pain point for our customers is updating. To update, you have to download and run the installer individually on each of your computers, and sometimes you even have to dig out your physical mouse and keyboards and plug them back in.

We plan to automate this for customers who want to update all of their computers quickly and easily. You'll be able to select automatic update or manual on-demand update. We will still enable security conscious customers to approve the update using the OS admin-level security, but we'll ensure that you can do this while Synergy is still running.

No more digging out that old mouse to update Synergy.

Multi-touch gesture support for macOS

4.x

‍Multi-Touch gestures were introduced to the Mac in 2012. We do plan on investigating the possibility of gestures, but it will depend on the capabilities of the operating system.

Copy and paste files between computers

4.x

While you can indeed copy the contents of a file (i.e. text and images) between your computers in Synergy right now (known as clipboard sharing), you actually can't copy and paste an actual file between your computers.

We plan to add a feature in Synergy where you can right click a file and copy the file from one computer, then move your cursor to another computer and paste. It's likely that we'll implement this feature around the same time as when we re-implement the file drag and drop feature (which is currently experimental and doesn't work very well).

Drag and drop files between computers

4.x

In Synergy 1, for a brief time (between around 1.6 and 1.9) you could drag and drop files between your Windows and Mac computers. There were a few caveats, such as only being able to drop files to the desktop. It was also quite unreliable. This feature was actually a prototype which then, unfortunately, fell into disrepair (to the point where it mostly stopped working). This feature is still available as an experimental feature, but is disabled by default.

Our plan is to restore the file drag and drop feature by fixing the bugs that stopped it working, eventually moving on to a full rewrite, including Linux support.

Configuration profiles/groups for different setups

4.x

Some customers tend to have multi-computer setups in different locations. Maybe you take your laptop to work and use it next to your workstation, then when you go home, you set your laptop down by your gaming rig. Whatever the use case, Synergy doesn't play nice with multiple locations using the same config. The only workaround at the moment is to reconfigure every time you move between work and home, which is not ideal.

So, to solve this, we'll introduce multiple configuration profiles; a separate configuration for each location so you can have different layouts depending on where you are.

Scriptable API for software developers

4.x

Wouldn't it be great if you could write some JavaScript or a Python script which is triggered by an event in Synergy? For example, when your mouse leaves the screen edge, or when pressing a certain key combination, etc. Or, maybe you can send Synergy a command and leverage the existing power of your multi-computer system.

We're not entirely sure what our users will come up with, but it could be great.

Auto-switch the primary computer

4.x

Synergy 3 makes it much easier than before to select which computer is the primary; the computer where your mouse and keyboard is shared from. But, what if this could be done automatically?

We plan to introduce a feature where just moving your mouse or pressing a key will switch that computer to be the primary computer, so you won't have to manually select it. This feature will be useful for people who still want keyboards and mice connected to all computers, but don't want to think about which computer should share it's keyboard and mouse; it will just happen.

But what if you don't want this to be automatic? Sometimes, you may want to lock a certain computer as the primary. We think that adding a locking option could be useful if someone is borrowing your laptop, or if you're regularly sharing computers between different people.

Sync your screensaver on all computers

4.x

The screensaver sync is a popular feature which used to work really well in Synergy 1. Screensavers are still used by many people, but have fallen out of popularity with the majority of people. Sadly, the screensaver sync feature doesn't work as well as it once did.

We may well re-implement screensaver sync in future versions and restore the feature to its original stability. This will be different to the lock screen sync feature.

Sync the lock screen on all computers

4.x

As an optional feature for lower security environments, this feature will let you unlock other computers from your current computer.

Cursor wrap around at screen edge

4.x

Some customers have a ton of screens. Sometimes more than four in a row! This creates an annoying problem: you can't move from the far right screen to the far left screen in one swift mouse movement (and vice versa).

We plan to add a feature where you can teleport your cursor from the far right screen edge to the far left edge (also vice versa). Technically, this is already possible with a custom config, but we need to make this feature easier to access by adding an easy to use GUI setting.

Wake-on-LAN (WOL) for sleeping computers

4.x

Most computers come with energy saving settings enabled by default, meaning your computer will go to sleep after a number of minutes to save power.

We plan on adding a feature for this scenario. When you resume one computer or try to mouse over to a sleeping computer, it'll automatically resume all the other computers using something called Wake-on-LAN (WOL), which wakes your computer up using the network connection.

Auto-disable when running certain apps

4.x

Some apps don't play well with Synergy. Games are a good example of this. Because games use the mouse and keyboard input in a very different way to Synergy, conflicts can happen, and a game may behave strangely (full-screen mode breaks, the cursor goes crazy, etc). To solve this, the user must disable Synergy before starting a game, and then re-enable it when they want to go back into work mode.

Wouldn't it be better if Synergy simply disables itself when an incompatible app (like a full-screen video game) is running? You'd be able to customize exactly which apps caused Synergy to auto-disable when they start.

Share audio from one computer to another

5.x

Screen sharing apps such TeamViewer are commonly able to share sound from one computer to another. This is a feature that many customers have now come to expect.

We plan on bringing this feature to Synergy so that you can do the same, mixing all of your computers' sound into one audio output. Until then, you can always use two digital audio USB devices to share sound between your computers.

Mirror a folder on all of your computers

5.x

Windows file sharing has evolved into a difficult to use, unpopular feature. It’s been supplanted by cloud sharing because that’s what the mass market wants. Sadly, this leaves us multi-computer users to come up with our own custom solutions (such as setting up a file share or by using a NAS).

Wouldn’t it be neat if Synergy allowed you to easily share a folder to all of your other computers? We're not talking about on-demand copying of single files, but a shared folder that is easily accessible by you on any of your computers that synchronizes over the your LAN (not the cloud).