When businesses invest in digital signage, they often imagine a future where their most important content flows seamlessly from their existing tools onto their screens. In reality, many companies discover that what looks like an integration is actually a severely limited version of what they envisioned. The result is frustration, wasted time, and a digital signage deployment that can never quite deliver on its promise. At Screenly, we think digital signage should work differently. It should adapt to your business and your workflows, not force you into someone else’s idea of what matters.
Why integrations matter
Digital signage is at its best when it can use the tools and data your team already uses in day-to-day operations. If you track sales goals in a dashboard, you should be able to show that content live on screens across your office. If your marketing team has a content calendar, you should be able to bring it straight to the screen without first having to export slides. If your operations team manages schedules or alerts in another system, those updates should appear instantly without anyone copying, pasting, exporting, or reformatting files.
The whole point of an integration is to remove unnecessary steps. When integrations serve their purpose correctly, digital signage becomes a natural extension of your workflow rather than another disconnected platform that demands extra effort. Teams save time, reduce the chance of mistakes, and actually use digital signage in ways that move the needle for their business.
The problem with app store logo walls
Visit most digital signage company websites and you’ll find a wall of recognizable logos. It’s a nice way to signal capability, but it can also mislead customers. Seeing a tool you use on a list of “integrations” doesn’t always mean you can show the data you want from that tool in the way you want to show it. It usually means the provider built a narrow connection to a specific feature.
The developer who created that integration decided what was important, and your use case may or may not match their assumptions. For example, an integration with a project management tool might only display task deadlines but not the progress charts or workload summaries you really need.
This is where many “last mile” problems emerge. The content you actually need to display isn’t supported, or the integration only works in a very rigid way. Businesses then make compromises that blunt the value of their digital signage deployment. Instead of unlocking communication and engagement, screens become another project that requires workarounds. The promise of digital signage is immediacy in communication for messages that matter, but rigid integrations often break that promise.
Screenly’s open source approach
Screenly takes a different view. We believe that integrations should empower, not limit, the digital signage user. That’s why we not only provide a growing set of ready-to-use apps but also make them fully open source and available on GitHub. Every app can be inspected, edited, and customized line by line. This gives users full freedom to adapt digital signage to their exact needs.
Maybe you need to show a custom report from your CRM or pull specific metrics from a tool that only exposes part of its data. With open apps, you’re not stuck waiting for someone else to prioritize your request. You can modify the app yourself or with the help of your developers and get the exact outcome you want.
Edge Apps and custom workflows
For teams that want full control, Screenly’s Edge App framework makes it possible to build completely custom digital signage apps. We handle the difficult parts of digital signage infrastructure, from secure distribution to device management and operating system testing. You focus on the business logic that matters to you.
Because Screenly Edge Apps run directly on the device, you can even build signage that responds instantly to on-site sensors. A retailer could use motion sensors to trigger the display of product information when a customer reaches for a specific item. A factory could connect a machine’s live data feed or temperature sensors to an on-floor display for workers. A hospital could tie sign content to badge readers, displaying information only when authorized staff are nearby. In these cases, waiting on sensor date to pass to round-trip to a server would introduce unacceptable response-time delays, but with Edge Apps the response is immediate.
Freedom without complexity
Some customers want to go deep and customize apps at the code level. Others simply want something that works out of the box. Screenly supports both use cases for digital signage app and integrations. If you never touch a line of code, the apps in the Screenly Edge App Store are ready right now. You can start displaying dashboards, calendars, weather, or custom media in minutes.
But if you do want to tailor things further, you’re never blocked by closed integrations or black-box apps. This balance is important, and digital signage should be as simple or as flexible as you need it to be. You can start small with an off-the-shelf app and later evolve your setup into something more advanced without having to switch platforms.
Digital signs that serve your goals
At the end of the day, digital signage isn’t about ticking a box or adding flashy logos to a feature page. It’s about communication, efficiency, and delivering business value. If the content you want can’t make it to the screen in a way that supports your goals, your digital signage deployment and system is failing you.
Screenly’s approach puts the power back in your hands. By keeping apps open and making customization accessible, we help ensure that your screens always serve your business rather than the other way around. Whether you’re a small team wanting to show internal metrics or a global enterprise with strict data requirements, you should never have to settle for half measures.
Get started today with Screenly
Digital signage should be an asset, not a compromise. With Screenly, you can integrate your existing tech stack the way you want, whether through ready-to-go apps or custom apps tailored to your needs. Try Screenly for yourself with a free 14-day trial, and get your first digital sign up and running today.
