Flexibility comes with a trade. Screenly Anywhere runs on top of an operating system that someone else controls, so Screenly does not own the whole device the way it does with ScreenlyOS.
In practice, that means a couple of things.
Less control over the device
Screenly manages what happens inside the app, but not the system around it. Updates and security depend partly on the host device and its operating system.
Reliability rests partly on the host
Because the host operating system is still doing its own job, things outside Screenly can get in the way of your content. It might install its own updates and reboot, run background tasks that compete for memory, or put its own prompts and built-in apps in front of what you are showing.
On ScreenlyOS none of that happens, because the device does nothing else. On a shared platform it is always a possibility, and how often it shows up depends on the device and how it is set up.
A few differences in behavior
For example, on some platforms apps run on Screenly’s side and are sent to the screen as screenshots, rather than on the device itself.
An ongoing effort
How much Screenly can do on a device still depends on the platform underneath. Within those limits, we work to get as much control as each platform allows.
It is a long road. The range of hardware is wide, and every platform comes with its own quirks and restrictions, so progress comes step by step. Closing that gap, and getting more control on more devices, is one of our ongoing goals.
None of this makes Anywhere worse. It makes it different.
For the deepest control and the strictest security, ScreenlyOS is the better fit.
For reach, flexibility, and speed, Screenly Anywhere is hard to beat.