Screenly Anywhere is the Screenly software packaged as an app, so it can run on a device that already has an operating system of its own.
A commercial display, a smart TV, an Android box, a streaming stick, or a spare computer becomes a managed screen without you replacing anything on it. The device keeps its own system, and Screenly runs on top.
What stays the same
Everything you actually work with. An Anywhere screen appears in the same screen list as every other screen, takes the same content, plays the same playlists, follows the same schedules, and answers to the same labels.
Nothing about your day-to-day changes based on what a screen happens to be running.
What it is for
Three situations where this is the right answer.
You already own the hardware
A working display with a computer built in, or a box already connected to a screen, does not need replacing to run Screenly.
The device cannot take our operating system
A Samsung or LG business display runs its manufacturer’s system and always will. Anywhere is how those screens join your fleet.
You want to try Screenly today
A browser tab becomes a screen in about a minute, with nothing to buy and nothing to install.
What you give up
This is worth understanding before you commit a large rollout to it.
On Anywhere we manage what happens inside our app, but not the system around it. That system is still doing its own job, and it can install its own updates and restart, compete for memory, or put its own messages in front of your content.
On some platforms, apps are drawn on our servers and sent to the screen as pictures rather than running on the device itself.
There is a longer-term version of the same trade. Anywhere rides on the device’s own software, so when the manufacturer stops updating it, the screen ages out with it even though the panel may be in perfect condition. Putting a device running ScreenlyOS in front of that same panel turns it into only a display, which is the part that lasts.
None of this happens on ScreenlyOS, because there the device does nothing else. If a screen matters enough that an unexpected restart would be a problem, or you expect it to stay in service for years, that is the better route for it.
Most organizations run both, and we support that fully.
How it compares to ScreenlyOS
The two are alternatives. A device runs one or the other, and a workspace can hold both.
| Screenly Anywhere | ScreenlyOS | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An app on the device’s own system | The whole operating system |
| Hardware | Whatever you already own | Our players, a Raspberry Pi, Sharp displays |
| Something interrupting your content | Possible | Cannot happen |
| Who updates the system | The device manufacturer | We do |
| How long it stays current | The manufacturer’s support window | As long as we support it |
Anywhere wins on reach and on starting today. ScreenlyOS wins on control and on staying in service for years.
Choose what runs on your screens has the full comparison, including what each means in practice.
Next
Choose your platform for setup steps, or what you need for the hardware and network requirements.